A neo-conservative contact of mine, and a great fan of Newt Gingrich, sent out a link to the following video this morning. I think that it is worth watching.
Gingrich here, and in other places, states the case in a fairly rational way that those of us who are of a secular frame of mind cannot even fathom the depths to which a religious mind will go in the service of it's conviction.
He also makes the point that not many in the Islamic world (and no prominent figures) have spoken out against the kind of terrorist acts we have seen from the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
The video is worth watching, because, in my opinion Gingrich is addressing an ugly reality that we on the left refuse to confront: that Islamic Terrorism is insanely real...and was, even before our disastrous detour into Iraq.
Set through the pre-role ad and watch the snippet of the speech here.
Gingrich also warns those of us who care about Civil Liberties. "Those of you who care about Civil Liberties had better be thinking through how we win this war, before the casualties get so great that the American People Voluntarily give up those liberties."
Gingrich makes a very true point- following the loss of an American city, he says, we will chuck our Freedoms aside so fast our heads will spin.
What frightens me about Gingrich, of course, is that this might be his "Mien Kampf" moment- given his remarks in New Hampshire in 2006, which I posted on back in June.
An excerpt from that post:
“This is a serious long term war, and it will inevitably lead us to want to
know what is said in every suspect place in the country, that will lead us to
learn how to close down every website that is dangerous, and it will lead us to
a very severe approach to people who advocate the killing of Americans and
advocate the use of nuclear of[sic] biological weapons.”Newt Gingrich is seriously proposing that we: "adopt rules of engagement that use every technology we can find to break up their capacity to use the Internet, to break
up their capacity to use free speech, and to go after people who want to kill
us"In effect, Newt is saying, we are going to need to place Freedom of Speech in a sort of Blind Trust, until we win the war on Terror.
That Newt Gingrich faces truths that most of us liberals would like to ignore makes him worth listening to now and again. That Newt Gingrich may well find himself in a position to "protect" us from those truths he addresses makes in imperative that we guard against him.
Links
Video: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/08/gingrich/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
Gingrich Post: http://rip-and-read.blogspot.com/search?q=Gingrich
If you like Rip and Read, check out
2 comments:
Thanks for putting it on the blog, but I don't agree at all with the asterisk you added that diminished the importance of Newt's warnings.
Alex, look at Newt the politician, then look at Newt the historical professor and academic. Take off the political left-leaning colored glasses and really look at the man sans party affiliation.
He led a revolution that included one of the major political upsets in American history. He led Congress and the President to reform government, to cut spending and to balance the budget, no small task when you review the habits before and since Newt left his role in government. Simply put Alex, Newt Gingrich had the guts to stand up and do what was best for the country.
And though some of his personal transgressions aren't as pure as some would like, he is the only one on either side to confront the issues in a way that says what needs to be said.
When I look at the cast of characters running, both liberals like Hillary and Conservatives like Mitt, Newt is not only the answer, but he is the only answer. He is one intelligent individual who traces history to tell the future, and unlike those from your party like Obama, Hillary, and Edwards, and unlike those from mine such as Rudy, Mitt, and McCain, he has the fortitude to say what needs to be said and speak it how it needs to be said; in plain American common sense English.
And unlike Hillary, Obama, or Edwards, I really don't think he's playing politics when he does it.
Feel free to post this on your blog as well.
Hello-
I actually did post this on the blog...if you ever want to do that yourself, feel free...there is a link at the bottom of the posts that opens up a comment form.
At any rate, I knew you wouldn't agree with my asterisk- but I had to put it. This is not the first time I've listened to Newt (in the other post I did on my blog, there are a couple of links to other speeches of his-- their warnings about the war are, if anything even more chilling than the one you sent.)
I also believe that Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton formed a rather effective partnership in the 1990s which allowed us to begin to recover from the profligacy of the 1980s and begin to restore the financial health of our republic.
However, while I respect his knowledge, and often find his speechs to be important and informative, I find it difficult to trust Newt. Partially, this IS partisan...but I don't apologize for that...I am a Democrat because everything I have ever seen in my life has convinced me that, for all of their many, many problems and shortcomings, the Democrats offer the best vision of what I want this republic to be.
But there is another part to my hesitation. My biggest problem with Newt is that I believe (especially after his comments at the Loeb Dinner in New Hampshire) that the man values order and safety (which are important, to be sure) OVER Freedom.
In other words, Newt Gingrich has made me believe, through his own words, that he would ask us to divest ourselves of some of our liberty in order to gain safety in the war on terror.
In our Democracy, that can never be. Every time we've tried it- from the Alien and Sedition Acts of the Adams administration in the 1790s to the Japanese interment camps of the 1940s to the McCarthy era- we've wound up unleashing forces which did great damage, both to individuals, and to our national fiber.
Patrick Henry said "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death". I guess my argument on this is pretty simple- if the Islamic terrorists can convince us to take liberty away from ourselves, then they really have won- and to me, that would be a greater loss to the nation, even than any building that me and my loved ones happened to be standing in.
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