It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.
Author unknown
Laura Ingraham and Other Gingrich Apologists
The conservative talk show host for some reason serves as Bill O'Reilly's replacement host on his prime time hit cable news magazine show The O'Reilly Factor. As regular viewers know, O'Reilly generally starts off his broadcast with a feature called the Talking Points Memo. I have not been watching FNC's prime time shows (or their nightly reruns) for several weeks, but I do subscribe to O'Reilly's Talking Point Memo podcasts. I hadn't noticed the distribution of substitute host talking points until now. I have never been an Ingraham fan, and this talking point criticizing a Romney group attack ad on Gingrich doesn't change my mind.
Here's the ad text:
You know what makes Barack Obama happy? Newt Gingrich's baggage. Newt has more baggage than the airlines. Freddie Mac helped cause the economic collapse but Gingrich cashed in. Freddie Mac paid Newt $30,000 an hour; $1.6 million. Gingrich not only teamed up with Nancy Pelosi on global warming but together they co-sponsored a bill that gave $60 million a year to a UN program supporting China's brutal one-child policy. As Speaker, Gingrich even supported taxpayer funding of some abortions. And Newt is the only Speaker in history to be reprimanded. He was fined $300,000 for ethics violations by a Republican Congress.
Ingraham essentially talks about this ad being rated "4 pinocchios" from Glenn Kessler, a Washington Post "fact checker". ("4 pinocchios means 'whoopers'; a designation Kessler says over the abortion claim.) Basically if you look at Kessler's column, the criticisms turn out to highly subjective; in fact, by any objective analysis, Kessler's analysis is shallow and highly subjective. Let's go through it point by point.
The first criticism is the hourly rate Newt was paid ($30,000), not the total amount. In fact, the advocacy group used a Washington Post estimate, not their own; Gingrich did not charge Freddie Mac by the hour; he got paid a retainer each month, meaning that he worked a variable number of as-needed hours (if any) per month. I rate Kessler's criticism as trivial. Gingrich resisted GSE reform while on retainer, the GSE's made risky loans using government guarantees and the GSE's were primarily beneficiaries of TARP funds. And let's not be naive: the reason Freddie Mac hired Gingrich is not for his expertise in European history; it has to do with his connections on Capitol Hill as a former Speaker. I rate the advocacy group's criticism: Thumbs UP!
The second criticism is that the co-sponsored bill with Pelosi never got enacted. This is, once again, a trivial criticism by Kessler: the advocacy group would have made a tougher ad if the bill had become a law. Should the former Speaker be held responsible for the legislation he wanted to pass? I think so. I rate the advocacy group's criticism: Thumbs UP!
Kessler saves his venom for the abortion language. Again, I find Kessler unconvincing. The ad says "some abortions", not "most" or "all", which would have been stronger. And, in fact, Gingrich did talk about federal payments for cases of rape and life endangerment.
That being said, the fact of the matter is that Gingrich never sought to expand abortion services beyond the exceptions under the revised 1977 Hyde Amendment. These exceptions account for something like 1.5% of all abortions. It is true that some conservatives wanted to go to the stricter language of the original Hyde Amendment which did not even allow exceptional circumstances, and Gingrich was worried about keeping moderate Republicans, opposed to the change, in his working majority.
I think what the advocacy group was trying to tell conservatives is that if you're going to go after Romney for making compromises along the way, you have to be consistent and apply the same standards to Gingrich for his deal making along the way.
Still, I give the advocacy group on this issue a clear THUMBS DOWN! I think it's unbelievably ill-advised to go after Gingrich's position on abortion given Romney's blatant pro-abortion choice stands during two statewide runs in Massachusetts, particularly his contemporary Senate run against Kennedy. Gingrich can easily flip the argument on Romney. If you are trying to appeal to social conservatives, it's far better to contrast Romney's solid marriage and family values.
Finally, Kessler argues against the fact of Gingrich's historic Congressional rebuke, arguing others would have been, but they resigned first. I rate Kessler's assessment trivial and irrelevant. After all, Gingrich also had the option of quitting before the House vote. I rate the advocacy group's assessment accurate and fairly stated. Thumbs UP!
Going back to Ingraham's opinion, she's suggesting Gingrich has been taking the high road and thinks that all this negative campaigning is a recipe for defeat. Before proceeding, let me point out that this blog is not favorably disposed towards a Gingrich Presidency.
First, let us not mince words here: negative campaigns have been part of American history since the early years of the republic. Ms. Ingraham has a convenient memory: consider, for instance, the 2002 California gubernatorial election and the 2006 Illinois one: in both cases, unpopular incumbents won reelection. Second, let's remember: Gingrich did not win his position in the polls by merit: he won it by default as the non-Romney candidacies of Bachmann, Perry, and Cain imploded. Third, the conservative media (including Limbaugh, Levin, Hannity, Ingraham, and others) are blatantly hypocritical on this issue: the very concept of the non-Romney candidate is an implicit direct unprovoked attack on Romney: how many times have we heard RomneyCare, the policy flip flops (particularly on abortion), etc.? Apparently attacks on Gingrich's record are reprehensible, unlike Romney's. Fourth, just like any veteran politician, Gingrich hasn't been afraid of attacking others; his attacks on the press are just as reprehensible as Obama's attacks on Fox News. And Gingrich's populist attack against Romney's tenure at Bain Capital could have been written by Barack Obama. The fact that Gingrich has been going around praising Teddy Roosevelt and Alexander Hamilton and validating the principles of industrial policy or crony capitalism that Barack Obama has embraces is hardly "conservative". Finally, there are legitimate reasons to question Gingrich's electability given his regular losses in the polls, even with Obama's approval rates down: he would go into a general election with high unfavorables from moderates and independents. Why isn't it fair to ask why few, if any of the GOP Congressmen whom served under Gingrich as Speaker have endorsed him? Obama has up to $1B to run for reelection; if anyone thinks that the Obama campaign is going to run it's "morning in America again" campaign, he's delusional. Obama would LOVE to run against Gingrich: a career politician, someone with ties to the GSE's, a bipartisan vote against him on ethics issues before the House, etc.
Ms. Ingraham, you have already shown by quoting Kessler that you are willing to conveniently quote a liberal journalist "fact checker" when it fits into your agenda. But pretending that policy proposals with a likable sound bite like "9-9-9" have a chance of passing without compromise is a departure from reality. Obama is going to spend hundreds of millions in negative ads against his GOP opponent next fall; competition is the American way.
And Now For a Word From Monks During This Holiday Season
Musical Interlude: Nostalgic/Instrumental Christmas
Christmas Story/Songs.
"The Littlest Christmas Tree." (Red Skelton/Skit)
"Belleau Wood/A Christmas Truce". (Andy Griffith). This is perhaps one of the best known stories of all time: Christmas Eve, 1914 with Allied and German trenches facing each other. One of my favorite Christmas films (Joyeux Noël, 2005: see movie trailer to follow); I own a copy and highly recommend it.
Far too many American fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers have died or lost their limbs in foreign lands. How many times must we forget the lesson and the words of Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé? "I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed...The little children are freezing to death...no blankets, no food... I want to have time to look for my children...maybe I shall find them among the dead...Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."
Newsong. "The Christmas Shoes". I will never forget when I first heard this song. I was at a gas station in Los Angeles, probably topping off the gas tank before returning the rental for the flight home. The song so totally captivated me that I just sat in the car listening to it, hanging on every word.
