Newt Gingrich- A Video Worth Watching

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

Newt Gringrich Slams BushBeware Geeks Bearing Gifts

There is an old proverb which warns us: Beware of Geeks bearing gifts. (The Romans later changed this to “Greeks”, but I am sure it was a type-o.)

This week, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a geek* in the true and original sense of the word, gave a gift to we-who-hate-Bush, he went onto the Fox Network and denounced the utter and complete incompetence of the Bush Administration.

The AP summed up part of Gingrich’s argument:

"All you have to do is look at the examples I've given you today where the government simply fails," said Gingrich, citing the administration's handling of the war in Iraq, its immigration policies and response to Hurricane Katrina.

And according to the article by the Bloomberg News Service:

``The administration has very, very high goals -- democracy throughout the Middle East -- and very weak bureaucratic support for those goals,'' Gingrich said on Fox. ``And the result is an enormous mismatch in just sheer implementation.''

Bush ``doesn't methodically insist on changing things,'' Gingrich said.

``Here we are, 5 and ½ years after 9/11, and the fact is, I would argue, we're losing the war around the world with Islamic extremists and they are, in fact, gaining ground,'' he said.

HA! HA! Gingrich is making our points for us! What a great day! But wait…something is not right. There is a fly in the buttermilk. You see, as much as I LOVE watching one Republican Elder eviscerating another, I can’t help but dwell on those last two points:

The terrorists are getting stronger, and so, we must insist on changing things.

Perhaps, Gingrich simply means we have to clean up and streamline the workings of the government bureaucracy.

But I keep thinking about a little noted speech Newt gave over in New Hampshire in 2006. I didn’t find it until months later, when I tried to write a funny essay on Newt’s infidelity during the Clinton crisis….I remembered then, and am recalling now, that there is absolutely NOTHING funny about Newt Gingrich:

“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.

I think that when Newt Gingrich talks about drastic changes, he actually has something like THIS in mind.

And I shudder to think of it. All too often, we liberals tend to think that, if the American People are deeply dissatisfied with the Republicans, they will turn to us.

But what would they do if they were offered a choice even FURTHER to the right?

That’s what keeps me awake at night.

*Post-Script

The term Geek,in it's origional usage, denoted a performer in a circus who captured attention by perferming unspeakable acts.

It's Really Not that Funny After All: Newt's Infidelity

At the behest of a friend, it was my intention to write a humorous post about Newt Gingrich's revelation today that he was screwing around at the same time Bill was teaching Monica about cigars.

In an interview with the Oily James Dobson, of Focus on the Family, Gingrich was asked if the allegations of sexual impropriety were true.

According to the AP Gingrich replied: "The honest answer is yes...There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."

Gingrich makes the case, however, that he is not a hypocrite. After all, he was just committing adultery, Clinton was accused of lying in court. (Have you ever noticed that conservatives ALWAYS have a reason why THEY aren't guilty?)

At first, it seemed like an easy way to have a little fun. After all, there hasn't been a story this good since Rush the Pill Popping Pundit.

But then I listened to the interview. This is certainly not an example of "Gotcha Journalism" from the Right. This is no hit job. Listening to Dobson and Gingrich talk, it is obvious that this is a "dramatic re-creation" of an earlier conversation. One which each party seems to have felt would be worth airing in public.

Why would Newt deliberately expose himself?

It's pretty obvious that the Right Wing tossed a softball for Newt to belt out of the park. By the time Newt throws his hat into the Presidential ring, which he will do next fall, after it becomes clear that the Radical Right is not at all happy with their less than completely crazy choices, this story will have become OLD NEWS.

The story obviously won't hurt Gingrich with the Religious Right, because there is nothing the Born Again Snake-Handlers love more than a sinner come home to Christ! He's Sinned, He's Confessed, He's Repented, He's Forgiven. Amen.

It's a neat trick, and it could be a fun post. But I'm not writing it.

Why? Because as I think about it, this looks like the beginning of an effort by the Right to Dust Newt Off and Return Him to Power.

And that is scary, very scary.

Because the REAL FOCUS of the interview was not the cute little Come to Jesus moment.

The REAL FOCUS was what Newt Gingrich calls: The Genuine Danger of Terrorism.

At a speech in New Hampshire Last Fall, Gingrich said:

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, we are going to need to place Freedom of Speech in a sort of Blind Trust, until we win the war on Terror.

At this moment, as I write, stories are going up on the internet about the recent findings of a Justice Department Audit:

The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.
And for three years the FBI underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.

These are exactly the people and the institutions Mr. Gingrich proposes to trust with protecting our free speech.

Mr. Gingrich is the person the right wing wants to be our next President.

And there is nothing funny to write about there. Not one funny little word.

Because if you thought Bush and Cheney were scary, you ain't seen nothing yet. You see, unlike Bush, Newt Gingrich is NOT stupid..EVIL..but not stupid. And unlike Cheney, Newt Gingrich would NEVER shoot anyone...at least, not accidentally.

It will make you sick, I know, but you owe it to yourself to go to the Focus on the Family site and here the "interview" between Dobson and Gingrich for yourself.

Because, unfiltered by the "Liberal" Media, which totally misses the real story in persuit of a joke, it will make your blood run cold.


It's Here: http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/Focus_on_the_Family/archives.asp?bcd=2007-3-9