"Golden clouds of his own intellectual flatulence." That's Charles Pierce on Newt Gingrich

Newt Gingrich got into a spat with Megyn Kelly on Fox's "The Kelly File" the other night over Gingrich's claim that they were not giving sufficient coverage to the revelations from the hacked Clinton campaign's emails -- and instead giving too much coverage to the women accusing Donald Trump of sexual assault.

Kelly said the emails were "worth covering, and we did."   But the thrice married Gingrich, who seems to begin each new marriage with an extra-marital affair, shot back at Kelly:  "You are fascinated with sex, and you don't care about public policy."   (Actually the hacked emails reveal details about running a political campaign, not public policy.   But let's not quibble over details when a volcano is about to erupt.)

Kelly tried to clarify that she's actually focused, not on sex, but on the "protection of women and understanding what we're getting in the Oval Office."   Being the bully that he is, he interrupted her to call Bill Clinton a sexual predator and claimed that we're about to "put him back in the East Wing" (meaning the Oval Office area).

From there it escalated in tone, with Gingrich dismissing the Trump accusers and talking over her to demand that Kelly say the words "Bill Clinton" and "sexual predator" in the same sentence.   I dare you to say it;  I dare you," he repeated.   Megyn Kelly kept her cool and dispatched the bully with this:

"Excuse me, sir. We on the Kelly File have covered the Clinton matter as well. . . . But he's not on the ticket. And the polls also show that the American public is less interested in the deeds of Hillary Clinton's husband than they are in the man who asks us to make him president, Donald Trump. We're gonna have to leave it at that, and you can take your anger issues and spend some time working on them, Mr. Speaker."   And then they shut him off.

Of course, the Trump camp whooped with glee, saying Gingrich had triumphed over Kelly.  Others thought otherwise, saying Gingrich made a fool of himself.  Charles Pierce, that shaggy-dog wordsmith who writes astute political analysis for Esquire has referred to Gingrich thus:

"He long ago departed this earthly realm on golden clouds of his own intellectual flatulence, but his shilling for Donald Trump has sent him spiraling off toward the Horsehead Nebula. . . . Despite being A Historian and a Leading Intellect, he also is a crazy person who hears Alex Jones through his fillings."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Ralph