Some Random Observations
I have not been blogging for the past few days. First, I had a monthly meeting of the Public Information Declassification Board, of which I am a member-having been appointed to the post by President George W. Bush over a year ago. Then, I stayed in Washington DC to attend and observe the annual CPAC convention.
I will resume regular posts tomorrow, but in the meantime, let me offer a few random observations. First, I agree with PJM’s Jennifer Rubin’s 2/27 post at Commentary magazine’s contentions website. Rubin writes that Newt Gingrich’s speech was the most intriguing and hard to categorize presentation. Significantly, Gingrich did not talk as a partisan Republican , trying to save that party. Instead, he suggested a tri-partisan movement to develop new solutions that united Republicans, Democrats and independents, that would aim to move the nation away from the new statism advocated by the Obama Administration. Calling for a program based on economic growth that would challenge programs like the union movement’s disastrous “card check” campaign, and that would seek to improve the economy through growth rather than statist programs based on redistribution of wealth, Gingrich’s obvious slight of the Republicans leads Rubin to speculate on whether or not Gingrich was hinting at a new third party movement or meant his speech to be the first salvo of a presidential campaign.
Actually, decades ago, Gingrich himself toyed with the idea of creating a third party movement in the United States. Perhaps he was coming back to that idea, realizing that the Republican brand might be at this point in history beyond salvation. At any rate, as I listened to the former Speaker of the House, it occurred to me how different the last campaign might have been had Gingrich been the candidate rather than John McCain. Gingrich is a great speaker and communicator, and a debate over policy between Obama and Gingrich might have produced quite a different outcome in terms of Obama’s margin of victory.
As for CPAC itself, I tend to agree with those critics at PJM who noted that lack of attention to the threat of radical Islam was more than a deficiency, and that no amount of “red meat” pandering is any kind of a substitute for hard critical thinking about new directions that conservatives have to move towards. For that goal one should consult sites like David Frum’s www.newmajority.com and a new conservative website, www.newconservativeagenda.com. There were, of course, some first rate panels. Both David Horowitz and Alan Charles Kors spoke seriously and brilliantly about the state of academia today. Kors presentation was not only powerful, but was one that should have been heard by liberal intellectuals, since what Kors defended was a real classical liberalism, once the basis of the humanities, and now seriously threatened by political correctness.
Since I last blogged, the State Department announced its decision to withdraw the United States from Durban II. Now, all that is left is for President Obama to rescind the appointment of Chas Freeman as chief of the National Intelligence Council. If you think the misleading and disastrous NIC estimate on Iran’s nuclear capability was bad, wait till we see what Freeman comes up with at his new post. His record of pandering to authoritarian dictatorships like China with fondness, his toadying to the Saudis and his fierce Israel bashing and endorsement of Walt and Mearsheimer’s tendentious book on the Israel lobby gives us a hint as to what is likely to come. Perhaps more protest about this post will lead Obama to do the right thing.
I’ll be back tomorrow with regular postings.
“Gingrich’s obvious slight of the Republicans leads Rubin to speculate on whether or not Gingrich was hinting at a new third party movement or meant his speech to be the first salvo of a presidential campaign.”
I don’t trust Newt Gingrich. He has virtually no chance of becoming the GOP’s presidential nominee. And the idea of a third party is foolish. We are essentially a two party country—and that is unlikely to change anytime in the foreseeable future. There is nothing wrong with the Republican brand per se. It simply needs more effective leaders who not only believe its core doctrine—but can also explain them to the general public. A well-meaning, tongue tied candidate is of little value.
The pro-lifers are also not going anywhere. They are here to stay. David Frum, David Brooks and the other more secular conservatives are wasting their time. What are your major issues? What is nonnegotiable? Better get that straight here and now. And yes, I am something of a pro-lifer—but I would also be saying the exact same thing if I were merely a cold blooded and cynical political analyst.
Back a decade or more ago when Newt Gingrich was flying high as hero of the kulturkampf, he published a novel with the usual suspects: spies, terrorists, neo-Nazis, macho American good guy hero. One of the very bad guys was a misogynist serial rapist-killer. In his book, Gingrich really, really got into the delicious, salacious details of the awful things this dude was into.
Appalling simply appalling! As were elements, certainly of Gingrich’s quasi-public private life at the time, e.g., serving his wife divorce papers just as she was being wheeled semi-delirious into the ICU from cancer surgery… Or something not so far from that.
Sorry, I’m just not that into him.
Remember those “Mans Magazines” of the 1950s where the cover art was always some evil Nazi about to ravish a terrified gagged female victim with a fabulous decolletage; often while another female Nazi, also with big tits, but wearing swastika armbands, smirked supportingly in the background. Even as a fifteen year old, it was obvious that the Nazi was the fantasy role model for the readership of rags like those. Not exactly saying that Newt was a Nazi, but clearly his karma was more than a big flakey. Probably still is.
That shoulda have read, “…his karma was more than a bit flakey”,
Newt Gingrich’s infatuation with the junk science of “global warming” was the last straw. He’s too inclined to curry favor with the pseudo-intellectual elites. Gingrich should never be considered as a serious presidential candidate. At best, he should be treated as a marginalized senior citizen of the GOP.
Ron Radosh needs to spend more time listening to Rush Limbaugh. This man is the de facto leader of the GOP. And please note, I advise our host to actually listen to the famous radio talk show host—and not the misinterpretations of what he says by the liberal elites.