This is the thing about Newt Gingrich. He always sounds like he knows what he's talking about, and he can be so convincing -- until you stop and analyze his clever distortions.
This is about Obama's decision no longer to defend DOMA in the courts. Newt raises the counter argument: suppose it was a President Palin who had decided that Roe v Wade was unconstitutional and ordered her AG no longer "to protect anyone's right to an abortion."
That prospect, even with my suspicions and dislike of Newt, almost had me for a moment.
But wait. This isn't parallel at all, on at least two counts:
1. Respected legal scholars are not going to agree that Roe is unconstitutional, whereas they have advised Obama that DOMA is unconstitutional.
2. Obama only ordered the AG not to defend the law in court -- but to still enforce it until it is overturned.
The fact is that Obama is upholding the law; he's just not defending it's constitutionality when challenged in court. But Newt glibly presents it as parallel, even hinting that impeachment might become necessary if the president persists in violating his oath of office to faithfully uphold the laws. Dollars to donuts: 90% of people won't stop to think that Newt is comparing apples and oranges.
I repeat: this guy is dangerous because he is so slippery and can sound so convincing.
Ralph
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AND, I should add:
ReplyDeleteNewt is dangerous because he has no integrity and no shame in pandering desperately for votes. Anyone less clever and less facile would just sound idiotic.
Newt manages to sound informed -- or even deeply probing and capable of profound insights. Uniquely so.
UNTIL you take it apart and see that it's a pack of lies and distortions. And then you realize how insulting his tactics are -- just assuming that you won't get it because he's so much smarter than anyone else.
One of his former wives asked him, when finding out about his affair, how he could go out there and give speeches about family values while carrying on an affair with a staff member.
He replied that it doesn't matter what he does; it's his message that people need to hear.
Let's face it: Newt has a kind of clever smartness, and he is articulate and persuasive.
ReplyDeleteBut his lack of integrity makes him manipulative and calculating -- and completely untrustworthy.