Newt Gingrich: always good for a yuk

By Richard K. Barry

This is a lightbulb, signifying a good idea --
something I have never had.

When it came time for professional sleezebag Newt Gingrich to address the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), he used part of his time to paint Hillary Clinton, the presumptive 2016 Democratic presidential nominee,  as an "obstacle to economic progress," saying that to frame her in this way was a "key to winning the White House":

If this is a fight between the future and the past and we truly represent for the average American a better future and they truly represent for the average American those forces blocking that future, we will win decisively.

As proof, Gingrich went on about how Democrats want to slow down the number of smart-phone apps we will be able to get, pointing to the fact that the Food and Drug Administration has proposed regulating health-related smart-phone apps. Oh, horrors. 

If you are wondering what is this hideous debasement of our freedom of which he speaks, this is from a Sept. 2013 FDA press release:

Mobile medical apps currently on the market can, for example, diagnose abnormal heart rhythms, transform smart phones into a mobile ultrasound device, or function as the "central command" for a glucose meter used by a person with insulin-dependent diabetes.

"Some mobile apps carry minimal risks to consumer or patients, but others can carry significant risks if they do not operate correctly. The FDA's tailored policy protects patients while encouraging innovation," said Jeffrey Shuren, M.D., J.D., director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

This, he says, is "a fight where we can be on the side of younger Americans and the left is hopeless."

I can't say what particular bug is up Newt's ass on what seems a reasonable regulatory approach, but if he thinks the GOP is going to turn itself into the party of techno-cool by appealing to young people's concerns about mobile medical apps, good luck with that.

If Republicans really want to appeal to young people, perhaps they should get on the right side of marriage equality, legalized marijuana, an increased minimum wage, good paying jobs generally, or education affordability. 

That's a thought, although the medical app thing could work too.