Empire of the Iguanadons

Do you hear that, Mr. Gingrich? That is the sound of inevitability. It is the sound of your defeat. Goodbye, Mr. Gingrich.

So it is done, so shall it be written. With Rick Santorum's exit from the race 2 weeks ago, the process was set in motion for Mitt Romney to secure nomination. A process that should not have taken as long as it did to decide a candidate. A process that for all intents and purposes is over. Not just because Romney won fair and square either, but because Newt Gingrich's campaign is utterly broke. They're so far in debt there's no getting out of it now, and he's been forced to consider suspending his campaign. I expect that despite all the rhetoric to the contrary that Gingrich will drop out soon. Perhaps as early as next week.

The victory was a sound drubbing in every conceivable way, here's the breakdown:

Rhode Island - 100% precincts reporting.
Mitt Romney - 63% (9,157 votes, 15 delegates)
Ron Paul - 24% (3,462 votes, 4 delegates)
Newt Gingrich - 6% (878 votes)

Pennsylvania - 100% precincts reporting.
Mitt Romney - 58% (463,865 votes, 72 delegates)
Ron Paul - 13% (105,331 votes)
Newt Gingrich - 10% (83,775 votes)

New York - 75% precincts reporting.
Mitt Romney - 62% (95,310 votes, 72 delegates)
Ron Paul - 16% (24,066 votes)
Newt Gingrich - 13% (19,747 votes)

Connecticut - 100% precincts reporting.
Mitt Romney - 67% (39,763 votes, 28 delegates)
Ron Paul - 13% (7,940 votes)
Newt Gingrich - 10% (6,054 votes)

Delaware - 100% precincts reporting.
Mitt Romney - 56% (16,143 votes, 17 delegates)
Newt Gingrich - 27% (7,741 votes)
Ron Paul - 11% (3,017 votes)

Delegate Totals to Date 1,144 required to win.
Mitt Romney: 824 delegates.
Rick Santorum: 260 delegates.
Newt Gingrich: 137 delegates.
Ron Paul: 79 delegates.

It should have become clear with this that the math is now in Romney's favor to have a lock on this even if Gingrich is stupid enough to stay in. Santorum's delegates are beginning to disperse and will only continue to do so between now and June. Now if we could just get Ron Paul to go away too.
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RIP United States of America

July 1776 - November 2012.

No, I'm pretty much a progressive, insofar as liberals don't generally do the whole RINO (DINO?) thing. There's actually a pretty strong wing of interventionist liberals out there, and I'm pretty one of them.

Which doesn't really not make me a left-leaning moderate, of course. These things exist on a continum and all.

What I'm not is a progressive in the Firedoglake, WTO-protester type tradition.

Nevertheless, plenty of people who identify as progressives don't much care for vandalism. Plenty of them don't hate the military, for that matter, either. I've known a good few who have even served.

I don't really have the patience for the whole secession = rebellion = treason thing right now. I think we're all aware of my stance on the War of Southern Aggression and its outcomes.

"War of Southern Aggression" - Do you even realize the politically correct tone that carries? It has a name you know. A proper one. "The Civil War".

That you would self-identify as a progressive tells me you probably don't know what they really stand for, and probably wouldn't care even if I could feel bothered to dredge up some information about it.

So the "contempt for the slave power and John C. Calhouns of the world" tone didn't come through? Drat. I tried.

And no, I'd say I spend a fair bit more time each week listening to actual progressives/liberals than you do. Think I have a fairly good idea of the range of beliefs within the label, even. I tend to not be out of sorts with a lot of them, though I tend to look askence at the Matt Yglesiases and Jane Hamshers and such of the world.