While Gingrich backed away from his demagoguery about Bain Capital, Romney is continuing to press ahead with his charges that Gingrich was a lobbyist for Freddie Mac. As someone who has been a consultant, but never a lobbyist, I know the difference.

. . .

It takes two to tango, and lobbying requires not only a lobbyist but also someone who is being lobbied. With more than 500 people in Congress alone who could have been lobbied, and additional officials in the bureaucracies, if Romney cannot find even a single person to say that Gingrich lobbied him or her, then it is long past time for him to either put up or shut up.

On the other hand, if Romney just wants to sling a lot of mud in Newt’s direction and hope that some of it sticks, then that should tell the voters a lot about Romney’s character.

Is Anybody Serious?

Shaun Casey, the religious affairs adviser to presidential candidate Barack Obama in 2008, said at a discussion on Tuesday about “God and Politics” that the demise of religious society in the United States is a good thing.

“I, frankly, am glad American civil religion is dying,” said Casey, who is an associate professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.

. . .

“There is also a negative underside to that history with respect to slavery, manifest destiny, to war, you know, to empires, so I, frankly, am glad American civil religion is dying,” Casey said. “But it does raise the practical question, what does bind us together in some way as a country?

“We need some substitute for that and I don’t think we’ve found it yet,” Casey said.

Obama’s Former Faith Adviser: ‘I, Frankly, Am Glad American Civil Religion is Dying’

Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) took aim Wednesday at the State Department official dispatched to Congress to explain why President Obama shelved the Keystone XL pipeline – telling her that the U.S. had “fought and won World War II” in less time than the administration had spent weighing the Canada-U.S. pipeline deal.

Rep. Barton: U.S. ‘Fought and Won WW II in Less Time’ than Obama Had to Evaluate Keystone Pipeline

Mitt Romney’s substantial net worth would not impress the Founding Fathers or some other folks who ran for president for that matter.

The former Massachusetts governor has a net worth estimated at between $190 and $250 million. Even at the high end, he’s not in the same league as George Washington.

Washington’s worth, mostly tied up in his vast plantation at Mount Vernon, is estimated in today’s dollars at more than $500 million, The Washington Post’s blog The Fix reports.

Romney’s Riches Less Than Past Presidential Candidates

For whatever reason, Romney seems like a creature put on Earth to blend in with the humans and report back what he finds. He clearly likes earthlings, and they in turn find him pleasant enough, and surprisingly lifelike.

Newtzilla Conquers All?

This may be the golden age of presumptuous ignorance. The most recent demonstrations of that are the Occupy Wall Street mobs. It is doubtful how many of these semi-literate sloganizers could tell the difference between a stock and a bond.

Yet there they are, mouthing off about Wall Street on television, cheered on by politicians and the media. If this is not a golden age of presumptuous ignorance, perhaps it should be called a brass age.

No one has more brass than the president of the United States, though his brass may be more polished than that of the Occupy Wall Street mobs. When Barack Obama speaks loftily about “investing in the industries of the future,” does anyone ask: What in the world would qualify him to know what are the industries of the future?

Why would people who have spent their careers in politics know more about investing than people who have spent their careers as investors?

. . .

One of the reasons for so much presumptuous ignorance flourishing in our time may be the emphasis on “self-esteem” in our schools and colleges. Children not yet a decade old have been encouraged, or even required, to write letters to public figures, sounding off on issues ranging from taxes to nuclear missiles.

Our schools begin promoting presumptuous ignorance early on. It is apparently one of the few things they teach well. The end result is people without much knowledge, but with a lot of brass.

A Brass Age?

And if more than 40 percent of Americans pay no income taxes, how can it be “fair” to ask others to pay more?

Samuel Gregg wrote:

There is always something surreal about a Chicago politician talking about “fairness” and “playing by the rules.”

Obama’s Final SOTU?

Political analyst and Democratic pollster Doug Schoen said that President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address was full of “lofty rhetoric” that amounts to “massive new taxes” on wealthy Americans.

. . .

“The signature legislative accomplishment of his first two years was MIR — missing in rhetoric.”

Schoen Says Obama Speech Was ‘Lofty Rhetoric’

What particularly annoys Jews is not the existence of converts but the existence of “Jews for Jesus.” To most Jews, this is a misleading label, because people who come to believe in Christ should call themselves Christians, not Jews.

Evangelicals and Romney

This is contrary to the Bible, despite what some Jews and prominent Christians may teach. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans:

For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Romans 2:28,29 ESV

Thomas Sowell wrote:

Whichever candidate the Republican voters finally choose from this year’s field, they are bound to have reservations, if not fears. Gingrich’s worst could be worse than Romney’s worst, both as a candidate and as a president. But Gingrich’s best is much better than Romney’s best.

Sometimes caution can be carried to the point where it is dangerous. When the Super Bowl is on the line, you don’t go with the quarterback who is least likely to throw an interception. You go with the one most likely to throw a touchdown pass.

South Carolina’s Message