Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Politics Newt is fundamentally full of it, himself, and bad ideas
Posted by Eric Celeste on Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 10:21 AM
Great column this morning in the wake of the Newt vs. Mitt catfight in last night's debate. The column, by former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson, shows just why we said weeks ago you should take Newt's campaign seriously, and why, once you do that, you should lay waste to the bullshit he spouts. An excerpt:
But Gingrich regularly gets into trouble when moving from analysis to prescription. Nearly every problem that crosses the threshold of his attention becomes historically urgent, requiring a fundamental solution. This is the reason for his most revealing verbal habit. Systems are “fundamentally broken” and require “fundamental change.” Opposing views are “fundamentally a lie” and “fundamentally alien to American tradition.” Only the biggest ideas are sufficient to his self-regard.
And what does he do when you challenge him on these wild-ass overstatements? Call you an idiot, of course. Read the whole column. Worth it.
Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
newt positions himself as a civilization-defining intellectual but it's all ego. he's really just another orating blowhard politician.
it's funny because his persona is inherently self defeating. the kind of people who are most vulnerable to a big ideas man are also those who are most suspicious of intellectuals
also newt ghostwrites terrible historic fanfiction, which is kind of weird. newt's counterfactuals are less nuanced and complex than turtledove, who is a guy notorious for inserting creepy and unnecessary sex scenes into his work
like
dislike
probably at the public library
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_%28Gingr…
this one is the worst one. otto skorzeny parachutes into oak ridge to lay waste. the thesis is 'fucking liberals!'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg:_A…
i don't know much about this trilogy, i read a hundred pages of the first book and got bored. still,
Yea the notion of a president being able to dismiss a circuit court is scarey.
He can think on his feet. But he does look like an even bigger DB than Romney when he does that fat little boy look and says "No! I would not like to answer that! Hmmmph!"
Calista: Newt would you please eat your peas and carrots? you are looking a little pasty.
Newt: No! I will not! Hmmmmph! Where's my cookie?
Though I assume at least he paid more than 14% in taxes? and whats up with Romney giving so much coin to the Mormon Church? What are they building a space ship or something? Sorry my apologies Just wondering why the need for the big we are Mormons ad campaign.
"Just wondering why the need for the big we are Mormons ad campaign."
really the only difference between mormons and scientologists is that mormonism is rooted in a culturally amenable religious tradition
angels gave you golden plates of scripture? sure i'll buy that
aliens gave you golden visions of the truth? what, are you crazy?
Lets sum it up. Before he was in congress he was a small time professor at a non flagship university.
after congress he becomes a millinoniaire with an office on K street. Same old politician. At least Romney rake his cash in via "capitialism"
@ InAtl: Romney's not giving the money for the Mormon spaceship, (though that might be a more successful use of the funds) but as a thank you for bankrolling the gajillion dollar "Mormons are people too" ad campaign.
Latest in Fresh Loaf
-
Vernon Jones wants to return to the Gold Dome and other interesting qualification tidbits 1
Qualifying period ends, dust settles, campaigns begin
-
Suspects in Pittsburgh gay bashing slated to go to trial Tuesday
The men accused of beating Brandon White in Southwest Atlanta already headed to court
-
Film Clips: Men In Black 3
Men in black are back, Chernobyl's tourism industry is booming, and music festival romance all this weekend 'at the movies.'
- More »
More by Author
-
Coca-Cola acts like a responsible corporate citizen, or caves to left-wing pressure, depending on your level of crazy 10
Coca-Cola disassociates itself from ALEC
-
Midtown Patch and Hugh Acheson throw down in Twitter spat over health rating 11
A Twitter argument over health scores at Empire State South.
- More »
