The great Dr. K today writes that Gingrich is
possessed of an unbounded need for grand display that has already led him to unconservative places even he is at a loss to explain, and that as president would leave him in constant search of the out-of-box experience — the confoundedly brilliant Nixon-to-China flipperoo regarding his fancy of the day, be it health care, taxes, energy, foreign policy, whatever.
Me, last week:
Gingrich, meanwhile, is much more of a wild card. It’s no secret he sees himself as a world historical figure, the last of the great statesmen. And part of that self-conception is his idea that statesmen cut grand bargains with the opposition when history calls for it. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, if you know for sure when history calls for it. If the GOP controlled Congress, conservatives would be on constant “Nixon to China” watch with a President Gingrich.
That great mind was a speechwriter for Walter Mondale and very anti-Reagan.
The K-man and his great mind supported high taxes in the 1980s and he still favors raising taxes today.
How can it be logically asserted that Gingrich is a bigger wildcard than Romney, who ran as a liberal and governed like one in Mass?
I think we have a better idea of what we are getting with Gingirch than we do Romney, who is always coy about what he believes. The reality is Romney is a worse flip flopper than John Kerry. Kerry would flip flop on policy, but not his liberal ideology. Romney was a liberal for a decade plus but now we are supposed to believe he's some kind of Trojan horse of conservativism. There's no logic in that.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseNeither of the quotes in the post mentions Romney. They just say that Newt is obsessed with big ideas and grand bargains. Does anyone think that's not true or not a cause for concern? Whether it's a bigger cause for concern than Romney's flaws is something reasonable people can disagree about.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIn 2008 I was upset with the Obamacons (Brooks, Noonan, etc.) because it was so clear that he was going to be a disaster. Either Romney or Gingrich may disappoint us if elected, but there's at least the possibility of them doing the right thing.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAmen. And add Parker, Pressler, Powell (ugh), Weld, Buckley, etc. There was a tragic line of people volunteering to be useful idiots!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAssuming Republican control of the house and senate, I'm trying to understand the grand bargain he'll subject us too that Romney, et al would not.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWow. Who knew Krauthammer was a neocon.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWorld Historical Jonah
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMatt X, are you REALLY trying to sell us this Brooklyn Bridge, that Dr. Krauthammer is to the left of NEWT GINGRICH?! Really?
Look, Gingrich is a RINO, and at that one who is a totally wacked-out self-described "futurist" who seems himself as Dr. Xavier mixed with Demosthenes.
The man has a long history of half-baked left-wing ideas, all of which involve Big Government and a healthy dose of Statism. And he thinks each and every one of those ideas is ingenious, because it was produced by him. Let's see how ingenious they are: cap'n'trade, Fannie/Freddie, the individual mandate in healthcare, ethanol mandates and subsidies, amnesty for illegals (and a guestworker program seems to be his "jobs plan" at a time of 9% unemployment!), calling Paul Ryan's entitlement reform "right-wing social engineering."
Yeah, a world-historical genius. If his played-out discredited rehash of the 90s gets the GOP nomination, I'll definitely be looking at the Libertarian Party ... and I'm not even a Libertarian.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseTake a victory lap Jonah!
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHubris will meet his Nemesis. When, how?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseShouldn't a man who wants to be president be interested in big ideas and grand bargains? I would have thought "great minds" would have said yes to that.
What's Romney interested in, outside of building a new house in California? It doesn't seem like he cares a thing about the issues of the day or political philosophy. He preps for the little debates and parrots the lines his handlers feed him, but let's face it, this guy just wants to be president to be president.
Gingrich appears interested in politics and the issues of the day. How in the world is that a bad thing? I don't think he sees himself as last of the great statesmen...he probably wants us to see him that way, but if Romney was like that, would his supporters care? I don't think so.
Great minds disagree with me all the time, and I'm probably all wrong aout this.
But right now, Newtie and I seem to have "the people" in our corner.
The K and the G-man, not so much. :)
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhat a compliment to be thinking in parallel with the great Dr. K. Put that ego boost to use and get us your next book soonest.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHeard a great description of Newt. He's a political psychopath.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseMatt X, are you REALLY trying to sell us this Brooklyn Bridge, that Dr. Krauthammer is to the left of NEWT GINGRICH?! Really?
Look, Gingrich is a RINO, and at that one who is a totally wacked-out self-described "futurist" who seems himself as Dr. Xavier mixed with Demosthenes.
The man has a long history of half-baked left-wing ideas, all of which involve Big Government and a healthy dose of Statism. And he thinks each and every one of those ideas is ingenious, because it was produced by him. Let's see how ingenious they are: cap'n'trade, Fannie/Freddie, the individual mandate in healthcare, ethanol mandates and subsidies, amnesty for illegals (and a guestworker program seems to be his "jobs plan" at a time of 9% unemployment!), calling Paul Ryan's entitlement reform "right-wing social engineering."
Yeah, a world-historical genius. If his played-out discredited rehash of the 90s gets the GOP nomination, I'll definitely be looking at the Libertarian Party ... and I'm not even a Libertarian.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThe funny thing is, I've always seen Dr. K the way Jonah sees Gingrich.
I think the K man sees himself as a some kind of world historical figure, the last of the great wise men. In my view, the K man is easily as egotistical as Gingrich.
I'll never understood how Mondale's boy got to be some kind of influential voice among conservatives. I see the K man as a man who sees citiziens as people who go to work to "maximize revenue" for the government.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAssuming Republican control of the house and senate, I'm trying to understand the grand bargain he'll subject us too that Romney, et al would not. Am I missing something here...should Newt win, surely the Republicans will also control the congress.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWasn't RomneyCare a "big idea" and a "grand bargain"? I seem to remember seeing a picture of Romney smiling big with Ted Kennedy standing behind him as Romney signed it into law.
But that all goes down the memory hole with pundits like the K-man, genius pundit that he is.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseThis is precisely how you tell which of the NROniks is in the tank for Romney---when they make an argument against a Not-Romney candidate which applies doubly to Romney, yet say not one word about the elephant in the room---they are guaranteed to be in the tank.
This is why Newt's giving them fits---it's very difficult to oppose Gingrich on policy grounds when Romney's far worse on the same issues and Gingrich at least gave us Contract with America.
You simply cannot be intellectually honest and pan Gingrich for the same things Romney believes and does only moreso.
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseKatheryn Jean Lopez made a comment the other day to the effect that Gingrich's Catholic conversion has worked/is still working a change in his life. I know that adult religious conversions can be profound and truly life-altering, not to mention the fact that age and adversity help some of us grow a bit wiser. Anyway, this idea gives me at least a ray of hope that President Gingrich might have a more controlled temperament than Speaker Gingrich. I suppose a touch of humility is too much to hope for?
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseYes, it's too much to hope for.
Old dogs, new tricks, etc.
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