Presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich is in mourning. He is very saddened by the sudden passing of Knut the polar bear in Germany. He tweeted:
"Sad news! Just learned knut the polar bear died suddenly at 4," Gingrich tweeted over the weekend. "Callista and I visited him in Berlin when he was 5 months old-he was cute."
Knut's passing was very sad. There is no question.
What I can't get my head around is why Newt only cares about Knut? The government's own models show that polar bears face over an 80% chance of becoming extinct by mid-Century throughout much of their range. Polar bears may well be gone in my expected lifetime.
One of the major contributors to their decline is climate change. Newt Gingrich, who actually seems to believe in the perils of global warming, has flip-flopped on whether he will support doing anything about it.
In fact, instead of seriously exploring solutions that could address our changing climate, he played dirty politics by running an inaccurate TV ad labeling policy proposals a tax. Those kinds of fear-mongering ads have set us back in the fight to pass federal legislation that will strengthen our security, create jobs, and reduce pollution.
That doesn't sounds like someone who is serious about addressing real problems, which should a prerequisite to be president. He is just someone looking to score political points with his base.
If you think Knut's passing is sad, just wait until all polar bears are gone.