I don't suffer from insanity,

Gingrich Slams MSNBC's Allen Concerning Palin's Qualifications
By Noel Sheppard, September 3, 2008

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich did what conservatives have been waiting for someone to do since Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's running mate: take on someone in the media claiming that she lacks the qualifications to be vice president.

Such marvelously occurred Tuesday evening on the convention floor in St. Paul when MSNBC's Ron Allen said to the former Speaker, "But to be fair, her resume is not something we're familiar seeing with presidential candidates."

This didn't sit well with Gingrich who strongly replied (video embedded right, h/t NB readers Matt Noll and Patrick):

It's stronger than Barack Obama's. I don't know why you guys walk around saying this baloney. She has a stronger resume than Obama. She's been a real mayor, he hasn't. She has been a real governor, he hasn't. She's been in charge of the Alaskan National Guard, he hasn't. She was a whistle blower who defeated an incumbent mayor. He has never once shown that kind of courage. She's a whistle blower who turned in the chairman of her own party and got him fined $12,000. I've never seen Obama do one thing like that. She took on the incumbent governor of her own party and beat him, and then she beat a former Democratic governor in the general election. I don't know of a single thing Obama's done except talk and write.

Newt then challenged Allen:

I'd like you to tell me one thing Senator Obama's done.

With that, Allen retreated, and said:

Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to leave it there. I'm not going to argue the case. Thanks very much.

Hmmm. Imagine that. I guess folks like Allen are only willing to argue the case when there's nobody playing the part of the defense attorney.

How convenient.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.

Yes, this is a soapbox.

Most of my friends and family know that I have a greyhound. My husband got him for me for an anniversary present two years ago this November, and although the adoption agency was worried that I might be unpleasantly surprised, Matt knows me well and has known that I had wanted one since my early college days. To that end for the six or seven months prior to the adoption, he prepared the house for our hound's arrival.

I have been fond of the breed since I first read about them while working at a book store. I stumbled across a book about them that I was supposed to be shelving, and fell in love. That was also when I found out what happens to them when they are retired from racing, or if they don't make the cut.

I'm a farm girl. I have a realistic viewpoint on the fate of animals for food, but this is another matter. Pets in general are another matter, even, but in my heart, greyhounds are a special case.

Thousands of these hounds are born each year, raised and trained to run, give their heart and soul to the chase, live and breathe for the full out run their bodies have been bred over the centuries to do. They give their all, and when they are injured, or when they have grown too old at three years, their fate is not as pretty as the fates of other athletes. And heaven forbid a hound fail training!

Well, in Great Britain, the fate of these hounds has come to light with a vengeance over the past few weeks. An exposé article uncovered a man who, over the past decade, has been paid by various breeders in the racing industry to permanently retire their old racing hounds. He is vilified and will become the fall-guy, but it is the industry itself that should be attacked.

The people against the slaughter of these hounds are proposing a fix to the symptom, not the problem: "A new code of practice proposed under the animal welfare bill would restrict the killing of greyhounds to vets using lethal injections."

I think this law, should it pass, will result in the racing industry using even less humane methods of ridding themselves of the greyhound. I fear they will simply abandon them, or throw them out of the back of a moving vehicle, or some other equally horrifying method of 'losing' a dog.

I think the laws should address other issues, such as a restriction on the number of hounds that are bred each year, and more effort in finding homes for hounds that are ready to be retired.

Anyway, here are some links to the stories:

BBC News: Racing watchdog probes dog deaths

Times Online: Revealed: the man who killed 10,000 dogs