Plus He Can Sit In The Front Of The Plane

Newt Gingrich got 7.9% in Illinois, even less than Ron Paul. He's now lost 31 out of 33 states. His campaign is broke. He'll probably cost Rick Santorum votes in Louisiana, which could be St. Santorum's last stand against Mitt Romney. But Gingrich probably doesn't care, Michelle Cottle writes, now that taxpayers are handling his arrangements:

He clearly gave up running to win several states ago and only stays in the race because he’s drunk on a cocktail of spite, narcissism, and general mischief. Indeed, so long as a smattering of other spendthrift supporters keep the dough flowing, why should Newt’s subsidized road trip ever end? Especially now, when the former speaker has his very own Secret Service detail, thus confirming the big-cheese status he has so long possessed in his own mind.

Edwin And His Turkey

It seems strange that a New York Times reporter evinces sympathy for a functionary of a security agency that committed a monumental error when it admitted a publicity-hungry couple into the presence of the Obamas and the Vice President without authorization:

Edwin M. Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service who spent his Thanksgiving Day dealing with phone calls from reporters, would not discuss the investigation in detail but said the initial focus was on “a Secret Service checkpoint which did not follow proper procedure to ensure these two individuals were on the invited guest list.”

A quarter million or more Americans spent their Thanksgiving serving in hazardous places abroad. Mr. Donovan's colleagues should have done a better job protecting the commander in chief. Under the circumstances, who cares that he was inconvenienced?