SaysWho? Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Newt Gingrich turned partisan battles into bloodsport, wrecked Congress, and paved the way for Trump’s rise. Now he’s reveling in his achievements. Man, this is quite the read! Quote “The old order is dying,” he tells me. “Almost everywhere you have freedom, you have a very deep discontent that the system isn’t working.” And that’s a good thing? I ask. “It’s essential,” he says, “if you want Western civilization to survive.” Quote On June 24, 1978, Gingrich stood to address a gathering of College Republicans at a Holiday Inn near the Atlanta airport. ... But Gingrich had not come to deliver an academic lecture to the young activists before him—he had come to foment revolution. “One of the great problems we have in the Republican Party is that we don’t encourage you to be nasty,” he told the group. “We encourage you to be neat, obedient, and loyal, and faithful, and all those Boy Scout words, which would be great around the campfire but are lousy in politics.” For their party to succeed, Gingrich went on, the next generation of Republicans would have to learn to “raise hell,” to stop being so “nice,” to realize that politics was, above all, a cutthroat “war for power”—and to start acting like it. Quote But Gingrich had a plan. The way he saw it, Republicans would never be able to take back the House as long as they kept compromising with the Democrats out of some high-minded civic desire to keep congressional business humming along. His strategy was to blow up the bipartisan coalitions that were essential to legislating, and then seize on the resulting dysfunction to wage a populist crusade against the institution of Congress itself. “His idea,” says Norm Ornstein, a political scientist who knew Gingrich at the time, “was to build toward a national election where people were so disgusted by Washington and the way it was operating that they would throw the ins out and bring the outs in.” Quote For revolutionary purposes, the House of Representatives was less a governing body than an arena for conflict and drama. And Gingrich found ways to put on a show. He recognized an opportunity in the newly installed C-span cameras, and began delivering tirades against Democrats to an empty chamber, knowing that his remarks would be beamed to viewers across the country. Quote As his profile grew, Gingrich took aim at the moderates in his own party—calling Bob Dole the “tax collector for the welfare state”—and baited Democratic leaders with all manner of epithet and insult: pro-communist, un-American, tyrannical. In 1984, one of his floor speeches prompted a red-faced eruption from Speaker Tip O’Neill, who said of Gingrich’s attacks, “It’s the lowest thing that I’ve ever seen in my 32 years in Congress!” The episode landed them both on the nightly news, and Gingrich, knowing the score, declared victory. “I am now a famous person,” he gloated to The Washington Post. So much to digest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 The GOP is so terminally ill it's amazing Newt hasn't tried to divorce it yet. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Oh, Newt. If you think that "Western civilization" is going to survive the breakdown in the form that you think/hope it will, I have a bridge or two to sell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CastlevaniaNut18 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 I gotta read my new issue of The Atlantic. Easily my favorite magazine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boyle5150 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 54 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said: I gotta read my new issue of The Atlantic. Easily my favorite magazine. I got an “anonymous” gift for The Atlantic (thanks mom) and I agree, it’s a great magazine even though there are some articles that have a slight bias. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSoxFan9 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 Quote For their party to succeed, Gingrich went on, the next generation of Republicans would have to learn to “raise hell,” to stop being so “nice,” to realize that politics was, above all, a cutthroat “war for power”—and to start acting like it. newt was right also the atlantic is trash 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 1 hour ago, RedSoxFan9 said: newt was right also the atlantic is trash Nah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSoxFan9 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 10 minutes ago, SaysWho? said: Nah https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kevin-williamson-fired-atlantic_us_5ac66563e4b09d0a1191532b Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anathema- Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 That one B.S. incident doesn't define the whole magazine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSoxFan9 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/a-risk-that-democratic-socialism-poses-to-all-minorities/566528/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boyle5150 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 3 hours ago, RedSoxFan9 said: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/08/a-risk-that-democratic-socialism-poses-to-all-minorities/566528/ And? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CastlevaniaNut18 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I'm pretty sure there isn't a single magazine where I've agreed with every article they ever published. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSoxFan9 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/569968/ whitewashing nazis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaysWho? Posted November 3, 2018 Author Share Posted November 3, 2018 In the meantime, I love the article in the OP. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSoxFan9 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 Gingrich loves it too since it overstates his influence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CastlevaniaNut18 Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 I'm just curious, but can you name a magazine that's perfect? One that you have absolutely no complaints about and agree with 100% of their articles? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commissar SFLUFAN Posted November 3, 2018 Share Posted November 3, 2018 22 minutes ago, CastlevaniaNut18 said: I'm just curious, but can you name a magazine that's perfect? One that you have absolutely no complaints about and agree with 100% of their articles? I can answer for him: Jacobin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedSoxFan9 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Current Affairs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneticBlueprint Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 42 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said: I can answer for him: Jacobin Just now, RedSoxFan9 said: Current Affairs Also known as the Playboy and Hustler of the left. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boyle5150 Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Needs more Glenn Greenwald Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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