Posted on 01/26/2012 9:32:00 AM PST by Merciful_Friend
It can really take one's breath away to see the explosion of hits and hit pieces on Newt Gingrich—from Republicans and/or conservatives—in the past 48 hours. (The Drudge Report has played a big role in marshaling and promoting the links and stories.) It's not news that Newt Gingrich is less than perfect, and although I continue to support him against Romney, I'm certainly not going to try to maintain he is a saint or a conservative of unimpeachable purity. Yet, the criticisms of Gingrich, while overwhelming in their sheer number and passion, do not convince me that Newt is less of a conservative than Mitt Romney. Some of them are quite strange.
R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. (the founder of The American Spectator) has written one of the most widely read slams of Newt, published yesterday: William Jefferson Gingrich. I'm quite willing listen to criticisms of Gingrich from people who might know something that I don't, but this column weirded me out so much in its opening paragraphs that I completely lost sympathy with where the writer is coming from. In those first two paragraphs, R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. tells his readers (in a tone that suggests that it is not even up for debate) that former president Bill Clinton is both charming and "drop-dead beautiful."
Perhaps in your world, Mr. Tyrrell, but not in mine. Bill Clinton has virtually always come across to me as dishonest, sleazy and utterly unprincipled. Those are not, for me, the ingredients of charm. As for drop-dead beautiful ... well, again, Mr. Tyrrell possesses a perspective that eludes me, and all the more dramatically in this case.
Suffice it to say, I do not think that Newt Gingrich is currently fighting for the votes of those, like Mr. Tyrrell, who find Bill Clinton both charming in personality and beautiful in physical aspect.
The rest of Mr. Tyrrell's column rehashes a lot of criticisms we have already heard to the effect that Gingrich was not a good leader in Congress and not a true conservative. Although younger than R. Emmett, I too lived through that era, and I simply remember things differently. In my mind Gingrich was a highly effective Republican leader who was ultimately taken out after years of being demonized by the media and the (drop-dead beautiful) Clinton spin machine. His public image was assuredly toxic in the end, and certainly House Republicans didn't want their own electoral prospects to be dragged down by such a lightning rod. And certainly Gingrich contributed to the problem with various personal failings. However, on substance, he had succeeded in leading the Republican majority (which he was highly instrumental in achieving in the first place) to passing many of the serious reforms that had been promised in the "Contract with America" (which Gingrich gets credit for devising). I like the substance of what Gingrich got done. (Just read his Wikipedia entry, for Pete's sake.) I don't like that he was vilified non-stop in the media from the very first moment that the Republicans won the House in 1994 ("How the Gingrich stole Christmas") and I don't like that the vilification succeeded.
I also don't like to hear so many conservatives today pushing the line on Gingrich that the liberal media and the (drop-dead beautiful) Clinton spin-machine concocted. Accepting their narrative is not the way to go. Effective conservative Republicans always get demonized. I am of the point of view that we should reject such tactics and question the premise of such characterizations, rather than buying into them lock, stock and barrel.
Count me as unconvinced that Gingrich's record does not show him to be a more reliable and effective conservative leader than Mitt Romney, given his record.
...
As for the revelations elsewhere that Newt Gingrich criticized Ronald Reagan and his administration on multiple occasions while Reagan was in office: Gingrich deserves this for wrapping himself in Reagan's mantle so frequently (for which I made fun of him the other day). Certainly his criticisms at that time don't show him in a wonderful light, but if everyone who criticized Reagan during his presidency were run out of the conservative movement, I fear that we'd be left only with Nancy. It is a tribute to Reagan that he succeeded in so much even with the opposition—at times—of many on the conservative side of things. I remember very clearly in particular that he faced a great deal of skepticism and mockery from conservatives for his arms reduction negotiations with Gorbachev. So, Gingrich deserves the knock, but I also think he deserves to be judged more on his own later achievements in leadership rather than his fire-brand rhetoric during the 1980s.
I don't have a vote in Florida. But if I did, I'm afraid I would not be getting in line. Not with old R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., and not even with Ann Coulter. And not, especially, when in denigrating Newt Gingrich, the alternative that we are told we must embrace is Mitt Romney. In this case, I'm willing to concede that Mitt may well be drop-dead beautiful in a way that Newt will never be, but as for the rest of it: it just doesn't add up.
from The Cinch Review
Listen to what Mrs. Reagan has to say about Newt - Says Goldwater passed the tourch to Ronnie who passed it to Newt!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ec_Nunb6izo
Pass it on....Let everyone know what the truth is.
He needs to tune in Rush. Rush is throwing Newt under the Bus.
Former Under Secretary of State under Reagan.
You have to at least vote for congresscritters.
Wall Street backed and bought the Obama presidency and we conservatives are suppose to protect them when they have corrupted our economy.
That is exactly my point. If Newt gets the nomination he will have to deal with a constant barrage of the most vicious lies, half-truths, distortions, etc. It will be a coordinated effort by the MSM, The Democrat Party the entertainment industry and “thoughtful, concerned citizens”. Any Republican who wants to get favorable MSM treatment will just have to go on screen and attack Newt. People like Diana Sawyer and Scott Pelley will gush on and on about how intelligent and insightful Ann Coulter is and how people should go out and buy all her books.
It will be brutal. If Newt can't handle this mild stuff he has no chance against Obama.
I beg to differ. If Newt gets the nomination he will be subject to constant attacks from every direction. Any conservative who criticizes Newt will be given favorable treatment and huge amounts of air time by the MSM.
It already is. JournOlist changed their name but they still exist. And this isn't mild. Consider also that they've only had 48 hours to gear up. Once PPP had Gingrich's numbers above Romney, it was war.
If the GOP gets Mitt, they lose me. I'll work AGAINST them, rather than idle.
I wouldn’t say that. I’d say he’s just pointing out the barrage against Newt today. He gave a good talk on what he remembered from Newt’s early days in Congress and how he can remember any of it ...
I think he’s making a mockery about the Reagan issue itself.
the north east and beltway establishment thinks that their lies and disgusting bias using FOX, Drudge, Hume, Coulter etc is gong to sway many of us and vote for their man if Romney gets the nomination.
Did it in 2008 but not again, I’ve had it after the way Romney and the establishment has acted.
Lesson the north east and the beltway is not America, they have lived up there for too long going t their cross dressing homosexual cocktail elitist parties.
As Republicans smash and devour each other there should be some realization that when you are done, we will need someone still standing to take on the evils of obama.
I can imagine Ron JR going on all the MSM shows to repeat over and over again how his father despised Gingrich and thought he was irresponsible and contemptible etc. I can see Ron Jr. swearing his father told him he prayed every night that the American people would never be dumb enough to elect Gingrich president.
“they just don’t want Newt....!”
Remember, many of the people who forced Newt out are still in DC.
They are likely shaking in fear at the idea of Newt returning as boss, and wanting revenge...
they the establishment see their power and corruption and backhanders threatened and they are fighting like mad.
They got their talking heads on FOX, they got Coulter, Hume, Rove, Perino etc, then they got to Drudge and some talk show hosts.
When you see the establishment living in fear like this then you know Newt is the right man
If GOP nominates a dog catcher, or even Bernie Madoff, I will walk over broken glass and through forest fires to vote against Zero. With 4 more years of Zero we will be done with America as we have known and loved. I am supporting Santorum at this point, because he has the least baggaqge of the 3 candidates. He is the true conservative, never supported mandates, is 100% pro-life from day one, faithful husband and father of 7, and has nothing in his record which can be exploited by democrats. The 4th, Ron Paul is unelectable.
Methinks Romney supporters protest too much in their Pelosi-like efforts to discredit Gingrich. By doing so, they may discredit themselves and their authenticity as spokespersons for conservatism.
Hopefully, the unveiling of the video of Nancy Reagan's words might reveal Romney's misleading comments about Gingrich's links to Reagan and the conservative cause of that era.
Voters might ask, where were Romney's efforts in the conservative victories during those years. When Brian Williams asked about any such efforts, Romney seemed to think that raising a family and starting a business career in a "consulting firm" qualified as contributing to the "conservative movement."
In the meantime, during those same years, other business men and women were spending their dollars and their time out there warning citizens that if they didn't rein in their elected representatives in government and return to constitutional principles, the free enterprise system which allowed them the freedom to "raise a family" and "work in the private sector" might disappear from the earth.
Working in what Romney calls "the private sector" and working to preserve the Founders' "freedom of individual enterprise" principle which underlies all the other freedoms Americans enjoy are two very different things.
Romney has done the first: Gingrich has done the latter.
Krauthammer's frank assessment of the apparent incapability of Romney to explain conservative ideas is a telling evaluation. By the way, ordinary citizens out here know the difference between fast talk, blinking eyes, discomfort when asked to define "conservatism" and shifting to another subject entirely versus the Gingrich ability take a question, calmly set the answer in a context of understanding, and provide more depth of explanation than the questioner implied.
When viewing, it's like the difference between a used car lot salesman avoiding the CarFax question and a Lexus commercial. One just "gets" the difference.
Anyone explain t me how on earth can any conservative and most republicans can vote for Romney when the man has ran to the left of Ted Kennedy and said now he will not repeal obamacare, then there is the social agenda which is totally liberal and which homosexual have no problem with, speaks volumes.
Anyone please anyone explain how one could vote for Romney knowing what we know, surely voters have to see what is going on here are do we have so many stupid people on our side that they follow FOX, Drudge and act like sheep./
If Newt can keep his cool and adopt the Reagan-esque dismissal of the charges ("Well, there you go again"), this can backfire on them big time.
Reagan was an absolute master of this, refuting the charges, while not giving the media the satisfaction of striking a nerve. Thus far, Newt has not hit on this fine point. He has attacked the media and refuted the charges, but there's always a little bit of anger, bile, and vindictiveness in his tone.
Newt starts well ("No........but I will"), but sooner or later a little bit of that temper starts to flash. This is an attempt to get him to melt down on camera.
Watch for CNN to press him hard tonight on these "charges".
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