Newt Gingrich! for President! 2012 !

[Riot]

Originally Posted by joeydb

Somebody better tell Obama to hit the books if he's going to be debating Newt.

I am bemused by the context of that statement Thus, I offer famous Newtisms:

“The most serious, systematic revolutionary of modern times.” Newt Gingrich on himself

“We must expect the Soviet system to survive for a very long time. There will be Soviet labor camps and Soviet torture chambers well into our grandchildren’s lives.” (except, no)

“Kill jobs and lead to a recession, force people off of work and onto unemployment and will actually increase the deficit.” Gingrich waxing prophetic regarding President Clinton’s 1993 budget bill (completely wrong on that one, weren't you, Newt?)

“Put your baby in a dumpster, that’s Okay.” Newt Gingrich explaining what liberals want when he was questioned about his plan to initiate 19th Century orphanages.

“Most People don’t realize it’s illegal to pray in school, most people somehow think that’s not true.” (Praying is allowed in public schools as long as it is not lead by government employees or so loud as to disrupt the education of others)

“Up to 25% of the White House, when they first came in, had used drugs within the past 4 or 5 years.” (Newt Gingrich just making stuff up about Clinton WH)

“On Inauguration Day, they’re breaking the law and doing drugs. Two days later, they’re in the White House. This must be the most disciplined set of addicts in the world...” (Newt Gingrich making more stuff up about Clinton WH)

“The Federal government made a Danish heart pump illegal that was used in ambulances that kept 54% of people alive who would otherwise now be dead.” (complete lie)

“Give the park police more ammo.” Newt Gingrich response to a reporter who asked what to do about the homeless a few days after the police shot a homeless man in front of the White House.

“The problem isn’t too little money in political campaigns, but not enough.” Newt Gingrich on campaign reform.

“I have enormous personal ambition. I want to shift the entire planet. And I’m doing it. I am now a famous person. I represent real power.” Newt Gingrich on Newt Gingrich

“Gingrich - Primary mission, Advocate of civilization, Definer of civilization, Teacher of the rules of civilization, Leader of the civilizing forces.” Newt Gingrich on Newt Gingrich

"A mere forty years ago, beach volleyball was just beginning. No bureaucrat would have invented it, and that's what freedom is all about."

"And my point was one I think that you'd agree with, which is there's no room in America for a black racist, a Latino racist, or a white racist, or an Asian racist, or a Native American racist. Now, we're either color blind or we're not color blind."

"Have you heard a single national figure tell you all of the crises of the recent past are not economic, they're cultural?" (must explain the GOP fixation with passing multiple abortion laws, rather than jobs bills, since January)

"I think one of the great problems we have in the Republican Party is that we don't encourage you to be nasty. We encourage you to be neat, obedient, loyal and faithful and all those Boy Scout words, which would be great around a campfire but are lousy in politics."

I'm not a natural leader. I'm too intellectual; I'm too abstract; I think too much."

"In every election in American history both parties have their cliches. The party that has the cliches that ring true wins."

"The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument."

"What is the primary purpose of a political leader? To build a majority. If voters care about parking lots, then talk about parking lots."

"You can't trust anybody with power".

"The greatest leaders in fighting for an integrated America in the twentieth century were in the Democratic Party. The fact is, it was the liberal wing of the Democratic Party that ended segregation. The fact is that it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who gave hope to a nation that was in despair and could have slid into dictatorship. And the fact is, every Republican has much to learn from studying what the Democrats did right."

"She isn't young enough or pretty enough to be the President's wife." - Newt Gingrich on his first wife.

"If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for thirty days because they get infections and they don't have upper body strength. I mean, some do, but they're relatively rare. On the other hand, men are basically little piglets, you drop them in the ditch,
they roll around in it, doesn't matter, you know. These things are very real. On the other hand, if combat means being on an Aegis-class cruiser managing the computer controls for twelve ships and their rockets, a female may be again dramatically better than a male who gets very, very frustrated sitting in a chair all the time because males are biologically driven to
go out and hunt giraffes."

And the all-time favorite Newt quote:

"It doesn't matter what I do, people need to hear what I have to say." - Newt Gingrich told his second ex-wife, on why he thinks cheating on her was okay and why she should have tolerated his affair.

[Nascar1966]

Originally Posted by Riot

I am bemused by the context of that statement Thus, I offer famous Newtisms:

“The most serious, systematic revolutionary of modern times.” Newt Gingrich on himself

“We must expect the Soviet system to survive for a very long time. There will be Soviet labor camps and Soviet torture chambers well into our grandchildren’s lives.” (except, no)

“Kill jobs and lead to a recession, force people off of work and onto unemployment and will actually increase the deficit.” Gingrich waxing prophetic regarding President Clinton’s 1993 budget bill (completely wrong on that one, weren't you, Newt?)

“Put your baby in a dumpster, that’s Okay.” Newt Gingrich explaining what liberals want when he was questioned about his plan to initiate 19th Century orphanages.

“Most People don’t realize it’s illegal to pray in school, most people somehow think that’s not true.” (Praying is allowed in public schools as long as it is not lead by government employees or so loud as to disrupt the education of others)

“Up to 25% of the White House, when they first came in, had used drugs within the past 4 or 5 years.” (Newt Gingrich just making stuff up about Clinton WH)

“On Inauguration Day, they’re breaking the law and doing drugs. Two days later, they’re in the White House. This must be the most disciplined set of addicts in the world...” (Newt Gingrich making more stuff up about Clinton WH)

“The Federal government made a Danish heart pump illegal that was used in ambulances that kept 54% of people alive who would otherwise now be dead.” (complete lie)

“Give the park police more ammo.” Newt Gingrich response to a reporter who asked what to do about the homeless a few days after the police shot a homeless man in front of the White House.

“The problem isn’t too little money in political campaigns, but not enough.” Newt Gingrich on campaign reform.

“I have enormous personal ambition. I want to shift the entire planet. And I’m doing it. I am now a famous person. I represent real power.” Newt Gingrich on Newt Gingrich

“Gingrich - Primary mission, Advocate of civilization, Definer of civilization, Teacher of the rules of civilization, Leader of the civilizing forces.” Newt Gingrich on Newt Gingrich

"A mere forty years ago, beach volleyball was just beginning. No bureaucrat would have invented it, and that's what freedom is all about."

"And my point was one I think that you'd agree with, which is there's no room in America for a black racist, a Latino racist, or a white racist, or an Asian racist, or a Native American racist. Now, we're either color blind or we're not color blind."

"Have you heard a single national figure tell you all of the crises of the recent past are not economic, they're cultural?" (must explain the GOP fixation with passing multiple abortion laws, rather than jobs bills, since January)

"I think one of the great problems we have in the Republican Party is that we don't encourage you to be nasty. We encourage you to be neat, obedient, loyal and faithful and all those Boy Scout words, which would be great around a campfire but are lousy in politics."

I'm not a natural leader. I'm too intellectual; I'm too abstract; I think too much."

"In every election in American history both parties have their cliches. The party that has the cliches that ring true wins."

"The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument."

"What is the primary purpose of a political leader? To build a majority. If voters care about parking lots, then talk about parking lots."

"You can't trust anybody with power".

"The greatest leaders in fighting for an integrated America in the twentieth century were in the Democratic Party. The fact is, it was the liberal wing of the Democratic Party that ended segregation. The fact is that it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who gave hope to a nation that was in despair and could have slid into dictatorship. And the fact is, every Republican has much to learn from studying what the Democrats did right."

"She isn't young enough or pretty enough to be the President's wife." - Newt Gingrich on his first wife.

"If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for thirty days because they get infections and they don't have upper body strength. I mean, some do, but they're relatively rare. On the other hand, men are basically little piglets, you drop them in the ditch,
they roll around in it, doesn't matter, you know. These things are very real. On the other hand, if combat means being on an Aegis-class cruiser managing the computer controls for twelve ships and their rockets, a female may be again dramatically better than a male who gets very, very frustrated sitting in a chair all the time because males are biologically driven to
go out and hunt giraffes."

And the all-time favorite Newt quote:

"It doesn't matter what I do, people need to hear what I have to say." - Newt Gingrich told his second ex-wife, on why he thinks cheating on her was okay and why she should have tolerated his affair.

Unlike Charlie Rangel I haven't heard anything about Gingrich not paying taxes. Pelosi's and Boxer's talk about ethics is a joke. Rangel is still in DC. What a joke the Dems are.

[Riot]

Newt on "Meet the Press" today, talking about the GOP Ryan budget proposal with Medicare changes, calling it: "Right wing social engineering". Conservatives imposing "radical change".

He's right, of course, and his position, while alienating him from the conservative Tea Party and libertarian members of the GOP, would endear him to independents and even progressives.

Independents and progressives are, however, completely offended when Newt said that you could only understand President Obama if, "only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior", then said this is "the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior." (Newt is a liar, or simply a stupid idiot, aside from being willing to use dog whistles, as the President never lived in Kenya)

In response, Paul Ryan on CNN's "State of the Union" stuck to his guns regarding his budget, including the Medicare abolishment provisions (which is strange, as the GOP via Boehner has been massively walking this back this past two weeks, based upon the angry, upset constituents at their town hall meetings telling them to keep their damn government hands off their Medicare. Forty-one freshmen Tea Party Congressmen even wrote a letter to Obama last week, whining, and asking him to intervene in the Democrats pointing out in campaign ads that the GOP voted to abolish Medicare, and ask them not to do that - LOL!).

It should be noted the CBO scored the Ryan budget as increasing our deficit.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by Riot

Newt on "Meet the Press" today, talking about the GOP Ryan budget proposal with Medicare changes, calling it: "Right wing social engineering". Conservatives imposing "radical change".

He's right, of course, and his position, while alienating him from the conservative Tea Party and libertarian members of the GOP, would endear him to independents and even progressives.

Independents and progressives are, however, completely offended when Newt said that you could only understand President Obama if, "only if you understand Kenyan, anti-colonial behavior", then said this is "the most accurate, predictive model for his behavior." (Newt is a liar, or simply a stupid idiot, aside from being willing to use dog whistles, as the President never lived in Kenya)

In response, Paul Ryan on CNN's "State of the Union" stuck to his guns regarding his budget, including the Medicare abolishment provisions (which is strange, as the GOP via Boehner has been massively walking this back this past two weeks, based upon the angry, upset constituents at their town hall meetings telling them to keep their damn government hands off their Medicare. Forty-one freshmen Tea Party Congressmen even wrote a letter to Obama last week, whining, and asking him to intervene in the Democrats pointing out in campaign ads that the GOP voted to abolish Medicare, and ask them not to do that - LOL!).

It should be noted the CBO scored the Ryan budget as increasing our deficit.

On the whole I thought it was a good performance by him today. You are probably right to say that his comment about "right wing social engineering" will hurt him with the religious right, but I don't think that was ever his path to the nomination anyway. Mainly he'll need to soundly beat guys like Romney with college-eduacted voters in the suburbs of Des Moines and Manchester (and places like that) to win the nomination. Performances like he gave today could help him pull it off.
Sure it was his usual collection of thoughtless bluster and nonsense dressed up to sound like actual, rational ideas.....but I thought his style/delivery were perfect for a presidential candidate. I'm never sure exactly how much something like a solid MTP performance helps a candidate, but I thought he was good today.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by miraja2

Mainly he'll need to soundly beat guys like Romney with college-eduacted voters in the suburbs of Des Moines and Manchester (and places like that) to win the nomination. Performances like he gave today could help him pull it off.
Sure it was his usual collection of thoughtless bluster and nonsense dressed up to sound like actual, rational ideas.....but I thought his style/delivery were perfect for a presidential candidate. I'm never sure exactly how much something like a solid MTP performance helps a candidate, but I thought he was good today.

It seems the Sunday morning shows are turning into Republican-fest

Strangely, Newton is strong in Iowa. With Huckabee out, I don't know where the zealot religious conservatives will go to, though (hang in there, T-Paw! I know you want them! )

I think he's hoping to do well in Iowa, New Hampshire, to carry him into South Carolina.

I don't like him as a person. He resigned and didn't even complete his last Congressional term in office, due to the massive Republican reelection failure when he was Speaker.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by miraja2

On the whole I thought it was a good performance by him today. You are probably right to say that his comment about "right wing social engineering" will hurt him with the religious right, but I don't think that was ever his path to the nomination anyway. Mainly he'll need to soundly beat guys like Romney with college-eduacted voters in the suburbs of Des Moines and Manchester (and places like that) to win the nomination. Performances like he gave today could help him pull it off.
Sure it was his usual collection of thoughtless bluster and nonsense dressed up to sound like actual, rational ideas.....but I thought his style/delivery were perfect for a presidential candidate. I'm never sure exactly how much something like a solid MTP performance helps a candidate, but I thought he was good today.

Apparently this was horrible analysis on my part.
The Republican Party is in an uproar over his dismissal of the Paul Ryan plan on the show. Ryan, Rush, and Beck have all denounced Newt, and most Republicans appear to be treating him as a traitor to the cause.
I said the particular comment would hurt him with the far right, but that his overall performance on the show might help his chances when it came to the nomination. It would seem I was probably wrong. I sometimes forget that the far right wackos are the Republican Party.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by miraja2

Apparently this was horrible analysis on my part.
The Republican Party is in an uproar over his dismissal of the Paul Ryan plan on the show. Ryan, Rush, and Beck have all denounced Newt, and most Republicans appear to be treating him as a traitor to the cause.
I said the particular comment would hurt him with the far right, but that his overall performance on the show might help his chances when it came to the nomination. It would seem I was probably wrong. I sometimes forget that the far right wackos are the Republican Party.

Well, Newt is what Republicans used to be. I thought your analysis spot on. The screeching harpy Republican News Channel attack wasn't all that predictable.

What this shows is how quickly and how far the Republican party has changed in the past few years. The party has lurched very, very far to the right, is quite out of the mainstream of what used to define "conservative values", and is not representative in the least of what it's always been in modern history.

The Tea Party is now actively fighting Boehner, too, as Boehner recognizes the debt limit has to be raised, and told them so to their face last week. It's beyond absurd. They want to demagogue this country into disaster, reality be damned. It's downright scary.

We had a primary election today in Kentucky (home of Rand Paul, unfortunately): Republicans had the very VERY southern conservative long term state bigwig (an extreme conservative to start with, compared to the 1990's and previous) versus an even more extreme Tea Party candidate. The Tea Party candidate gave him a run for his money, the state bigwig Williams only got 48% of the vote. And the Tea Party candidate beat him in the strongly democratic progressive areas of Fayette Country!

So it seems that conservative minorities in strongly democratic areas are going even more extreme? We'll see. Very low voter turnout.

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by Riot

Well, Newt is what Republicans used to be. I thought your analysis spot on. The screeching harpy Republican News Channel attack wasn't all that predictable.

What this shows is how quickly and how far the Republican party has changed in the past few years. The party has lurched very, very far to the right, is quite out of the mainstream of what used to define "conservative values", and is not representative in the least of what it's always been in modern history.

The Tea Party is now actively fighting Boehner, too, as Boehner recognizes the debt limit has to be raised, and told them so to their face last week. It's beyond absurd. They want to demagogue this country into disaster, reality be damned. It's downright scary.

We had a primary election today in Kentucky (home of Rand Paul, unfortunately): Republicans had the very VERY southern conservative long term state bigwig (an extreme conservative to start with, compared to the 1990's and previous) versus an even more extreme Tea Party candidate. The Tea Party candidate gave him a run for his money, the state bigwig Williams only got 48% of the vote. And the Tea Party candidate beat him in the strongly democratic progressive areas of Fayette Country!

So it seems that conservative minorities in strongly democratic areas are going even more extreme? We'll see. Very low voter turnout.

As little regard as I have for Newt, I agree that it's troubling the response to his comments...the Republican Party is drastically shifting far right and I can only hope the majority of Americans see this because if they gain control it will be a disaster.