The Gingrich Rules: Privilege Has Its Memberships

It is a truth universally acknowledged that Newton Leroy Gingrich ("Advocate of civilization, Definer of civilization, Teacher of the Rules of Civilization, Arouser of those who Fan Civilization, Organizer of the pro-civilization activists, Leader (Possibly) of the civilizing forces", LLC) is now wholly a creation of the American political media.  Because there is no reason on God's Earth why this lying, disgraced bigot and adulterous hypocrite of the first water who has not held elected office since Power Rangers in Space was cancelled could exist as a public person in any venue if someone upstairs was not pulling stings on his behalf.

The fact that American corporate media was stakehorsing ("A financial backer who covers the gambling losses of a pool player in exchange for some percentage of the winnings.") this grifting fraud for the last 20 years --

-- became so obvious and the pattern of their collusion became so predictable that I started documenting it under the heading of "The Gingrich Rules".

You might have read about it once or twice :-)

In the game of professional punditry there also clearly exists a special set of rules designed with one person on mind.  Or, rather, one sort of person: Conservatism's parade of bomb-throwing, hate-mongering, race-baiting bottom feeders.  That breed which makes their daily bread from grifting the Pig People by generating an endless flood of books, magazine articles, broadcasts, speeches and videos all telling the GOP base over and over again that them their bigotries are noble and their paranoia is patriotic.

Of course, part of the downside of wallowing in the wingnut sewer and trafficking in slander and lies is that, sooner or later, you become a toxic mess.  Your stink becomes unacceptable to the general public, which s where the Sunday morning talk shows -- the Mouse Circus -- comes in.   Because despite having long ago devolved into a sinkhole of Beltway centrist twaddle, it is still viewed by altogether too many people as a bastion of Very Serious people -- it's the strip-mall of political opinion where casual shoppers go to feel smart and validated.

And so a bargain is struck; the bottom feeders deliver a temporary hike in the only thing these show's owners really care about -- audience share -- and, in exchange for being teevee friendly and keeping the worst of their batshit crazy on a leash for a few minutes, their Mouse Circus deburrs the bottom feeders' public image, replates and burnishes their credibility and temporarily transfuses them with Seriousness, which can then be redeemed at ten times its face value back among the Pig People.

And in the key to that bargain we find "The Gingrich Rules":  an agreement that the moderator will never, ever ask the bomb-throwing, hate-mongering, race-baiting goon sitting directly across from them a single question about their bomb-throwing, hate-mongering or race-baiting activities.  Instead they will be represented to the public merely as a Conservative commentator or talk radio host or pundit who, at worst, might be known for some "controversial" opinions, which the moderator will never bothers to explicate...

I see now that at least one of the reasons the American corporate media kept dunking Gingrich's career in the Lazarus Pit and bringing it back life over and over again was the same reason that doomsday preppers stockpile seeds and ammunition.  So if SHTF Day ever came and a racist halfwit orange Republican fire demon was ever elected president, Gingrich would be ready and waiting to be swept into his orbit, thus giving the American corporate media a ready-made "insider" who was already beholden to them and who would obligingly dispense quotable quotes on demand.

And guess what!

From the Washington Post:

How Newt Gingrich became the go-to interview for every story about the Trump White House

Donald Trump is everything to Newt Gingrich.

He’s “the grizzly bear in ‘The Revenant,’ ” he told HuffPost; a “pirate” willing to get things done outside the system he proclaimed to Fox News; and a shrewd businessman who “likes to invest in winners because they make more money,” he said to the New York Times. He “resembles [Margaret] Thatcher much more than [Ronald] Reagan,” “channels” Andrew Jackson and is “the most divisive president since Lincoln.”

Trump is also — perhaps most importantly to a man who has not held elected office since 1999 but who still wants to be in the mix — the reason Gingrich’s phone keeps ringing off the hook, and why his speaking fees have gone through the roof.

In a time when everyone is trying to figure out what’s going on in the mind and administration of our president, Gingrich has become one of the hottest dial-a-quotes around. He’s dished on palace intrigue in the pages of the Times, discussed Trump’s 2020 reelection chances with George Stephanopoulos and talked presidential television habits with The Washington Post.

“[Trump] is very attuned to the fact that cable networks have 24 hours a day that they need to fill,” he told The Post. “And if you’re interesting, you are gold.”

...

“Newt really is a strategic visionary,” said Kellyanne Conway, senior adviser to the president. “Many people in the White House call him a friend.” He talks regularly, she said, with her, chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and senior adviser Jared Kushner. He’s known Vice President Pence a long time and has a handful of former staffers working in various departments in and around the White House.

...

And while Gingrich may have initially wanted a role in the administration, life is pretty good for him on the outside. His speaking fees have reportedly gone up $15,000 per speech (for events west of Chicago, Politico reported, he is asking for $75,000 plus first-class travel for two). He’s writing a book due out in June called “Understanding Trump.” And he says he can be more candid in interviews than if he worked officially with the administration...

Obvious rapacious hucksters like Newt Gingrich find a safe and nurturing environment within the American political media for the same reason that clowns and flakes and demagogues and Jeffrey Lord and Hugh Hewitt and Boris Epshteyn prosper within the same media midden pile.  Because they are needed for the media to keep their freak show running.

I'd say there's a revolving door between naked political pimping and network punditing, but as the case of Corey Lewandowski amply demonstrates, there is no door at all anymore.