Run, Newt, run!

Newt Gingrich is thinking of running for president in 2012. Oh, please, God, let it happen. The answer to every liberal's prayers. An incredibly obnoxious, fantastically egotistical, deeply polarizing old white guy from the South. Wow, he would be the perfect candidate for Obama to run against.

Just to prove that he is as deluded as ever about his abilities, this is how Newt describes himself:

“I think I’m closer to Benjamin Franklin than to George Washington.”

I normally try to respect my political opponents, and I have to admit that every now and then Gingrich says something interesting. As a political strategist, the man deserves a fair degree of respect: he accomplished what noone else thot was possible when the Republicans took over the House in 1994.

But the best possible thing about Newt Gingrich running for president - apart from the sheer entertainment value of making the kind of bizarre pronouncements above - would be the opportunity to thoroughly humiliate him. There are many Republicans I respect and try to treat with decency.

Newt Gingrich is not one of them.