Former Republican congressman turned TV commentator, Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe, took on Newt Gingrich over the misnamed Ground Zero Mosque.
He denounced Newt's ignorant and inflammatory comments. Noting that Gingrich is trying to build a base for running for president, Joe said he himself is feeling more and more distant from his (Republican) party for this kind of pandering: "There are elements of our party that are marching through the fevered swamps of ideology."
Another commentator on the same program called Newt: "nothing more than a political pyromaniac."
Even Pat Buchanan -- yes, Pat Buchanan -- said Gingrich had gone too far in likening these moderate Muslims to Nazis.
When Pat Buchanan says you've gone too far off the rails of bigotry -- wow. Now all that's left is for the late night comedians to begin to skewer Newt. Once you make someone the butt of jokes, it's hard for him to move back into the serious limelight.
Ralph
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Newt really miscalculated on this one. And I mean, miscalculated -- because that's what it is. I doubt Newt really cares a whit about what they build in lower Manhattan -- unless he can use it to whip up a frenzy of fear, hoping that people will turn to him as their savior and elect him president.
ReplyDeleteHis wife #2's revealing interview in Esquire couldn't have come at a better time. She says he has no principles -- he's all about getting attention and saying what he needs to say to get it.
Now even Peter King (R-NY) has said that Newt was wrong to use the Nazi analogy. That's right up there with Pat Buchanan's denouncement. Maybe King is afraid he'll lose his title as the "political pyromaniac."
ReplyDeleteThis could be a blessing in disguise. Newt might just to have to lay low for a while, hoping people will forget.
We're one step closer to the comedians delivering the final blow to Newt. Al Franken, former comedian, blasted the Republicans' trying to use it as a wedge issue, saying "they do this every two years" -- try to create some wedge and exploit it.
ReplyDeleteThen came his humor: "It's a community center. They're going to have Muslim point guards. Muslim point guards." And then he said, "Have you ever walked down a New York street? Two blocks away, and you can't see anything."
Then he especially went after Gingrich, saying that his likening it to nazis at the Holocaust Museum was "disgraceful."