Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Gingrich: Putin is a dictator and a thug
cnn.com ^ | September 12th, 2013 | Ashley Killough

Posted on 09/12/2013 9:31:16 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe

Americans shouldn't let Vladimir Putin's opinions get under their skin because the Russian president is a one-time KGB officer whose primary interest is nationalism, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday.

"While we have to deal with him as the president of Russia, we don't have to respect his views. We don't have to respect his opinions," said Gingrich, co-host of CNN's "Crossfire."

"And frankly, we should laugh at him when he tries to lecture America about exceptionalism, because he ain't exceptional. He's just one more in a long tradition of dictators and thugs."

Putin rattled some Americans, including high-profile figures in Washington, when he argued in a New York Times op-ed against U.S. military intervention in Syria. In the final paragraph, he took issue with the idea of America being the proverbial shining city on a hill.

"It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation," he wrote. ....

The former House speaker pointed to Putin's history as a former intelligence officer for the KGB, where he worked from 1975-1992.

Gingrich also argued Putin was behind the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008 and the conflict in Chechnya has killed thousands.

He expressed doubt the opinion piece was even written by Putin, saying it was likely penned by a Washington speechwriters.

"You can go through and read that document and you could find at every single stage find that it's a lie," Gingrich said. "For us to take it seriously is a sign that we have forgotten who Vladimir Putin is."

(Excerpt) Read more at politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: enemyofmyenemy; gingrich; heisourdictator; heisourthug; newt; newtgingrich; obama; putin
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 141-160161-180181-200201-216 last
To: Greetings_Puny_Humans; BillyBoy; Impy; NFHale; ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas; stephenjohnbanker
HA-HA, Newt the conservative hero:

Video : Newt Gingrich and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi - We Can Solve It (Newt says: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi and I agree that we need to demand action from our leaders to combat climate change” ie mandate ethanol)

Gingrich Earned Twice As Much As Previously Disclosed From Ethanol Lobbying Group

201 posted on 09/13/2013 10:05:14 PM PDT by sickoflibs (To GOP : Any path to US Citizenship IS putting them ahead in line. Stop lying about your position.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 198 | View Replies]

To: TBall

“if Newt had not stayed in so long then Santorum would have had a chance. Newt made sure Mitt was the nominee.”


On the contrary, when Newt was running ahead, Santorum was running false and lying ads about Newt, while at the same time mocking everything he said and did. Why didn’t Santorum respect his opponent and simply tried to offer a better alternative? Instead, all he did was shake more hands, kiss more babies, and make more asinine speeches in front of giant banners that read ‘Courage’ on them.


202 posted on 09/13/2013 10:07:21 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 200 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

“Newts chances of beating Obama were no better than Romneys were, He had been an entertainer for the 13 years after resigning before that primary run.”


You must be joking. Are you one of those poor deluded fools who think Romney lost because there were just too many liberals or illegal aliens voting? Mittens lost because conservatives just wouldn’t show up for a Progressive Cult Leader, even against another progressive cult leader named Obama.


203 posted on 09/13/2013 10:09:59 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 198 | View Replies]

To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

Newt is part of the problem and he needs to just go and never come back.


204 posted on 09/13/2013 10:13:51 PM PDT by TBall
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 203 | View Replies]

To: Greetings_Puny_Humans
RE :”You must be joking. Are you one of those poor deluded fools who think Romney lost because there were just too many liberals or illegal aliens voting? Mittens lost because conservatives just wouldn’t show up for a Progressive Cult Leader, even against another progressive cult leader named Obama.”

Romney lost because he inspired few except the GOPe who don't have numbers to win a vote. Few could relate to him. Oddly enough Rush, Levin, nearly all of them seemed ga-ga over him once he won the primary.

But that doesnt make Newt the pile of crap smell any better.
Newt wasnt serious about running, he took a break from FNC March 2011 to get camera time as a play act GOP candidate, Now he is a favorite on ABC This Week. All the life is a stage and the suckers ==$$$$

205 posted on 09/13/2013 10:16:40 PM PDT by sickoflibs (To GOP : Any path to US Citizenship IS putting them ahead in line. Stop lying about your position.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 203 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

“Oddly enough Rush, Levin, nearly all of them seemed ga-ga over him once he won the primary.”


Hush Bimbo, Levin and the rest are all clowns. I don’t listen to them anymore.


206 posted on 09/13/2013 10:19:15 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 205 | View Replies]

To: Greetings_Puny_Humans
RE :”Mittens lost because conservatives just wouldn’t show up for a Progressive Cult Leader..”

What???
Are you posting that you elected Obama just to spite Romney??
I wouldn't brag about something like that.

207 posted on 09/13/2013 10:21:35 PM PDT by sickoflibs (To GOP : Any path to US Citizenship IS putting them ahead in line. Stop lying about your position.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 203 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

“I wouldn’t brag about something like that.”


You probably shouldn’t display these kinds of comments either. Shows a lack of discernment on your part.


208 posted on 09/13/2013 10:23:12 PM PDT by Greetings_Puny_Humans
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 207 | View Replies]

To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

“Check Litvinenko’s books for the matter, as well as the testimony of other FSB agents who identified Russian inteligence officers with being behind the apartment buildings in Russia, which was later blamed on the Chechens.”

Fellow FReeper Angelus Errare (Dan Darling) stated the following about the apartment bombings in a couple of mails to me.

“Berezovsky is a well-known opponent of Putin and I believe that he alleges that the FSB had those apartment buildings in Moscow blown up in 1999 to drum up support for the war in Chechnya. I generally consider those claims to be bulls*it and Berezovsky to be the Russian equivalent to Ted Kennedy or Howard Dean, though I must confess some apprehension with Putin’s attitudes towards a free media in Russia. And then there is the matter that Berezovsky saw nothing wrong with backing the first war in Chechnya, but that is neither here nor there ...”

“My own opinion about the Moscow bombings was based primarily on the screeds posted in the archives at Kavkaz Center and the now-defunct Azzam.com memorializing the event while the Chechen leadership denied any connection to it. This was pretty much the same way that al-Qaeda reacted to the 9/11 attacks.”


209 posted on 09/13/2013 10:58:36 PM PDT by Jacob Kell
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 91 | View Replies]

To: Greetings_Puny_Humans; sickoflibs; BillyBoy; fieldmarshaldj

Newt is just as much a RINO as Romney, only difference is he would lost by an even larger margin and maybe have cost us the House because he was such a horrendous candidate. Newt’s campaign was so awful it made Rick Perry’s look good and Rick Perry’s campaign was awful!

He was also unviable after losing Florida. After that it was a crystal clear that Santorum was the only choice to stop Romney, not that’s he was particularly impressive himself GPH don’t get me wrong, in fact his campaign rather sucked as well, I backed him by default.

But it’s a simple fact that he was A)More conservative than Gingrich, this is undeniable. B)A stronger general election candidate than the unelectable clown Gingrich. C)Getting more votes than Gingrich in the remaining primaries meaning he was the anti-Romney frontrunner and Newt, not he, was splitting the vote by remaining in the race.

Anyone who stayed on the Newt train after Florida was a colossal fool and helped get what they wanted least, Romney.

I don’t feel a need to rehash this crap but you brought it up and I have to refute the Newt BS. Truth is we lost that election before it started because no one worth a damn ran in the first place. Cruz 2016.


210 posted on 09/13/2013 11:48:36 PM PDT by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 193 | View Replies]

To: Impy; Greetings_Puny_Humans; BillyBoy; fieldmarshaldj; NFHale; ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas
RE :”Newt is just as much a RINO as Romney, only difference is he would lost by an even larger margin and maybe have cost us the House because he was such a horrendous candidate. Newt’s campaign was so awful it made Rick Perry’s look good and Rick Perry’s campaign was awful!”

You are like the sunshine bro.

Newt like Cain were not serious candidates. They were playing for attention. And I like Cain always did. He was a Cavuto regular. They were both caricatures of candidates play acting not serious.

The truth is that the 2012 lineup was very weak, so Rove and the GOPe (and Coulter) saw Mitt as the best compared to the others. But the others wouldn’t have done any better.

Newts got more skeletons than Cain did.

211 posted on 09/14/2013 12:24:04 AM PDT by sickoflibs (To GOP : Any path to US Citizenship IS putting them ahead in line. Stop lying about your position.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 210 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs
You are like the sunshine bro.

LOL! I have a few amusing quotes about myself saved on my freeper page. I'm adding this one, it will be the first entirely positive one. ;)

212 posted on 09/14/2013 12:59:42 AM PDT by Impy (RED=COMMUNIST, NOT REPUBLICAN)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 211 | View Replies]

To: Impy; BillyBoy; fieldmarshaldj; NFHale; ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas
RE :”LOL! I have a few amusing quotes about myself saved on my freeper page. I'm adding this one, it will be the first entirely positive one. ;) “

I didn't think of doing that.

I can just imagine what a treaser trove I could post on mine from my ping comment diving, including my own posts.

As usual you give me comnstructive ideas,

213 posted on 09/14/2013 1:32:41 AM PDT by sickoflibs (To GOP : Any path to US Citizenship IS putting them ahead in line. Stop lying about your position.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 212 | View Replies]

To: Tailgunner Joe

Looks like Putin and the U.S. might both give arms to the devil. Putin didn’t like the theater bombing in his own country or the Syrian “rebels” taking a shot at a Russian jet. So I have hoped that Putin would take more of a stand against terror. I have been disappointed with this hope before at least by some of his past statements. His involvement here may have helped avert disaster, than again he may be swooping in and getting a victory from what the left and right in the U.S. against this war have thus far achieved. Would have liked to have seen an up and down vote on this war so that both the Republican and Democrat parties could be split and so attempts could be made to vote those voting for a war here out of office. However the saying be careful what you wish for may apply here. Reports in debka seemed to show a desire by Putin to help get rid of the chemical weapons, regardless of who was responsible here for the reported attack.


214 posted on 09/14/2013 4:15:49 AM PDT by Freedom of Speech Wins
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 51 | View Replies]

To: sickoflibs

Remember back in 2011, Newt called Paul Ryan’s budget plan as Right Wing Social Engineering? The conservative blogosphere screamed at Newt. Also, Newt’s advisers dumped him for Rick Perry. Then when Perry was losting ground, these same advisers dumped Perry and came crawling back to Newt. Rick Tyler, a GOP talking head, on MSNBC was one of these advisers.


215 posted on 09/14/2013 1:43:07 PM PDT by yongin (Putin cares more for his country than Obama does)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 213 | View Replies]

To: yongin
RE :”Remember back in 2011, Newt called Paul Ryan’s budget plan as Right Wing Social Engineering?”

Ryan is another one who doesn’t impress me, he doesn’t have as much baggage as Newt does though. I gotta bad feeling that Ryan has ambitions that wont be helpful.

Thanks for the info on Newt campaign. I didn’t recall that.

216 posted on 09/14/2013 8:17:00 PM PDT by sickoflibs (To GOP : Any path to US Citizenship IS putting them ahead in line. Stop lying about your position.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 215 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 141-160161-180181-200201-216 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson