More thread for those who would like to discuss Newt Gingrich

Mark Kleiman offers an optimistic angle on the recent South Carolina Republican primary:

In a Southern Republican primary, adultery turned out to be less of a burden for a candidate than Cayman Islands bank accounts. That reflects a clearer moral sense than I would have credited Southern Republicans with.

You may recall that Newt Gingrich drew criticism for saying this:

If the NAACP invites me, I’ll go to their convention and talk about why the African-American community should demand paychecks, and not be satisfied with food stamps.

Southern Baptist ethics czar Richard Land stepped in to defend his friend from charges that Gingrich’s statement was racist:

Newt Gingrich recently created a stir over statements linked to race, receiving criticism for linking food stamps specifically with the African American community. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, came to Gingrich’s defense, saying the NAACP was being “a little too sensitive” about the comments. He also added his own analysis on how to get minorities “off the liberal plantation and out of the liberal barrio.”

Let no one accuse Richard Land of being “too sensitive” about statements accusing all black people of being lazy parasites.