Dear Dismal Political Economist! – What About the Future?

An Advice Column for the Perplexed and Confused on Economic and Political Issues

[Editor’s Note:  In his continuing effort to bring light and clarification to  current events and current issues, The Dismal Political Economist is now answering reader’s questions on how the current political and economic climate affects them personally.]

Dear Dismal Political Economist

I am worried about the future.  In two weeks the NCAA tournament will be over, and baseball season won’t be meaningful until August.  Football won’t matter until September and the hockey and the NBA playoffs don’t interest me.  In short I foresee severe entertainment shortfall and this makes me worried for the future of the country.  And it’s not just me, there’s the children to think about.

Signed

Bored in Bakersfield

Dear Bored

We feel your pain.  But there is something you have overlooked.  Despite all reason and logic Newt Gingrich has decided to remain in the race for the Republican nomination for President.  This will provide you with hours of entertainment, in fact it is hard to think of something you can watch that would provide as many laughs.

Here is Newt comparing himself to Ronald Reagan.

"Other than Ronald Reagan, I know of no Republican in my lifetime who's been able to talk like this," Mr. Gingrich told a banquet crowd here, referring to his own policy ideas on energy, brain science and other matters.

And here is Newt explaining his superiority over the others in the race and the rest of us as personified by the news media.

If Mr. Gingrich has failed to capture the party's imagination in his bid for its presidential nomination, he says, it isn't his fault. He offers big ideas, but "the news media can't cover it, and my opponents can't comprehend it,'' he says.

That same article documents how Newt had an overflow crowd at an event in Alabama, noting of course that the event was held in a garage.  And there is the always laugh out loud energy policy of Mr. Gingrich

Mr. Gingrich is focusing on one issue in particular, energy, offering a drilling program aimed at producing "$2.50 gas.''

And if you pay close attention you will probably hear Mr. Gingrich go on about how he will challenge Mr. Obama to seven (or is it ten, or twelve or fifteen) Lincoln-Douglas style debates in the fall campaign.

And it’s not just Mr. Gingrich, his fans are always good for an entertaining thought.

Bill Clark, a 69-year-old marketing consultant in Brandon, Miss., acknowledged before a rally at City Hall this week that Mr. Gingrich was unlikely to win the nomination. But he said Mr. Gingrich should stick around for the convention. "When they throw the fish into the frying pan, I'd like Newt to be there," he said.

Hey, when they throw the fish into the frying pan we’d all like to be there.

Also if you need another office activity like the NCAA pool,  there is the pool for which day does Mr. Gingrich realize that no, the Republican party is not going to choose as its nominee a man who won only two primaries and finished near the bottom of the pack in all the others.  You had better hurry though, the pool is filling up fast and the good dates are almost all taken.

Yours in haste,

The DPE