Newt Gingrich now has some explaining to do...

A Memo found by Brody Mullins and Janet Adamy of the Wall Street Journal had some damaging things for "the Grinch" on his apparent flip flopping on Universal healthcare and the much maligned individual mandate. This was what Newt said in his memo gushing over Romney back in '06:

"The individual mandate requires those who earn enough to afford insurance to purchase coverage, and subsidies will be made available to those individuals who cannot afford insurance on their own. We agree strongly with this principle.”

This is Newt Gingrich from a debate on the 11 of this month on ABC:

"It's now clear that the mandate, I think, is clearly unconstitutional."

"GOP leaders want Ron Paul to lose" by JOHN KASS , Chicago Tribune

With the Iowa caucuses just a few days away, the Republican establishment is busy with some frightening new themes, like:

What happens in Iowa stays in Iowa.

Or: Who cares what happens in Iowa anyway?

My favorite comes direct from the unyielding mind of Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican who insists that American voters don't care which candidate wins the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3.

"People are going to look at who comes in second and who comes in third," said Branstad. "If [Mitt] Romney comes in a strong second, it definitely helps him going into New Hampshire and other states."

Losing Iowa helps in New Hampshire? So it's not winning that counts, it's losing? What the?

Is he high?

Republican bigwig minds can't be besotted by Hopium. That's a liberal Democratic leaf for Democratic pipes depressed that Chicago's City Hall has run the country into the ground.

No, Republicans must be smoking something else, something just as potent: Dopium, a leaf so powerful that it allowed many Republicans to call themselves "conservatives" while embracing a series of big-government programs and federal bailouts from the Bush administration, not to mention two wars.

Gov. Branstad isn't alone. The entire Republican establishment is babbling similar nonsense about the importance of being earnest -- and a loser in Iowa.

Meanwhile, the Republican-media high priests are now in full-throated roar. From the secular pulpits they predict unending torment and Obamanation for anyone foolish enough to embrace the current heretical teachings.

And the name of this heretic? Ron Paul, the Texas congressman and libertarian who is leading most polls in Iowa with a message of cutting government, including the defense budget, and staying out of wars.

The problem isn't that he's saying it. Paul has been consistent for years. The problem for the GOP establishment is that the American people are now listening.

And this threatens the coalition that can put Karl Rove and Wall Street and the religious right at the same table to slice the pie of power.

The fact that voters, particularly younger voters, are edging toward Paul has sent the GOP into a panic.

"His supporters are younger and more likely to [use] a cellphone, so he's probably going to perform better than his polling suggests," Iowa State associate professor Dave Peterson told cbsnews.com. "His supporters are also dedicated and will likely turn out on caucus night and not change their minds."

Republicans sure changed their minds about Mitt Romney, a moderate who yearns to be conservative during party primaries. Republicans pegged him for what he is, a corporate stiff, every hair in place, who'll run left the second he secures the nomination.

Tim Pawlenty? Just another can of Spam. Rick Perry stuck both boots in his mouth and kept them there. It's a wonder he has any lips left.

Michele Bachmann had her troubles with American history, and Rick Santorum seems ready to punch anyone who won't let him attack Iran tomorrow morning.

And Herman Cain? With so many "girlfriend" stories buzzing around him, he was tagged on the Internet with an M.C. Hammer-type parody theme song: "Cain Touched This."

Now it's Newt Gingrich's turn to drop his blossoms. What was it exactly?

That $1.6 million chunk that his consulting firm took from federal mortgage giant Freddie Mac as it was getting a massive federal bailout? Or that pledge of marital fidelity he signed the other day, suggesting that his oath to his third wife wasn't nearly enough?

Since August, the media has desperately avoided mentioning Paul. I'm not endorsing him here. But you'd have to be blind not to see Republican bosses in panic. Because if Paul wins Iowa, his ideas might catch fire.

Once there was no more amusing sight for me than watching Democratic mouthpieces appearing on TV, claiming then-Sen. Barack Obama, D-Rezko -- backed by all those guys from Chicago's City Hall -- would bring hope and change as he transcended the broken politics of America's past.

The journalistic high priests, their brains swollen by several bowls of Hopium, chattered and repeated the slogans of City Hall's favorite mouthpiece, David Axelrod.

So Americans never quite realized that the man they were electing president had been an earnest but inexperienced back-bencher in the Illinois Legislature who spent his entire career taking orders from machine bosses while trying to get ahead.

Hopium was bad enough. But what worries me are all those clouds of Dopium wafting across Iowa.

Fair and Balanced???? Really?

Its pretty safe to say most of us realize that most all media is slanted one way or another if not for any other reason then marketing segmentation. This is very obvious on cable news with CNN, Fox and MSNBC. Just take a look at MSNBC’s slogan: “Lean Forward”. Does it get more obvious then that?

Fox News tilts to the right and although they say they are “fair and balanced” I had a hunch it wasn’t the case just based off memory from tuning in time to time. What I found was pretty telling. I went to Foxnews.com and did a simple search with this criterion:

Fox News-Story-Past month-Politics

Mentions are pretty obvious and a lead story is when the subject name is in the headline. Now before we see the results, remember... what has went on in the Republican primaries the last month. Cain dropped out, Gingrich fell on his face and Paul has risen to the top of the Iowa Caucus polling. With all that said here are the results:

Romney 82 mentions with 24 lead stories

Gingrich 77 mentions with 23 lead stories

And lastly, Ron Paul… 33 mentions with 1 lead story and it laughably ran today (24 days into the month) entitled:

Newsletters, Statements Cause Campaign Trail Problems for Ron Paul

How is the candidate leading in Iowa the most conservative man running and one who has the most diverse crowds in the field have only one lead story and coincidentally enough it’s a negative one? Isn’t it interesting Romney and Gingrich are almost even? Does the Republican establishment not want Paul to gain traction. Without question they do not. Does Fox news? Obviously they will not cover him, even if he was leading the polls in Iowa... so no, its obvious they have no vested interest in him let alone him gaining traction. So what is the relationship between Fox and the Republican Establishment?

Lets say the newsletters are true, and Ron Paul is a racist.

So what? Do you suppose he would be the first racist to hold office at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave? And i know my statement begs the question.... "does that make it right?" No of course it doesnt, but if ones personal views dont effect the job then i dont think it matters. Everyone has preconceived notions. So in reality, everyone stereotypes to a degree. Does Ron Paul stereotype or not trust people because of their skin color? I dont know. Again. Lets suppose he did write those words. Where in those letters did he say hateful things? Not derogatory but hateful? Where did he spew hatred? If i was to say that Black men are 7% of the population but make up 40% of the prison population, is that racist for me to point that out? No, now if i were to use some hyperbole to make this sound "funny" (if you can even find humor in that) does that make me racist? That is up to the reader i suppose, but in my opinion its doesnt. I think its just poor taste. I dont advocate anything in those letters and i find it trashy, cheap writing.

I don't want to run your life. I don't know how to run your life. And the constitution doesn't permit me to run your life." Ron Paul

However, lets say again they were written by him and not only that Ron Paul is a racist. Where in his platform can racism be applied to politics to hurt people he allegedly despises? Where in libertarianism is it that you put collectivism over individualism. Remember, Dr Paul calls himself the champion of the constitution and what does that paper stand for? Personal liberty. And if we are all guaranteed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (property) and nothing else... how does that hurt anyone or how is that prejudice? What would he do to apply his obvious racist views? To end the war on drugs? To end overseas military campaigns and occupations that are 50 or more years old? To cut taxes on all working Americans not just the ones that will help an election here and there? Those all benefit the majority of most Americans. Of all race and all economic situations. And that also obviously includes the benefit to minorities. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Are these the views of a closet racist? And if he is, again.... how can his views ever be used against anyone from a Libertarian point of view?

2. What holds more weight, a few newsletter ads that he denied writing 20 years ago, or a 30 year span of consistency and principals matched by nobody else in government since the days of Jefferson and Washington.