Fleischer: Gingrich Is ‘Fabulous’ Dinner Entertainment, But Won’t Be ‘The Next Nominee’ Of The GOP
Fleischer: Gingrich Is ‘Fabulous’ Dinner Entertainment, But Won’t Be ‘The Next Nominee’ Of The GOP
After much controversy, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich finally spoke yesterday at the big annual GOP congressional fundraising dinner. Although fellow Republicans often call him “the man of ideas,” his speech last night focused more on attacks of President Obama rather than new policies and visions.
Even though Obama is just five months into his presidency, Gingrich said that the President’s plan to fix the economy has “already failed.” He also peddled Frank Luntz’s misleading talking points on health care, saying, “No government bureaucrat has the right to take from you the rights that God gave you, and rationing under health care is inevitably limiting your life at the whim of a bureaucrat and at the manipulation of a politician.”
Additionally, Gingrich used his speech to again mock Obama’s recent speech in Egypt, saying — to loud applause — that he resented the President’s diplomatic outreach to the rest of the world:
Let me be clear. I am not a citizen of the world! I think the entire concept is intellectual nonsense and stunningly dangerous. There is no world sovereignty. There is no world system of law. There is, in fact, no circumstance under which I would like to be a citizen of North Korea, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Cuba or Russia. I am a citizen of the United States of America, and the rest of this speech is about the United States of America!
Watch it:
This speech wasn’t enough for former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer, who went on ABC’s Good Morning America today and said that even though Gingrich is great dinner entertainment, he is “not going to be the next nominee of the Republican Party”:
Newt is a wonderful, fabulous dinner speaker, full of ideas and entertainment. But Newt is not going to be the next nominee of the Republican Party. We don’t know who the next nominee will be. I think it’s going to be somebody who we don’t know a lot about right now. Someone new, someone fresh, someone exciting. The Republican future can’t be back to the future. It has to be a new future. That’s the direction Republicans will go.
Watch it:
Fleischer also downplayed the emergence of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), saying that although he was an early fan, “she has a long way to go to prove she’s presidential.” He added that she needs to focus on “substance” and has “a long distance to go before she rises to the level of being a serious presidential candidate.”
Journalists were divided on how well dinner attendees received Palin last night, who was originally supposed to be the event’s keynote speaker. (She then pulled out, asked to be re-invited, pulled out again, and finally agreed to attend). Palin did not give a speech, since Republican leaders were afraid that she would upstage Gingrich. CNN ran a headline reading, “Palin center of attention at big GOP dinner.” Politico’s headline, in contrast, read, “Sarah Palin makes little splash at dinner.”
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Let me be clear. I am not a citizen of the world!
Yeah , we kinda’ already figured that Newt ; thanks for finally admitting that you are indeed an alien ……..
June 9th, 2009 at 10:36 amNewt is fabulous dinner entertainment?
June 9th, 2009 at 10:37 amPass me the barf bag, please.
After much controversy, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich finally spoke yesterday at the big annual GOP congressional fundraising dinner
– - Did Gingrich plagiarize Palin’s speech that plagiarized Gingrich’s speech?
June 9th, 2009 at 10:38 am“Let me be clear. I am not a citizen of the world!”
Yeah, Newt and Dan Quayle don’t live in this century, either.
Newt, it’s quite apparent that you also aren’t a member of the human race.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:40 amDinner entertainment like that is enough to make me lose my appetite.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:40 amAmazing – the only thing that could be less compelling than Newt Gingrich criticizing Dems is Ari Fleischer’s opinion of Newt criticizing Dems. Prof. Fleischer being in attendance just makes me think it must be spring break at Joseph Goebbels University.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:40 amNewTurd or the Palinator?
Life is full of choices. The Republic Party abounds with bad choices.
It’s hard to process new information when you have your eyes & ears covered.
Palin plagerizes NewTurd.
NewTurd is a truth abortionist, even Racialist.
Let the Good Times Roll…
June 9th, 2009 at 10:41 amThere is no world system of law. But isnt there a world court?
June 9th, 2009 at 10:42 amI am not a citizen of the world!
America uber alles?
Hail to the Vaterland, eh Newt?
June 9th, 2009 at 10:42 amAlthough fellow Republicans often call him “the man of ideas,”
Yeah: really sucky, misogynistic, racist, ‘last-century’ ideas.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:42 amNewt boasts that he is not concerned about the world, its inhabitants, nor anything about it, nor what role America plays in it as the superpower — he is concerned only for himself.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:42 amAs for the Zionist neocon, Ari, well, let’s not go there.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:44 amFleischer also downplayed the emergence of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), saying that although he was an early fan, “she has a long way to go to prove she’s presidential.”
Exactly like your former boss , Bush , Ari ……..
June 9th, 2009 at 10:44 am“Although fellow Republicans often call him “the man of ideas”…”
When I was five I had the awesome idea of jumping off the garage roof with an umbrella for a parachute. It didn’t really work out very well, but it was still a better idea than anything I’ve heard from Newt.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:47 am“No government bureaucrat has the right to take from you the rights that God gave you, and rationing under health care is inevitably limiting your life at the whim of a bureaucrat and at the manipulation of a politician.”
So healthcare is a God-given right? I guess that’s the ultimate “universal” plan. When does Newt begin enforcing God’s plan for health?
And Ari? Calling someone “fabulous” makes you sound gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.
PEACE
June 9th, 2009 at 10:47 am“Great dinner entertainment”
Yup. He’s a real charmer, all right. Now I understand why republicans are so agitated these days . . . indigestion!
June 9th, 2009 at 10:49 am“No government bureaucrat has the right to take from you the rights that God gave you, and rationing under health care is inevitably limiting your life at the whim of a bureaucrat and at the manipulation of a politician.”
Would someone explain to Newt that the true conservative would never describe health care as a right. It’s a privilege, stupid! And it’s only available to the better sort of folks.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:49 amWell, in that case, you don’t use the American railway system since it was made mainly by Chinese exploited workers, you never used a cotton clothing or smoked tobacco since it was made by African slaves, you never used a fuel driven vehicle since most of your oil come from foreign countries, you were never proud of Americans threading on the moon since the 3-staged rocket system to achieve this was invented by a German Nazi…etc, etc, etc.
Ahh, I love the smell of jingoism in the morning.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:49 amoops! Spencer’s mom’s a smart one… didn’t see her post before I blew mine in there!
June 9th, 2009 at 10:50 amSo I guess C4Pee’s “Republican’t Revolution” is all set, except for the general to lead them into battle.
Oh, and except for new ideas. And broad popular support. And any compelling reason to return them to power anytime soon.
But Pee is confident.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:52 amThus spoke the red queen. According to Republican talking points, health care is not a right, it is a responsibility. But to Gingrich, the responsibility to provide for one’s own health care is a God-given right.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:54 am“No government bureaucrat has the right to take from you the rights that God gave you, and rationing under health care is inevitably limiting your life at the whim of a bureaucrat and at the manipulation of a politician.”
… as opposed to having your life limited by the whim of a corporate bureaucrat and the manipulation of an insurance company executive.
That’s a much better way to be screwed.
At least the politician is accountable to the voters.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:55 amYea Newt sucks, but I don’t give a rat’s a$$ what Ari Fleischer has to say.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:56 amI want the same person between me & my Dr. as politicians have.
None.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:58 amNewt is a wonderful, fabulous dinner speaker, full of ideas and entertainment. But Newt is not going to be the next nominee of the Republican Party. We don’t know who the next nominee will be. I think it’s going to be somebody who we don’t know a lot about right now. Someone new, someone fresh, someone exciting. The Republican future can’t be back to the future. It has to be a new future. That’s the direction Republicans will go.
How then does Ari explain the recent marginalization of Cantor and Jindal ?
Fleisher doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about…….
June 9th, 2009 at 11:00 amJesus, Why cant the GOP tell the old white farts of the Party to shut up? Can’t the see that they are destroying themselves? By calling Sotomayor a racist and their xenophobic tendencys are scaring the minorities and young people away. Dear Lord, you can’t get any more white bread than good ole Newt.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:03 amAgree that Newtered’s recognition of health care as a fundamental right is the closest thing to real news here. That should go over with the nutters almost as well as Palin’s admission last fall that the Constitution does indeed contain a right to privacy.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:04 amJuan C. Says:
you were never proud of Americans threading on the moon since the 3-staged rocket system to achieve this was invented by a German Nazi…etc, etc, etc.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:49 am
_____________
Actually, the concept of rocket staging was invented by the Chinese in the early 14th century. The “fire-dragon issuing from the water” (火龙出水) used a staging system to ignite a swarm of rocket-arrows and was used mainly in naval combat.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:05 amI dunno, is it just ME . .
But I find Palin just as stooooopid as the Bubble!!
She’s a terrible orator, same as Bubble. Palin has trouble reading speeches written for her and I seriously doubt she knows intellectualy what the hell she’s talking about . .
Red toenail polish with little white hearts, is this what the republican party would even consider as their nominee for POTUS? How serious would a Middle East leader take our POTUS showing up for a world conference wearing red toenail polish with white hearts (foto on Huff) . .
These fools didn’t learn with Bush and apparently this crew still doesn’t get it . .
Embarrassing . .
June 9th, 2009 at 11:06 amCall Newt’s office and tell him that we’re not buying his BS and that his attacks on our President are counterproductive to the recovery of this nation from the great damage his party did in the past 8 years:
Gingrich Communications
June 9th, 2009 at 11:06 am202-587-5710
That said, I wonder where Newt’s tie was made. And his suit. And his hairspray. And the microphone he’s speaking into.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:08 amIt may be that they’re addicted — they need a gray-haired white man to tell them what to do, and that need is greater than the need to be politically relevant.
Aging, overfed white men are the heroin of the G-NO-P. It doesn’t matter how MILFy Sarah Palin is, nor how “street” Michael Steele is; they can’t compete with the White Horse that is Newt, Rush and the rest of the troupe.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:11 amI don’t know what’s funnier. Watching the Republicans backpedal away from Sarah Palin, NOW declaring that she’s not Presidential. Ya think?!
Or, hearing the Republicans who want to make the most intimate health decisions for every woman in the world talk about their fear of interjecting government bureaucracy into health care.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:11 amralph@34, I guess your right. The old adage goes, ‘The Devil you know, is better than the Devil you don’t’
June 9th, 2009 at 11:13 am“Someone new, someone fresh, someone exciting.”
Equals: We’re looking for our own Barak Obama
They choose Palin because of Hillary.
They choose Steele because of Barak.
They are desperate and they realize that they are going to lose big time again.
Fcuk the Republic Fascist Party
June 9th, 2009 at 11:21 amSomeone new, someone fresh, someone exciting. The Republican future can’t be back to the future.
___________
Yeah, Ari – I don’t think you were going to get Michael J. Fox anyhow, even if you do drop the opposition to stem-cell research.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:24 amMCMetal Says:
Let me be clear. I am not a citizen of the world!
“Yeah , we kinda’ already figured that Newt ; thanks for finally admitting that you are indeed an alien ……..”
Hey, don’t you remember that movie, Men in Black, where Newt’s picture appeared on the screen showing prominent Americans who were from another planet? He finally admitted it!! Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones……..we need you!!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:25 amfletc3her at 11:11, excellent post.
PEACE
June 9th, 2009 at 11:26 amglogrrl Says:
——————————————————————————–
MCMetal Says:
Let me be clear. I am not a citizen of the world!
“Yeah , we kinda’ already figured that Newt ; thanks for finally admitting that you are indeed an alien ……..”
Hey, don’t you remember that movie, Men in Black, where Newt’s picture appeared on the screen showing prominent Americans who were from another planet? He finally admitted it!! Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones……..we need you!!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Newt should star in a movie entitled “Men Who Are Sacks (of shit)” ………
June 9th, 2009 at 11:27 amMemo to Newt:
“The world” doesn’t regard you as one of its citizens either. You and your fellow members of the Republic Fascist Party have consistently shown such disregard and disdain for non-Americans that you are, for the most part, unwelcome in their midst.
Don’t believe me? Can’t help you with that. All I know is what I’ve learned from my extensive travel throughout “the world” over the last 5 years.
To say that most non-Americans loathe George W. Bush, the Republic Fascist Party and YOU would be a gross understatement. Your very existence is the greatest shame this country has ever known. We are FAR less safe thanks to you.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:28 am…
ari,
i can see mario rubio
and sharah together,
can’t you?
:)
June 9th, 2009 at 11:30 am“No government bureaucrat has the right to take from you the rights that God gave you, and rationing under health care is inevitably limiting your life at the whim of a bureaucrat and at the manipulation of a politician.”
If god has given us the right to health care, then god would approve of a single payer health care plan. Also, the fact is that the for-profit health care industry already rations our care and that our lives are at the whim of a bureaucrat bean counter who gets a bonus if they deny your care.
I really do wish that the Democrats would run an advertisement with this quote from Newt and then go on to show that everything he says a public plan would do is already being done to us by the for-profit health care industry.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:31 amnewt is always referencing this “god” character
he would do better to base his policies on facts rather than fictional characters from ancient fairy tales
June 9th, 2009 at 11:32 amThe Republican future can’t be back to the future. It has to be a new future
The current crop of morons, bozos, drug addled slobs and assorted crackpots have no future, only the past they cling to like a toddler and his musty blankey.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:38 amNewt is now an entertainer, like Limbaugh.
Ahhhhh ha ha haha!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:39 am“No for profit insurance bureaucrat has the right to take from you the rights that God gave you, and rationing under the existing health care is inevitably limiting your life at the whim of a bureaucrat and at the manipulation of a politician.”
June 9th, 2009 at 11:39 amLike a jester, with colorful pants and a hat full of little bells?
June 9th, 2009 at 11:40 amNewt, if God created the earth, doesnt that make you an earthling?
June 9th, 2009 at 11:41 amNewt is trying to recycle the Reagan legacy on his website, video and his speeches. He expects the voters to develop amnesia about the last 8 years. I am certain he will be out hawking Reagan nostalgia for the next 4 years so that he can stay in the public. We should get used to his sideline sniping until the next election. If we ignore him long enough, maybe he will disappear into obscurity.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:43 amSo Newt wasnt created by God and thinks his world concept is intelligent design nonsense and dangerous and that your life should be in the hands of companies like AIG!!
Way to go Newt!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:43 amNewt is an idiot and the GOP seems to represent the white townspeople in “To Kill a Mockingbird” – deeply entrenched in the past, claim to fame in the past, entitlement coming from the past. Times have changed. America wants to be inclusive. While Sarah Palin is an ignorant throwback, it is frightening to me that anyone would try to “teach” someone to be “Presidential”. Either you are educated about your nation, its history, its Constitution and you have a philosophy or you don’t. Who is “taught” all this like an actor studies for a role? Acting is pretend.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:46 amLet me be clear. I am not a citizen of the world! I think the entire concept is intellectual nonsense and stunningly dangerous.
What? Planet Earth for the Earthlings! Martians go home!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:47 amHow does Newton stand on Multinational corporations that shelter and don’t pay their fair share of taxes to the American Government?
June 9th, 2009 at 11:49 amI bet Newt got his freak on in the Bohemian Grove with those ‘worldly’ playboys where they have pagan celebrations teeming with homosexual men.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:49 am“…they can’t compete with the White Horse that is Newt, Rush and the rest of the troupe.”
Ralph, is that like the ‘pale horse’ that Death rides? Would that make Newt, Rush, Huckabee and Jindal the Four Horse’s A$$es of the Apocalypse?
June 9th, 2009 at 11:49 amJane ~!~ Once again the perfecto!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:49 amNow that the Republican Party has become a criminal enterprise, they no longer recognize any laws.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:52 amJane E. Schneider Says:
“…they can’t compete with the White Horse that is Newt, Rush and the rest of the troupe.”
Ralph, is that like the ‘pale horse’ that Death rides? Would that make Newt, Rush, Huckabee and Jindal the Four Horse’s A$$es of the Apocalypse?
June 9th, 2009 at 11:49 am Recommend (0) | Report Abuse
More like their by-product…
June 9th, 2009 at 11:52 amAfter Jon Voigt’s jingoistic speech at this event, Mitch McConnell said
“I’m still just reveling that someone from Hollywood made a speech like that. I hope you’re going to be able to find work after this,” said McConnell. “I really enjoyed that.”
Of course he can get work – as a GOP politician. Although the GOP likes to portray libs as star-struck, Ronald Reagan, Arnold S., Sonny Bono, Rep. Gopher, Fred Thompson, et al, are people they elected, in addition to sports figures like Jack Kemp and Steve Largent. The Dems only have Bill Bradley and that guy from the 70s group Orleans…
June 9th, 2009 at 11:55 amJane E. Schneider Says:
Ralph, is that like the ‘pale horse’ that Death rides? Would that make Newt, Rush, Huckabee and Jindal the Four Horse’s A$$es of the Apocalypse?
June 9th, 2009 at 11:49 am
____________
Newt Gingrich is Binky?
June 9th, 2009 at 11:56 amJon Voigt sounds OK as a R politician… BAD actor, no career alive, and disastrous spouse (divorced long ago) and father (his daughter, Angelina Jolie, doesn’t want to know anything from him).
June 9th, 2009 at 11:58 amHow many abortions do you think Hotpants Gingrich has paid for?
June 9th, 2009 at 12:01 pmI think Newt does his own abortions. He just seems like a hands-on kinda guy
June 9th, 2009 at 12:03 pmIt’s time to point out that the “Reagan legacy” is a myth repeated by the party loyalists omitting all the flaws with his presidency. Reagan claimed that government was the problem and every Republican since has been trying to prove him correct.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:07 pm“Newt Gingrich is Binky?”
I dunno, toasterhead, Binky’s definitely smarter than Newt. And Pratchett’s “Death” is definitely more human! :D
June 9th, 2009 at 12:07 pm“The Dems only have Bill Bradley and that guy from the 70s group Orleans…”
Yep, and ‘that guy’ is my congressman, John Hall–Wayne and I met him a coupla times during the 2006 campaign when I did some volunteer work for him.
Too bad Bill Bradley wasn’t as good at politics as he was at basketball.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:11 pmThanks, RUCerious! (blushing)
June 9th, 2009 at 12:12 pmMy cat used to have a Newt catnip toy, but he eventually tore Newt’s head off. I wonder if they still sell this product…
June 9th, 2009 at 12:14 pmBut Newt is not going to be the next nominee of the Republican Party. We don’t know who the next nominee will be.
Wow, Ari Fleischer gets to pick the nominee. Well, that’ll save a bunch of money on bothering to have primaries…
June 9th, 2009 at 12:15 pmJane E. Schneider Says:
“Newt Gingrich is Binky?”
I dunno, toasterhead, Binky’s definitely smarter than Newt. And Pratchett’s “Death” is definitely more human! :D
Terry Pratchett! So sad to learn about his condition, though. Probably no more Discworld novels to look forward to.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:23 pm” In a June 17, 1982, speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Reagan similarly said . .
“I speak today as both a citizen of the United States and of the world.”
OMG, President Ronnie, a CITIZEN OF THE WORLD!
June 9th, 2009 at 12:23 pmI am not a citizen of the world! I think the entire concept is intellectual nonsense and stunningly dangerous.
There he goes again, thinking. When will Newt (and company) realize they are supposed to be following orders. This thinking stuff is just too painful for them.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:24 pmJane E., I’ve seen interviews with John Hall, and he seems pretty knowledgeable and (the neo Cons hate this) pragmatic. You could do worse for a Rep.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:25 pmDoesn’t that sound like the introduction to a speech about US isolationism? It would flow nicely into something about not invading other nations or trying to nation-build.
How is a ‘world citizen’ or a ‘we’re all in the same boat’ concept dangerous?
It always sounds so strange for a GO Per to mention intelligence or what is intellectually sound, since they have such a profound lacking in that area.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:55 pmIt’s interesting to see that Fleischer is back out from under the rock he’d been hiding under after the “Outting” of Valerie Plame the CIA agent. There was a lot of talk that Fleischer was deeply involved in with “Outting” and went underground hoping to avoid the light of the truth that would have, should have sent half the Bush White House staff to prison for treason.
I guess the coast is clear for traitor Fleischer to show his face again.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pmNEWTIE: Let me be clear. I am not a citizen of the world! I think the entire concept is intellectual nonsense and stunningly dangerous.
Newt forgets that down to the smallest cell in our bodies, we are all made of the same stuff. Like it or not, we are citizens of the universe.
I guess that makes the Newtster an outlier.
June 9th, 2009 at 1:00 pmThe only thing I can commend Jon Voight for is that Seinfeld episode about his car.
(I don’t find his daughter attractive. I think she’s creepy, quite honestly)
June 9th, 2009 at 1:48 pmLet me be clear. I am not a citizen of the world!
So, I take it Newt only buys American?
June 9th, 2009 at 2:36 pmPlease let me know how that works out for you. When a party is based on lies, fear and intimidation (i.e., the Republic-Fascists, f/ka Republicans), that’s just how they roll. Myths replace facts.
June 9th, 2009 at 2:57 pmTracy_5
Sorry, but you are 100% completely wrong.
The problem is not a lack of competition, and the problem is not government. Universal healthcare is exactly what it sounds like – you go to the doctor when you are sick, and it is paid for by someone other than you, period full stop.
As for switching providers – no, you can’t. First of all, they are all the same, and second of all, the vast majority of people with insurance get it through an employer, and you can’t just up and change providers like that any time you want.
The problem is that healthcare has been turned into a for-profit industry. That is THE problem with the system, and booting out for-profit businesses is the only way to fix it. The only law that will screw the people on this one is the one that enables the insurance industry to keep their power over the system. That has to be stopped at all costs.
June 9th, 2009 at 3:16 pmIf only Gingrich was fabulous dinner entertainment for the Marumba cannibal tribe.
June 9th, 2009 at 9:26 pmTracy__5 Says:
There are multiple insurance companies but only ONE government. You can change your provider the next day….unlike the government.
For most things competition effectively controls costs. However, one of the problems with competing insurance pools is that the entire point of insurance is that the more people you have in the pool, the better costs are smoothed out between them. Thus, dividing the insured up into many competing groups makes them all mathematically more inefficient. It would be cheaper to have everybody insured in the same pool for a number of reasons – 1) more people insured means it’s cheaper per-person; 2) more access to preventive care by more people prevents the need for more expensive care later; 3) we’re already paying to take care of the uninsured through emergency rooms, etc, which is the most unneccessarily expensive way possible.
The fact is, health insurance costs far more in America and we get far less for it than anywhere where public health is instituted. Sure, for a few extremely difficult procedures we’ve got the best stuff, which is great if you’re a billionaire with a rare heart condition. However both the average and median health care outcome is utterly abysmal, and there’s no excuse for it.
Normal competitive economic models don’t apply here because at some point we do have to take care of people if their condition gets bad enough whether they can afford to pay for it or not. Unless you’re actually going to advocate refusing simple treatments to dying people – unless you’re literally going to come out and say “let the poor die in the streets” – then regular market economics don’t apply.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:20 am