NG is NG

A few years back, when Bush was President, I'd occasionally document how popular entertainment critics would drag him into their reviews just to remind you they didn't like him.  I could have done it every day, so deep was their hatred, so tangential the connections.  Since Obama has been elected, they don't seem so interested in mentioning the President (except for the occasional analogy to characters held down by the small-minded masses).

Now with Republicans trying to choose a new candidate, the critics seem ready for a new name to kick around. At present, the favorite seems to be Newt Gingrich.  For instance, there's David Denby noting--in his New Yorker review of Chronicle, where three teens gain supernatural powers--that one of the things they don't do is levitate Newt Gingrich to the moon so he can build a colony.  Meanwhile, in Meredith Blake's take on the latest Dowton Abbey, we get (spoiler):

At the funeral, Matthew tells Mary he believed Lavinia died of a broken heart. “We’re the ones that killed her. We’re cursed, you and I.” Now, a little remorse is understandable; after all, it’s not like Matthew is Newt Gingrich or something. But come on, really?

I understand how proud they are of their political views, and how hard it is to hold them in, but do they really think this makes their writing better?  Or is it they believe Newt will be gone soon enough and are frightened he might leave the national stage without everyone knowing how they feel?