I watched Jon Stewart's interview with Newt Gingrich, and I found it hard not to be struck by Gingrich's shamelessness. The entire interview felt as if it was Gingrich reciting Right-wing talking points, all in a no-holds barred effort to impugn Barack Obama by any means necessary. Clearly, the truth was far less important than was throwing out a seemingly endless parade of smears in the hope that something, ANYTHING, would stick. Why else would Gingrich assert, inaccurately and with no sense of irony, that Richard Reid was in fact an American citizen (Reid is, in fact, a British subject)?
If a Democrat had made the same "mistake" that Gingrich made, the weeping and gnashing of teeth would be deafening. Republicans would be hitting the talk shows shows metaphorically armed with torches, pitchforks, and rope. Gingrich, though, seems to think a simple "oops, my bad...." should suffice, and that it was an honest mistake anyone could have made. Except that it wasn't an honest mistake, and GIngrich, no intellectual midget he, should know better.
If you're going to construct an argument, and if you expect to be taken seriously, it makes sense to build your argument on the solid ground of truth and reality. Instead, Gingrich, who's certainly smart enough to cobble together a defensible argument, chose to fall back on tired, worn out, ridiculous Right-wing talking points. His interview with Stewart was a farcical example of an empty suit determined to discredit President Obama by any and all means necessary, truth be damned. Gingrich knows full well that if you repeat a lie often enough and with enough conviction it will eventually come to be accepted as the truth.
Somewhere, Josef Goebbels is smiling....
Memo to Newt: Y'all had eight years, and all y'all managed to do during that time is screw the pooch. Thanks to Bushonomics, we now "enjoy" the worst economy this nation has endured in generations, perhaps since the Great Depression. We were subjected to eight years of governance based on greed, fear-mongering, and protection of the wealthiest classes. NOW you want us to believe that we are where we are because a Democrat's in the White House? If you weren't such an inveterate liar, you might run the risk of being taken seriously. As it is, you're little more than an empty suit desperately trying to find a way to be relevant once again. Nice try.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
