And we shall all now despair for the fate of Western Civilization

Its chiefdefender-architect-inspiration will be dropping out of the race to be thedefender of the Free World later today. And in addition to failing Western Civilization, it turns out that Newtjust ain't into Fiscal Responsibility:

Newt Gingrich ends his White House dream today with his politicalcommittee facing a mountain of debts — owing about $4 million to scores ofbusinesses and campaign workers around the country who fear they will never getpaid.

Campaign watchdogs said the size of Gingrich’s debt isextraordinary — and could have been avoided if the candidate and his team hadbeen more disciplined.

“He was reckless in running up these bills, especially in the lastmonth or so of the campaign when it was quite clear that Mitt Romney would bethe nominee,” said Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the watchdoggroup Citizen Union.

The campaign has been dogged by financial problems since lastsummer, but its cash crunch accelerated in recent weeks. It finished March with$4.3 million in debts, an alarming increase from $1.5 million at the end ofFebruary, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

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Relief can’t come soon enough for the Gingrich campaign’s anxiouscreditors. The campaign owes Moby Dick Airways $1.1 million for travel andcharter flights.; the Patriot Group, a Virginia security company, $449,502 forhelping to protect the candidate; and McKenna, Long and Aldridge, a law firmwith offices in Atlanta, $183,658 for legal services, the reports show.

But many of the campaign’s creditors are small businesses that saythey will suffer major hardship if they are not paid.

In Phoenix, a company called Pro-Production Services is owed$32,506 for providing stages, lighting and sound equipment for a series ofcampaign appearances by Gingrich in Nevada last January.

“We floated quite a bit of money — a lot of out-of-pocket coststhat we covered,” said Ryan Driscoll, a project manager for the company. “I ama little worried. Nobody wants to lose 32 grand.”

Vic Buttermore, owner of Signs Unlimited in Ocala, Fla., says he’s“keeping my fingers crossed” the Gingrich campaign will pony up the $15,000 itstill owes for an order of 25,000 “Newt 2012″ lawn signs

“Am I nervous? Oh yeah, by all means,” he said. “They keep tellingus, ‘We’ve got you covered, you will be paid.’ But I have my doubts. I reallydo. That’s a lot of money for a small company.”

Moshe Starkman of Chevy Chase, Md., is among the dozens offrustrated former campaign staffers waiting for back pay. Starkman, who helpedthe campaign build grassroots support, is owed for more than three months ofwork.

“You hear the payment is coming ‘next week,’ or ‘later,’ or ‘in acouple of days.’ They always give excuses,” he said. “I’ve had to spend mysavings.”

Yep, that aboutfigures. I guess, when you think about it, Western Civilization is far betteroff without Newt Gingrich as defender of the Free World.