Jack Kemp on Hannity and Colmes criticizing Newt for criticizing Colin Powell NOW!

[ConservativeMan55]

Jack Kemp is on Hannity and Colmes critizing Newt Gingrich for criticizing Colin Powell. Jack claims that Newt's statement plays into the hands of Daschle. Jack thinks that Newt's opinion was poorly timed. Newt thinks that we should have been tougher with our diplomacy, and I see nothing wrong with that.

[ConservativeMan55]

Rumsfeld performed perfectly throughout this entire thing. If its possible for the Secretary of Defense to be promoted then Rummy should be promoted!

[AlbionGirl]

I think Newt was right as he often is and has been, but he's about the worst messenger possible for spreading the news.

Fair or unfair, his villification was permanent. He can't make those kind of statements without suffering the insufferable from the likes of wide eyed Kemp.

[ConservativeMan55]

Newt has been demonized by the liberal media, but I think he kept a low profile for a while, and that helped his reputation. Newt is A OK with me.

[SoCar]

I love debate and competitive advice from people who have different perspectives. I think that is essential if you are the President.

I couldn't agree more. It's especially easy to take when you know your side will win out. Bring on the debate. It's healthy.

BTW, is Smuckers Jelly Fench? If not, why should we boycott?

[AlbionGirl]

I hope you're right because I really like Newt too, and I think he is one of the most progressive and forward thinking people in politics.

I very much agree with his condemnation of the State dept, and I'll go one step further and state that I do think Powell's diplomatic efforts leading up to the war were largely a bust, especially regarding the Turkey fiasco.

For some reason, based soley on gut instinct, I don't totally trust Powell's power of intellect. I hope that President Bush leans heavily upon the Rumsfeld doctrine in the upcoming months. It's his doctrine that has proved, prescient, progressive and efficient. Sec. Rumsfeld is really, really, really smart.

[ConservativeMan55]

Smuckers is not French. I refuse to watch The Today Show. Madonna recently appeared on the show to promote her new Anti-American album and sing it with Matt Lauer. Since I'm already boycotting by not watching, I am now finding their advertisers and boycotting them as well. The Today Show blatantly tilts left, and Al Roker is out on the talk show circuit promoting hate crime legislation because he couldn't get a taxi cab fast enough! LOL! Smuckers is a primary sponsor of The Today Show.

[ConservativeMan55]

I'm not worried because I know that Newt is a million times smarter than Kemp. Also Newt is in good with the White House. This is all political calculation and Kemp was simply left out in the cold.

[SuziQ]

Well, a lot of us think the problem is endemic to the State Department and not Colin Powell's fault.

That is EXACTLY what Newt said!! Maybe Jack should have listened a little more closely before criticizing Newt!

[SoCar]

Newt's OK with me too, but I have to agree that he's not the best messenger. He's too polarizing to persuade the undecided or uninformed. Sad but true. I feel the same way about Ann Coulter. Too strident and marginalized to help our cause. These people only preach to the choir. Not a huge hinderance, but not much of a help either.

[SuziQ]

I knew Kemp was a loser when Algore whooped his ass in their debate.

You know, before that night, I had been very supportive of Jack Kemp. Watching his miserable performance that night, I could only conclude that he was either trying to not be 'mean', about which I was disgusted, or he was just incapable of standing up against Algore about which I was ALSO disgusted!

I did vote for Dole/Kemp, but I wasn't thrilled about either one of them.

[Miss Marple]

The worst thing about that debate, which I didn't discover until after the election, is that KEMP DIDN'T REHEARSE!! He thought he could just show up and wing it!!

That made me even madder than the original debate!

[SoCar]

In a weird way I think Powell's diplomatic efforts were a good thing. By being a "bust" they exposed the UN for the worthless, useless, organization they are. If we hadn't tried Powell's diplomatic route the UN would have never had to take an official stand. They might be saying now "we would have helped if only you had tried harder." This way they are on the record.

I agree that Rumsfeld is really smart, but I also think that Powell is too. I just think he sees the world through glasses that are too rose colored. He is the consummate diplomate and an excellent SOS. He has a dignified strength and an elegance that even the RATS find difficult to criticize. He is an asset to this administration, as long as he isn't calling the final shots. I think he lends credibility with his thoughtful ways. Don't discount his importance.

[SoCar]

Kemp totally sucked that night. I had a mini jolt of hopefulness when Dole chose him, but after that debate I knew it was over. In Kemp's defense though I have to say in retrospect that even if he totally humiliated Gore that night, Dole didn't have a prayer. He was the epitome of "it's my turn to be nominated" losers ever!

[ConservativeMan55]

Ann Coulter can polarize me anytime she wants....I'm more than willing to be polarized...

[ConservativeMan55]

or should I say Coulterized...Ann can Coulterize me anytime...

[SoCar]

Wow, I hate the Today Show too. But I haven't gone as far as boycotting their sponsors. There are just too many. I know Smuckers is a primary one, but since they usually stick to the weather I haven't yet been too offended. My boycotting thus far has focused on Hollywood and dopes like the Dixie Chicks. I have to admire your dedication though.

[SoCar]

Me too! It was way too important not to rehearse. He let us all down. That made me the most mad too.

[ConservativeMan55]

What I want to do is start a nation wide boycott of The Today Show, and their sponsors. Similiar to what happened with the Dixie Chicks. This will also be about the same time that Fox and Friends really starts taking over in the mornings. They are already beating The Early Show every week!

[Southern Federalist]

I have some thoughts on this that are maybe a bit different from what some people are posting.

First, I don't think for a minute that this was just Newt popping off spontaneously. I think his speech was the kick-off of a carefully planned campaign for State Department reform by the conservative policy establishment. Consider:

Newt's talk was given at the American Enterprise Institute, the think-tank with the closest ties to the Administration. Newt is a Senior Fellow of AEI. This was not a casual invite to a speaker who just happened to talk about State. Newt was delivering a manifesto from the present-day nerve center of conservative policy research. And I would bet that AEI people in the White House and Pentagon are informally but influentially in the background.

Furthermore, Newt's talk follows 18 months of increasingly severe conservative criticism of State and exposure of Foggy Bottom malfeasance and madness by conservative journalists such as Joel Mowbray. The evidence that well-placed elements at State have persistently and deliberately undermined the President (and the security of the United States) is overwhelming. There is much more at stake here than jockeying amongst Republicans.

While I almost never disagree with Miss Marple, I do have to differ about the timing. This is exactly the essential time for conservatives to hit State hard with everything we've got. State really is gathering itself to ruin the US victory in Iraq. Entrenched bureaucrats who have built their careers on assumptions about the Middle East that have now been exposed as deadly failure are fighting back to preserve their comfortable, failed paradigms. They are actively trying to preserve the substance of the Baathist regime. They are pursuing a campaign of disinformation and personal destruction against Chalabi for little other reason than spite at a guy who wouldn't be bought. For interim head of state, they are pushing an 80 year old Sunni who has spent the last decades advising Gulf State emirs and is a favorite of the Saudis.

Some posters seem to have read a different speech than the one I read. In the speech I read, Gingrich does not say anything that faintly resembles what Daschle said. Daschle said that better diplomacy could have prevented war. Newt says that the State Department did not effectively make the case for the President's policies. These seem very different charges to me.

In the speech I read, Secretary Powell is not even mentioned by name, much less trashed. The critique is clearly aimed at the career bureacrats, at "the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs' propensity for appeasing dictators and propping up corrupt regimes." Gingrich criticizes the very idea of a Secretary of State visiting Damascus at this point in time, but that is an attack on a decision, not a person.

I believe that it is absolutely necessary that this be said publicly, openly, aggressively at precisely this moment. I don't see anything irresponsible in the way Gingrich undertook the task, and I suspect we will see the pressure for reform ratcheted up much more tightly by other influential conservatives as the weeks go by.

[SoCar]

You may love Ann Coulter, and many here do, but she is not the best spokesperson for our cause. She has a srident tone and tends to make her points using the most extreme examples possible. Simply put, she does not sway those that come into debates with open minds. As much as I personally like her, I'd rather she wrote books than appear on debate shows.

I'd prefer to see more of people like RNC Chairman Marc Racicot. He presents the conservative view in a more eloquent way that says much the same thing as a Coulter or Gingrich, but in a more dignified, persuasive, "moderate" sounding way. He has an appeal that can win us converts. I love him!

I also really like Congressman Rob Portman from Ohio. He's a good friend and ally of the President. He's rarely on TV, but excellent when he is.

Other good spokespeople we have include Rudy, Jeb, Norm Coleman (from the little I've seen he's excellent), Jennifer Dunn, John Thune (too bad he "lost" he's great), Asa Hutchinson, Lindsey Graham (despite his McCain support he's turned out awesome), Saxby Chambliss (whipped Cleland in the debates, VERY smart), Anne Northrup, Elizabeth Dole (charming), Bob Ehrlich (loved his campaign coverage on C-Span, how's he doing?), Mitt Romney (see Ehrlich), My Gov Mark Sanford, Rep Duke Cunningham (unapproachable War Hero), Zell Miller (honorary GOPer), John Kyl (my faborite Senator and quite articulate), Bill Owens, Judd Gregg, and many more.

We have a deep bench of people that are capable of presenting the Republican view in a more approachable, persuadable, "moderate" sounding (in style and tone only), then Ann Coulter. Bring on more of them and less of her.