Lucky me. I first met Newt during his first unsuccessful run for public office, way back in 1974. He wanted to meet me and get my support. Even at that tender age I was smart enough to demur. Actually, turning him down didn’t require that much smarts.
I was serving as mayor of a town in Georgia’s then 6th Congressional District at the time. Newt was an instructor at what was then West Georgia College. It was obvious that he wasn’t remotely qualified for either position, though he was telling everyone how intelligent he was even then.
Many keep saying that Newt is the smartest one running for the Republican nomination. That, of course, is not all that flattering. Why do people say he is so smart? It’s because he has told everyone that for the past several decades. It isn’t because of any known evidence.
The candidates are pandering to the base to out-conservative each other. As with his putative intelligence, Newt has convinced many that he is a true conservative. Really? It might be beneficial to pay attention to what he actually says and his very public record.
Newt is whatever he wants to be. If he thinks a conservative stance will benefit him, so be it. More moderate? The same. Liberal? He wouldn’t use that term but he is quite willing to stake out such a position, at least temporarily, if he sees it as helpful.
It’s unlikely to be a profitable pursuit to find a responsible Republican who served in Congress with him that sees him as a conservative. People should pay heed to those who know him best.
Many call Romney the master of flip-flopping, but he merely follows the path trailblazed by Newt. Some have noted that they should stage a debate featuring Newt debating himself. Who would win? We would.
The graphic to the left is Newt’s coat of arms. The flip-flops point in all directions.
People have asked how Newt has changed. Is he different than he was back in the 70s? Sort of. Most people mature as they age. When it happens to Newt and vegetables, we call it rotting. Despite his attempts to portray himself as civilized, his personality is most often associated with bar brawls.
For a few seconds I saw his temperment leading him to a career in ultimate fighting. Then, I realized how inappropriate that would be for an ultimate coward.
Newt vs St. Ronny
Newt would have us believe he is Reagan’s first-born. He invoked the saint’s name 55 times during the debates. There is a problem with Newt’s attempts to grab Ronny’s coattail. It can only be accomplished if he can get people to believe his lies.
He has suggested that he and Ronny decided to end the Cold War. The reality? He called Reagan’s foreign policy “a pathetic failure.” Elliot Abrams, in the National Review, wrote of Newt that he, “spewed insulting rhetoric” and “was voluble and certain in predicting that Reagan’s policies would fail.”
There’s much more. Just a quick search of Lexus shows:
■ 1982: “Really, Reaganomics has failed. We must regroup. The national government is running amuck. Without a freeze, I don’t see breakout out of higher and higher deficits.”
■ 1983: “Beyond the obvious indicators of decay the fact is that President Reagan has lost control of the national agenda.”
■ 1985: Newt calls Reagan’s summit with Gorbachev, “the most dangerous summit for the West since Adolf Hitler met with Chamberlain in 1938 at Munich.” editor’s note: I’m glad he was not one of my history professors.
■ 1986: “Measured against the scale and momentum of the Soviet empire’s challenge, the Reagan administration has failed, is failing, and without a dramatic fundamental change in strategy will continue to fail.”
■ 1987: “There were two things that people felt they knew about Ronald Reagan. That he was fundamentally honest and that he was a strong American leader who would stand tall and not deal with terrorists,” Gingrich said. The Iran-Contra affair “violated” both parts of the trust, “and it has shaken people’s beliefs.”
■ 1987: “The sense of our overpowering belief in Reagan as the most effective president since FDR is probably not retainable.”
Clinton – Newt’s Forgotten Assistant
Newt sometimes forgets to acknowledge that Bill Clinton played a role in the government. Fron a campaign ad, “When I was speaker, our budget was balanced and 11 million jobs were created.” Does anyone else find it strange for someone who claims that government doesn’t create jobs to claim credit for the creation of 11 million jobs?
And there he goes again; reforming the welfare system. Newt didn’t realize it at the time but he had a bad habit of voting against policies that he now claims as accomplishments.
A historian? I find that personally insulting. How can a person claim to be an historian while harboring such a distain and disregard of facts. There is a glaring difference between an historian and a hypocritidiot.
Not a Rocket Scientist
Now that Jules, er, uh . . . Newt Verne is pandering in preparation for the Florida Primary, he’s guaranteeing multiple space stations and a permanent base on the moon. That moon station will hold a population of 13,000. Wow! What a visionary.
Realistic people know that such an effort, though technically feasible, needs scientific and political rationales. Newt can’t be bothered with reality. He seems to consider it sufficient as an expression of America’s destiny to be the greatest in every way.
This moon station can be paid for by decimating funding for education, taxing the unemployed, getting rid of food stamps, reducing medical care and eliminating taxes on corporations and the wealthy. There will be no more highway repairs but, with the necessary reduction of law enforcement, there will be no more speeding tickets. Think of it as a wash. We just have to let Newt set our priorities for us.
Speaking of food stamps, Newt intends to make them history. He calls Obama the food stamp president.He forgets that they were a Republican program. The intent was not to feed the needy. No, nothing so Christian in spirit. The program was designed to buy votes for Republican politicians in agricultural congressional districts.
Also, Newt ignores a couple of little facts. First, there were more people receiving food stamps under George W. than under Obama, despite lies by various politicians to the contrary. Facts seem to be inconvenient for some. Further, many of those receiving food stamps under Obama are a legacy from Bush. Once again, facts are irrelevant to the nation’s self-proclaimed greatest historian.
In which one is she wearing makeup?
Though I haven’t met Newt’s latest, it’s quite apparent she is no mental giant either. When Newt asked number 2 for an open marriage, that meant he didn’t want to marry her, even after 6 years in Newt’s version of the Lincoln Bedroom – the back seat of a Town Car. It still took another 2 years before he broke down and made her a legal migraine.
I don’t think there is too much of a chance that we will have to wrap our collective heads around his 3rd lady being the 1st Lady.
.
.
p.s. It seems that few are aware of the correct way to pronounce Newt’s surname. His family pronounces it as though the final letter were a ‘k’ – rick, not rich. Just an added benefit from the expert on almost everything.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
You said you were going to be busy working on two more books and other projects, so I didn’t think it was fair to complain. In your reply to my first comment, I thought you were referring to my observation that sometims your replies are lenghty.
Newt tries to emulate a chameleon. He says whatever he thinks his current audience wants to hear. Actually, his biggest supporter should be President Obama, since Newt’s candidacy would insure an Obama landslide victory in November.
That was my immediate take on first meeting him. I still cannot grasp how anyone can fail to see it.
I think the White House would love to see Newt get the nomination. I am inclined that way also, but despite the unlikelihood of Newt winning, just him being that close scares me. Politicians, even this ex- one, always expect an October surprise. I would be very uncomfortable until all of those 21-year olds in Texas voted on the 12th of November.
My site was hacked. It was also until a user spam attack. Someone tried to use my site to spew out spam. Yhat has been dealt with. I have worked around most of the hack. Instead of writing with a visual editor I am limited to composing in HTML. That is a skill I never really mastered and haven’t used regularly for 8-10 years. My blogs will take much longer to produce, so your prayers were partially answered.
Those were not my prayers but merely an observation.
I’m sorry your site was hacked.
My reference was for your prayers that I would stop or reduce my articles. I received no complaints about my dearth of posts during the two-month hiatus, so maybe you weren’t the only one praying.