"...Red States, Blue States...and The Pot And The Kettle..."

First, today's Scriptural perspective on the process politic.

Ecclesiastes 1:9.

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) -- The four remaining GOP candidates played to their individual strengths on Thursday and tried to leave a lasting impression in a final, boisterous debate two days before South Carolina's pivotal primary.

In a campaign cycle where debates have had direct consequences on the ebb and flow of the race, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich turned his contempt for the media into one of his strongest performances yet. When CNN Chief National Correspondent John King opened the debate with a question about open marriage, following an interview by Gingrich's ex-wife that he had sought one, the Republican chastised him.

"To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine," Gingrich told King, the moderator of the debate.

Gingrich's response elicited loud applause from the audience.

A common lament, in this day and time, is that the political process in America has deteriorated into a morass of malicious, malevolent mudslinging, long on low blow and short on substantive spark, said lament usually accompanied with a wistful wish for a a return to what we inevitably refer to as "the good old days".

Fact is, when it comes to the hallowed days of good old past, much like any supposed claim of legitimate talent in anyone named Kardashian, there simply ain't no such thing.

The process of politics has been malicious and malevolent since inception.

And while it's certainly Newt's prerogative to get his panties in a twist about this slap or that slander, implying that some new level of "despicable" has been achieved in the age old process is like suggesting that there is something dirtier than dirt.

Not to mention the aforementioned Ecclesiastes editorial.

As illustrated by a few "oldies but goodies" from campaigns past.

Obviously, the terms "campaign trail" and "high road" are not synonymous.

And, as another adventure in the four year cycle gets under way, there is, among the myriad questions to be asked and answered along the way, really only one question that we are able to answer with certainty from the outset.

So, what's new?

Not much.