Sure, it's fish in a barrel, but I'll award a CotD to CAP's George Zornick, for noting that Newt Gingrich executed a complete partisan reversal on Libya, going from beating on the president for not establishing a no-fly-zone to attacking him for doing so without so much as a phony explanation. And for noting Newt's historical amnesia (Newt is certain, also without any actual argument or explanation, that this is as "badly run as any foreign operation we’ve seen in our lifetime," apparently managing to exceed Vietnam, Iraq, and the Iran hostage rescue, among other things, despite not producing even anything anecdotal that's gone wrong). And for noting that Today Show host Matt Lauer didn't challenge any of that. See Dave Weigel for transcripts.
Of course, the thing to remember about Newt is that he's a total fraud. So calling him out is not that hard to do. Still, kudos to Zornick for doing so, and a nice job, too. Great catch!
Newt is the most egregiously opportunistic and pathetically hyperbolic being in the entire history of the multiverse.
ReplyDeleteCalling things "unbelievably historic," "the worst / best in our lifetimes," "quite literally insane" and the like is a verbal tic with Newt. It shows up even in the reader reviews he posts to Amazon.com (yes, he does), which is one way you know those are genuine. He seems to believe that his point won't be made if it's just made, they always have to be enlarged to world-historical scale.
ReplyDeleteOf course, over time, like any inflation, this rhetorical inflation just reduces the value of all his statements -- which is one way you end up with a reputation as an unbelievably historic insufferable windbag.
Classic. Demagogue.
ReplyDelete1. a political agitator who appeals with crude oratory to the prejudice and passions of the mob
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.
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1. a person, especially an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2011.
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A politician who seeks to win and hold office by appeals to mass prejudice. Demagogues often use lies and distortion. ( See Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin.)
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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