Newt, an intelectual but...

[RandFan]

...lacking wisdom:

George Will: ‘You can associate many things with Mr. Gingrich, but wisdom isn’t one of them’

“Mr. Gingrich said it’s not enough that he is the smartest guy in the room, he also has to be wise,” Will said. “Now you can associate many things with Mr. Gingrich, but wisdom isn’t one of them. Surely the Republican nominating electorate should understand the fact that people have patterns. Don’t expect the patterns to go away. Expect the patterns to manifest themselves again. If Newt Gingrich has any pattern at all — and he does — it is a pattern of getting himself into trouble because he thinks he is the smartest guy in the room.”

...lacking any depth of humanity:

What Gingrich Didn’t Learn in Congo

The writer who emerges from the text is not the fire-breathing, slash-and-burn partisan attacker Mr. Gingrich’s critics portrayed from his time as House speaker, nor the profound, big-picture thinker Mr. Gingrich the candidate presents himself as. It’s the desk-bound policy wonk. Part of the wonkery is the absence of any human detail.

What did a colonial-era Congolese school look like? What was in the textbooks? How did the teachers treat their students? The reader never learns because Mr. Gingrich never went there.

Perhaps that last attack is unfair. He wants to help the poor by easing "stupid" child labor laws. And I think we can all admit there is something profoundly humane in that.

BTW, for those who don't know, "Generally, the Fair Labor Standards Act allows minors over 14 to work in most jobs, with several exceptions for minors under that age. Hours are limited for minors under the age of 16. Some states have higher age standards"

 

[Ladewig]

I lean left but I have to call foul on the picture of the minor miners. Mr. Gingrich did not suggest that children of all ages be allowed to work in dangerous environments like mines. You have constructed an appeal to emotion.

 

[BenBurch]

I lean left but I have to call foul on the picture of the minor miners. Mr. Gingrich did not suggest that children of all ages be allowed to work in dangerous environments like mines. You have constructed an appeal to emotion.

He did not specify, leaving us to interpret.

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

I think there's a Murphy's Law sort of rule that says whenever you criticize someone's intelligence, you make an error yourself. ("Intellectual" has 3 Ls.)


ETA: FWIW, even though I disagree with most of his conservative views, I've always rather liked George Will. I think of him as a conservative I could have a civil and productive conversation with and whose company I'd enjoy outside of political discourse. This is definitely NOT how I think of Newt Gingrich. I think Gingrich likes to portray himself as an intellectual, but Will is the genuine article.

 

[RandFan]

I lean left but I have to call foul on the picture of the minor miners. Mr. Gingrich did not suggest that children of all ages be allowed to work in dangerous environments like mines. You have constructed an appeal to emotion.

Oh there is no question I mean to agitate. But consider this, I pointed out that federal law already allows children to work. So tell me, what the hell is Gingrich talking about? He is the one who called child labor laws "stupid" His word not mine. No, the picture is warranted. That might not be what he intends but the purpose of the "stupid" law is to prevent those minor miners. I'll stand by it.

 

[RandFan]

I think there's a Murphy's Law sort of rule that says whenever you criticize someone's intelligence, you make an error yourself. ("Intellectual" has 3 Ls.)


ETA: FWIW, even though I disagree with most of his conservative views, I've always rather liked George Will. I think of him as a conservative I could have a civil and productive conversation with and whose company I'd enjoy outside of political discourse. This is definitely NOT how I think of Newt Gingrich. I think Gingrich likes to portray himself as an intellectual, but Will is the genuine article.

Agreed.

 

[Madalch]

Oh there is no question I mean to agitate. But consider this, I pointed out that federal law already allows children to work. So tell me, what the hell is Gingrich talking about? He is the one who called child labor laws "stupid" His word not mine. No, the picture is warranted. That might not be what he intends but the purpose of the "stupid" law is to prevent those minor miners. I'll stand by it.

The picture negates your argument- can't you see that those kids are smiling? At least the one on the far left. The others just don't realize how much more boring a classroom is than digging coal.

 

[Cleon]

Newt's one of those people that's good at sounding intellectual. He's got the confidence, the "let-me-explain-it-to-you" demeanor, the whole bit. He doesn't rant, he explains. He's damn good at sounding like he knows what he's talking about.

 

[WildCat]

Newt's one of those people that's good at sounding intellectual. He's got the confidence, the "let-me-explain-it-to-you" demeanor, the whole bit. He doesn't rant, he explains. He's damn good at sounding like he knows what he's talking about.

Problem is he thinks out loud. And not every thought that pops into one's head is a good one.

 

[BenBurch]

Problem is he thinks out loud. And not every thought that pops into one's head is a good one.

That disqualifies a person to be President, don't you think? One bad statement as POTUS and you have a war.

 

[daredelvis]

He did not specify, leaving us to interpret.

Oh there is no question I mean to agitate. But consider this, I pointed out that federal law already allows children to work. So tell me, what the hell is Gingrich talking about? He is the one who called child labor laws "stupid" His word not mine. No, the picture is warranted. That might not be what he intends but the purpose of the "stupid" law is to prevent those minor miners. I'll stand by it.

Agreed.

The picture negates your argument- can't you see that those kids are smiling? At least the one on the far left. The others just don't realize how much more boring a classroom is than digging coal.

With a few of the people I have to work with, some days digging coal sounds more fun than going to work.


Daredelvis

 

[Lurker]

Newt's one of those people that's good at sounding intellectual. He's got the confidence, the "let-me-explain-it-to-you" demeanor, the whole bit. He doesn't rant, he explains. He's damn good at sounding like he knows what he's talking about.

That is kind of what galls me about Newt, you hit it right on the head. He maintains the demeanor of an intellectual. for all his vaunted reputation as an idea man I am not sure I see evidence of his ideas. Endlessly I hear on talk radio and TV News that Newt is really smart and is just bursting with novel ideas. Anyone actually see some of his ideas?

 

[Brown]

That disqualifies a person to be President, don't you think? One bad statement as POTUS and you have a war.

This is how Nixon operated. And he wasn't disqualified. Okay, bad example.

Seriously, Nixon used to propose ideas out loud, some of them ignorant, some of them loopy, some of them downright illegal. Nixon had his tape recorders running all the time, but he thought nothing of it. Weren't presidents supposed to explore ALL the options, even the "unthinkable" ones? Wasn't that part of the job?

When Nixon got in trouble with the Watergate scandal, some of Nixon's aides tried to explain that not all of Nixon's statements on tape ought to be deemed incriminating. As discussed in this thread (among others), what Nixon was told and what he said on 23 June 1972 went beyond mere musings. There was no way to spin this conversation as a hypothetical or a thinking-out-loud session.

Now, the question is, has Newt learned any lesson form this ... this ... history? (For that matter, has ANY candidate learned from this history?) In an era in which virtually all statements in public have to be assumed to be recorded and in which confidential conversations are hard to keep secret, is it an asset for a person to shoot off his mouth extravagantly first and deliberate about it later? Is it beneficial to make a blowhard remark and then backpedal under the transparent pretense of clarifying? Is it reasonable to say something reckless or foolish or near-criminal, and expect that such a statement will never be used against you (or your country)? Is it presidential carelessly to compromise your credibility as head of state?

 

[Bri]

That is kind of what galls me about Newt, you hit it right on the head. He maintains the demeanor of an intellectual. for all his vaunted reputation as an idea man I am not sure I see evidence of his ideas. Endlessly I hear on talk radio and TV News that Newt is really smart and is just bursting with novel ideas. Anyone actually see some of his ideas?

In his defense, Newt has had some good ideas for how to solve certain problems such as climate change and health care in a traditionally conservative free-market way (cap and trade, individual mandate). His problem is that the GOP abandoned most of his best ideas as soon as Obama acknowledged that they were good ideas.

-Bri

 

[BenBurch]

In his defense, Newt has had some good ideas for how to solve certain problems such as climate change and health care in a traditionally conservative free-market way (cap and trade, individual mandate). His problem is that the GOP abandoned most of his best ideas as soon as Obama acknowledged that they were good ideas.

-Bri

I think it was when Gore embraced Cap & Trade that they abandoned Newt's idea.

 

[Nova Land]

[Newt Gingrich] wants to help the poor by easing "stupid" child labor laws...

Scott Bateman has a very funny animation which has the actual audio of what Gingrich said about this accompanied by pointed comments by Bateman which flash on the screen in response to what Gingrich is saying.

The text flashing on the screen contains words not approved for the comments in this section of the forum, so instead of posting the video I'll simply post a link to a Daily Kos diary which contains the video. Well worth a watch!

Animation: Newt vs poor children (actual audio)

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

In his defense, Newt has had some good ideas for how to solve certain problems such as climate change and health care in a traditionally conservative free-market way (cap and trade, individual mandate). His problem is that the GOP abandoned most of his best ideas as soon as Obama acknowledged that they were good ideas.

But of course those weren't Newt's ideas, and he has since flip flopped his position on them anyway.

 

[Brainster]

That disqualifies a person to be President, don't you think? One bad statement as POTUS and you have a war.

I'm not a Newt supporter, but I have to question whether this is realistic. There can't be a country foolish enough to go voluntarily to war with the United States no matter what the President says.

 

[RandFan]

Scott Bateman has a very funny animation which has the actual audio of what Gingrich said about this accompanied by pointed comments by Bateman which flash on the screen in response to what Gingrich is saying.

The text flashing on the screen contains words not approved for the comments in this section of the forum, so instead of posting the video I'll simply post a link to a Daily Kos diary which contains the video. Well worth a watch!

Animation: Newt vs poor children (actual audio)

 

[RandFan]

I'm not a Newt supporter, but I have to question whether this is realistic. There can't be a country foolish enough to go voluntarily to war with the United States no matter what the President says.

That's a damn good point. There is nothing, nothing a president could do that would cause foreigners to attack America. For instance, NO WAY radicals would crash planes into the twin towers and drag America into two costly wars.