The part that give me the biggest kick is when Newt Gingrich, a guest at the meeting, lists what he regards as the GOP's values and behaviors. "I though I'd list three to be a little bit controversial," he said. "Free enterprise -- clearly our solution to jobs. Anti-communism -- in a sense, that's an extension of the Lincoln tradition of being in favor of freedom. And third, we're afraid of the news media."Beautiful.
He added, "Those are real characteristics of our party."
And so they remain.
Of course, it's also not exactly hard to go back through Newt's career and find all sorts of nonsense, including various versions of the Three Values of Civilization or the Five Key Points to American Virtue or the Six Visions of a Better World or whatever he's calling it this week. Note: those are all made up ones. I think. Each of them comes with various grandiose claims and assertions and whatnot, mostly inconsistent with the last version. Oh well; it's good fun while it lasts, and really he's not going to be the nominee. Meanwhile, if you want some fun Newt links, try a very nice one by Joe Conason, and another excellent one by Linda Killian.
Mostly, though, just listen to the snake oil salesman himself, as Friedersdorf did.
Great catch!
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He's cribbing from the original, the Pyramid of Greatness. http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfcre4mqpA1qduukyo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1321642540&Signature=YAMuoTFRvnsJ9dvq05Xyyd1c8Ws%3D
ReplyDeleteI'm puzzled over what your point is.
ReplyDeleteThere's continuity in liberalism too. Income inequality, universal health care, Keynesian fiscal policy, international co-operation.
On some level of shamelessness I gotta sort of like a guy who gets his megalomania from Foundation Trilogy. This is perhaps related to why the media likes him - he is a rare Republican who says his complete bullshit in complete sentences.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand what's wrong with this either.
ReplyDeleteReally, folks? That the three values of the GOP are (were) free enterprise, anti-Communism, and....fear of the news media? That doesn't strike you as goofy?
ReplyDelete@ David Tomlin - I think the intended punch line is putting 'fear of the media' alongside free enterprise and anticommunism (et al.) as basic GOP characteristics.
ReplyDeleteIt is as if you had listed, as Dem characteristics, Keynesianism, international cooperation, and caving to Republican blackmail.
I think the liberal counterpart to 'fear the media' would be 'fear [or 'are concerned about'] the impact on politics of corporate money and coded racist appeals.'
ReplyDeleteWell, I gotta admit, it's gonna be fun watching you lefties destroy Gingrich. ;-)
ReplyDelete