Newt Gingrich on D.C. Weather: 'Mild Taste of What an EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) Attack Would Do'

The Weekly Standard ^

[TheRhinelander]

Hey, you know what? Try it for eight days in December with temps never going above 20 F and THEN I will have sympathy!

[discostu]

Cars can survive lightning hits, they’ll probably be OK in an EMP.

[Envisioning]

I wonder how all those Volts are working out for everyone in DC right now?

I wonder if you could even charge one off a generator that didn't have really clean power? (((ping)))

[pfflier]

That was an idiotic thing to say.

By the end of the news cycle today, that comment will morph into an actual EMP attack.

By the end of the week Al Jeezera will morhp it into a zionist/US attack to itself and finally it will morph into Bush's fault.

[crosshairs]

I wonder how all those Volts are working out for everyone in DC right now?

I'm sure they were prepared and had spare 5 gallons cans of electricity stored in their garage.

[19th LA Inf]

tractors with ignition points should be ok

Last week, with temperature in Dallas 104, our 1998 Mercedes E320 died at a traffic light. The engine cranked normally but would not fire. Had it towed to our independent shop, and the mechanic diagnosed the problem without even looking at the computer readout. Failure of the "crankshaft position sensor", which he says happens all the time and frequently shows up in hot weather. It's a very small electronic gadget that sits on the bell housing near the rear of the engine. If I'm not mistaken, it does what the "distributor rotor" used to do back in the 20th century, but it now costs $300 to replace.

I imagine an EMP would wipe it out also, along with most of the car's other electronic conveniences.

[DannyTN]

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed an abnormal amount of severe weather events centered on DC, since Obama became President.

I mean seriously, a Land Hurricane?!?

[mkjessup]

Okay, except Petraeus is not Sec of Def.

True enough, I was thinking that getting that moron Panetta out of there was a good thing and that Petraeus had replaced him, "wishful thinking".

[Texas Fossil]

Strong reason to DownSize DC and move all possible back to the state level.

Force Congress to telecommute most of the year.

Move IT away from DC forever.

And I bet there are many congressmen who would rather live in their home district than near DC. (Except those milking the gravy train)

[Adder]

Wonder how those Leafs and Volts are doin about now.

[FrdmLvr]

I recently heard on some talk show that Iran will attack us by taking our electric grid out, returning us to the 19th century, and probably worse, as we are no longer self-sufficient or at least too dependent upon electricity.

[mkjessup]

btw, Petraeus is not SecDef he is head of the CIA. Leon Panetta is SecDef.

Yeah, thanks. I was obviously trying to not think of the fact that Lefty Leon was in charge of Defense, Petraeus would have been a better choice and is a better choice to be sure.

[nascarnation]

Volts run on gas as a backup so they’re no different in this case than the other 99.999% of vehicles.

[mkjessup]

Petraeus cannot be SecDef until September of 2021; National Security Act of 1947.

Amend the effin Act then. lol

[Charles Martel]

My older John Deere tractors with ignition points should be ok.The newer equipment will all be toast.

Yup - anything with a carburetor and breaker points should be okay. Older diesels, too - but not the newer ones with electronic engine controls.

Anything with "throttle by wire" is definitely useless, good only as something from which to siphon fuel.

[napscoordinator]

John Bolton = National Security Advisor

Good Lord. He did nothing during his time as UN Ambassador and now you want him to do another “do nothing” job. We have incredibly good people that can be NSA but John Bolton is not one of them.

[napscoordinator]

Wonder how those Leafs and Volts are doin about now.

Doing fantastic running on good ole American Gasoline.

[mkjessup]

I got news for you Sparky, Bolton was absolutely correct (and on the same page as Dick Cheney) when it came to dealing with the Islamofascists in Iran AND the Kim criminal dynasty in North Korea, unfortunately, GWB failed to listen to those wiser voices, opting for that pathetic piano-playing appeaser, aka Condi Rice.

Bolton is a good man and we would do well to heed his advice.

[RFEngineer]

“Cars can survive lightning hits, they’ll probably be OK in an EMP.”

Different energy levels in different frequency spectra.....so not apples-to-apples in comparison.

[Perdogg]

They made an exception for Gen Marshall. However, this was after he served as Secretary of State.