The Chootzpah Games

Welcome to the 2016 Chootzpah Games!

Our first contestant: South Dakota Senator John Thune addressing reports that Facebook may have censored some news stories:

“Facebook must answer these serious allegations and hold those responsible to account if there has been political bias in the dissemination of trending news”

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to do an interview with FOX News!

You know, whether or not Facebook did what it is alleged to have done, Facebook is a private company and it can run whatever news stories it wants to. It doesn't owe Drudge or RedState or whoever access to its bandwidth. If it wants to, it can choose to run only stories from the Onion. This is not a scandal. But even if it were, a right-wing Republican complaining about a biased news source takes a hell of a lot of chootzpah.


Our next contestant: Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer

Jan Brewer calls for fewer female candidates: ‘This woman thing has gotten way out of control’

 

You know, now that I'm no longer running for office!

Contestant number 3: Former speaker Newt Gingrich.

Gingrich: Paul Ryan Made A Mistake By Not Endorsing Trump, "He Has An Obligation to Unify Party"

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich speaks with Sean Hannity about current speaker Paul Ryan hesitating to support the presumptive Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
NEWT GINGRICH: First of all... these pseudo-intellectual right-wingers
who have made a living in Washington D.C. being brilliant while they alienated the entire American people 

That's you! That is the most on-the-nose description of you I can think of.  Who was it that alienated the people by shutting down the government in a fit of pique over your seat on an airplane? Who is more of a pseudo-intellectual than Newt "I have a history degree" Gingrich? That tales a lot of chootzpah to complain about people in Washington behaving exactly like you.

 Oh, but Newt isn't done yet. He's going for bonus points.

In the case of the two Bushes and Romney. I was one of  Mitt's competitors in 2012. What do you think Mitt would have said if I did not support him?

 I'm guessing . . . Yawn?

I supported George H.W. Bush even though I was a Reagan supporter and a Bush supporter. 

Wait, you supported Bush even though you were a Bush supporter? Also, you're comparing your support for Bush Senior with Ryan's lack of support for Donald Trump? I think you're forgetting one important distinction: George H.W. Bush was not a preening, thin-skinned, narcissistic blowhard with more bankruptcies than ex-wives and zero relevant experience.  It was perfectly reasonable for you to support Bush Senior in 1988 or 92. It's political malpractice at best, bordering on the treasonous, to support an autocratic buffoon who specializes in childish insult to hold the highest office in the land.

What do you think Bush would have said if I had gotten up and not supported him?

Well, since no one had really heard of you at that point in your career, I'm guessing he wouldn't have said much.

 

What the heck is a "Gingrich?"

There is something wrong here when these people, who the Republican Party has done a lot for, let's be honest. The Bushes, the Romneys - The Republican Party has been pretty darn good to them, and they owe it to the party and the people who make up that party, beyond their own hope to be above it all. 

Yeah, that's what they're doing. That's exactly what they are doing. They are being above petty partisanship and saying "even though this buffoon is the standard-bearer of our party, I will not get behind him because he will be bad for the United States and I value my country more than my stupid, retrograde political party."  To say that they owe more to their demented, ugly hate-filled party than to their country? Well, that takes a hell of a lot of chootzpah!




The winner of the 2016 chootzpah games in Newt Gingrich! Tell him what he's won!

Newt, you've won a symbolic slap in the face, a year's supply of contempt and the scorn and ridicule of all right-thinking Americans! Congratulations!