Mitt Romney's defeat in the South Carolina primary shows how he's not such a strong candidate after all, not generally or not against Barack Obama.

Newt Gingrich was simply hurling the same insults at Romney as Barack Obama will do in greater force. "You're a selfish capitalist. You're greedy! You won't release your tax returns!" Gingrich, whose motive was his own candidacy, of course, was in effect preparing Romney for what's to come, if Romney ends up running against Obama.

Romney's response? Essentially, "Um, um, um...."

Dear Dr. Hurd: I understand you're against social conservatives for wanting to use the force of government to restrain personal and private behavior. However, I cannot envision myself supporting any Republican, for any reason at any time. I don't care what you say about Obama. He got rid of "don't ask, don't tell" in the military, and he's keeping abortion safe and legal. I really don't care about health insurance, taxes, and all the rest. Human dignity comes first; economics is a distant second.

Dr. Hurd replies: Wow -- that's a short statement with so many errors, I hardly know where to begin! 

In a recent debate, candidate for President Ron Paul claimed we should practice the "Golden Rule" in the Middle East. If we treat people like we want to be treated, Paul claims, then we'll be treated the same way in return.

How can a man as intelligent as Ron Paul appears to be, when it comes to economics, be so profoundly wrong -- so absurd, in his position, that one is almost brought to laughter?

My answer: religion. Religion is the toxic element of conservatism.

Obama has announced that he will deny a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that unions and GOP lawmakers alike said would be a boon for job creation as well as energy security.

Nearly fifty percent of Americans, in most polls, claim that they think Obama is doing an acceptable job as President. One wonders if these same people mind that gas prices will continue to rise, and American dependence on foreign oil will continue to grow. They probably do. But increasingly, it's becoming too much to expect most Americans to make basic cause-and-effect connections.