Gingrich Still Clinging To Fiction Novels As The Basis For His Foreign Policy Ideas
Gingrich Still Clinging To Fiction Novels As The Basis For His Foreign Policy Ideas
For the past few months, Newt Gingrich has been trying to sound the alarm that the United States is on the cusp of a monumental security threat far greater than the dangers posed by Germany and Japan in the 1930s and 40s — an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. Gripped by this fear, Gingrich once argued that the U.S. should take out North Korean missiles, while on their launch pads, with lasers because he believes the reclusive communist state has the ability to carry out such an attack on the U.S.
This morning, during a speech at the Heritage Foundation, Gingrich was at it again. He lamented how the world’s democracies “hid from reality” in the 1920s and 30s and failed to confront the emerging threat in Europe and East Asia. Citing what he had read in “novels,” he then linked that to his perceived EMP threat and deplored the “failure to translate the ability of the imagination into public policy.” “We are living at the edge of a catastrophe,” he said:
GINGRICH: [W]hat we are faced with is not simply a problem, it is potentially catastrophic. … [The] electro-magnetic pulse, from my co-author and good friend Bill Forstchen, has written a remarkable novel called One Second After, in which he takes a town in North Carolina and shows you what would happen with a successful electro-magnetic pulse attack. Electro-magnetic pulse is essentially a peculiarly-sized nuclear device that becomes a giant lightning strike. [...]
[E]xperts in nuclear weaponry, and they came back and said unanimously, “This is a catastrophic threat waiting to happen and North Korea, China and Russia all understand it and are all working on it.” Which is why I adopted the position towards North Korea that I would literally not allow them to fire any intercontinental range missile that we had not inspected. I would just take it out on the site.
And the reason is simple; one weapon of this kind that went off over Omaha would eliminate most of the electrical production in the United States. And we are not today hardened against this. It is an enormous catastrophic threat.
Watch it:
The Wonk Room’s Matt Duss observed of Gingrich’s “suspense thriller-based” foreign policy:
It’s worth noting as well that the argumentum ad Chamberlinum that Gingrich predictably deploys throughout the speech always involves a sin of omission: Free nations failed to act in the face of a rising threat, resulting in disastrous consequences. I would suggest that, in the wake of the Iraq war, there now exists an effective counter to this heavily overworked rhetorical device. Rather than failing to act, the Bush administration acted — unwisely and incompetently, in response to a largely imaginary threat — resulting in disastrous consequences. Call it argumentum ad neoconservatum.
“As the conservative movement continues to melt down,” Duss adds, “conservatives will return to same issue that conservatives have exploited since before fire: Abject fear of our barbaric, unreasoning enemies, and the imputation of faithlessness on the part of those who don’t perceive the threat in the same way.”
Transcript:
GINGRICH: So, let me start with why I believe national security is about to become a dramatically more important debate and the only question is whether we have the debate before there is a disaster or afterwards. I would argue that we are living at the edge of a catastrophe, and that we need to understand that is exactly where we are. That what we are faced with is not simply a problem, it is potentially catastrophic.
The first potential catastrophe is nuclear, and we reported this in the Hart-Rudman Commission in March of 2001, where we said the greatest threat to the United States is a weapon of mass destruction going off in an American city, and at the time we called for a serious Homeland Security Department, which we still don’t have, because a serious Homeland Security Department would be sized to be able to deal three nuclear events simultaneously the same week.
That would be a reasonable threat, we are not talking about the size of nuclear war with the Soviet Union, but we are talking about circumstances where you could literally be faced with a catastrophic loss of life, and none of this is secret. There are novels about it, there are reports about it, there are various studies about it, there was a RAND study three years ago about the impact of a nuclear event in Long Beach, California and what it would do to the entire Los Angeles basin and what the scale of dislocation would be. So these things are all knowable, but we don’t have the political will to act on it.
The second is electro-magnetic pulse, from my co-author and good friend Bill Forstchen, has written remarkable novel, which I commend to all of you, called One Second After, in which he takes a town in North Carolina and shows you what would happen with a successful electro-magnetic pulse attack.
Electro-magnetic pulse is essentially a peculiarly sized nuclear device that becomes a giant lightning strike, it doesn’t kill by radiation or by the power of the shockwave, but it knocks out all the appliances including the generating system that produces electricity including cars that have traditional electrical devices. All the telephones and if you look at the size of the electrical generating system, it’s not replaceable. The length of time it takes to replace that, particular in a society that has lost electricity, is staggering. And Forstchen accurately describes what would the catastrophic consequences be at a human level if you tried to live in a non-electricity world given the way we’ve built our civilization.
Now he didn’t do this out of whole cloth. He started with Congressman Roscoe Bartlett [R-MD] who commissioned 7 nuclear physicists to study what the effect would be, these are all people who had come out of the Cold War-era, they had all worked for the Defense Department, they were all experts in nuclear weaponry, and they came back and said unanimously, “This is a catastrophic threat waiting to happen and North Korea, China and Russia all understand it and are all working on it.”
Which is why I adopted the position towards North Korea that I would literally not allow them to fire any intercontinental range missile that we had not inspected. I would just take it out on the site. And the reason is simple; one weapon of this kind that went off over Omaha would eliminate most of the electrical production in the United States. And we are not today hardened against this. It is an enormous catastrophic threat.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
Gingrich once argued that the U.S. should take out North Korean missiles, while on their launch pads, with lasers
– - Gingrich’s Sec.of Defense would no doubt be Mike Myers’ Dr. Evil.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:43 pmAh, Newt, I was wondering when you would crawl out of the sewer again.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:43 pmNewt Gingrich has been trying to sound the alarm that the United States is on the cusp of a monumental security threat far greater than the dangers posed by Germany and Japan in the 1930s and 40s — an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack.
Yeah , great
This adulterous dipshit believes he’s “NEO” and that he’s currently living through The Matrix in real life ; where does the GOP consistently find these batshit crazy dummies ?
July 20th, 2009 at 3:44 pmAnd why do we give this slimy newt any space.? Do’s he hold an office.? No. .Is he employed by any of the media whore’s.? Only part time..Seems to me we should show him how relevent he is…That is below the o’lilie, coulter and limpdick status…Blessings
July 20th, 2009 at 3:48 pmSomeone better not tell Newt about Grand Admiral Thrawn. He almost toppled Luke, Leia and the New Republic.
And we all know how much the GOP loves Star Wars tech.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:50 pm… … …
those who are not opposed to the
decepticons, are with the decepticons!
…
there is no middle ground.
:|
July 20th, 2009 at 3:51 pm* ** ***
in all seriousness is slappy
newt’s new speech writer?
*
because this stuff is just nuts.
:\
July 20th, 2009 at 3:54 pmUm, memo to Newt.
EMP? Are you kidding me? I’m sure all your fellow Neowarcons already saw “Broken Arrow.”
And I seem to recall from my long-ago and distant days in the army, that nearly at the dawn of the nuclear age there was a lot of discussion of EMP.
But good on ya, Newt — way to identify the key vulnerabilities in today’s dynamic and ever-changing strategic environment.
‘Course, I’m not smart like you. I didn’t learn it from my buddy’s techno-thriller.
I learned it from a boring old document. Like George N. Chatham, “Nuclear Explosions in Space: The Threat of EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse),” Congressional Research Service Brief MB82221, 2 March 1982.
But you’re cutting-edge, dude. Rock on.
Oh by the way — have you heard about this new thing they have? It’s called the Internet. Man, it’s gonna revolutionize EVERYTHING.
Dork.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:55 pmYou know how much the Righties love Newt. He was responsible for the ‘Contract of America’ that ushered in the most corrupt, hypocritical Repugs in the Country in the Cultural Revolution of 1994. Just look at their illuminaries! Rick Santorum, Mark Sanford, George (Muchaca) Allen, Ensign, Foley, Dennis Hassert. What a bunch of stand up citizens! Sigh.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:55 pmHaven’t seen any recent tweets from Newt about his favorite French restaurant – guess someone told him they don’t serve “Freedom Fries” there.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:56 pmNuttier than a fruitcake, and also, by the way, sounding extremely desperate for attention.
July 20th, 2009 at 3:57 pmDon’t the North Korean’s keep all their missiles in hollowed out volcanoes…
July 20th, 2009 at 3:57 pmNewt gets an electronic pulse emission in his pants whenever his wife turns on the anal probe vibrator. He then thinks he’s got a great idea for a campaign. BZZZZT! BZZZZT! OHGODOHGODOHGOD!!
July 20th, 2009 at 3:58 pmShit, man, just think of the kind of danger America would be in if Torak got the Orb of Aldur.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:02 pmGingrich is not running for president because he is unelectable due to his ethics problems. However, he is trying to become the chief power broker and leader of the Republican party. He will keep sniping from the sidelines with the expectation that he will become the spokesman for the party because it is leaderless. The 2010 elections are coming up and Newt will be stumping for various candidates so that by 2012 he will be in charge. You can expect to see another contract with America or something similar before the next presidential election. The Republicans are going to do their usual song and dance about national security accusing the Dems of being soft. It is imperative for Obama to get health care passed because the economy is not recovering fast enough for 2010. If health care is defeated Obama will be a one term president.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:05 pmThese guys just can’t let go of the ‘Cold War’ mentality. They have to believe EVERYTHING is a threat. They will not be satified unless we take out Iran, Korea or anyone else they feel is challenging them. Sad thing is, this rhetoric encourages these dictators. Nothing like sticking your finger in someone’s eye to get them riled up.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:10 pmAaahhhh! The REPTILIAN brain at work in all it’s crazy glory!
July 20th, 2009 at 4:11 pmIt’s too bad that the GOP and conservatism couldn’t just fade away quickly thus saving Americans from the predictable tragedies yet to come at the hands of uber-wingnuts who are sure to kill more Americans based solely on the non-stop irrational fear-mongering by the right wing corporatists.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:16 pmWell, this COULD be a bit sillier. Imagine if Newtie’s foreign policy ideas were shaped by the 1958 movie, “The Blob”…
July 20th, 2009 at 4:18 pmEM pulses are in every strike of lightening. That’s why, of course, your electronics tend to fry as a result.
This is hardly cutting edge stuff, lizard boy.
It’s been nearly 20 years since Newtie was ‘the next thing’.
20 years…and, it didn’t happen.
Let’s all do our part to make him completely irrelevant. Again.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:22 pmNewtie showing off his man love for Jack Bauer…
July 20th, 2009 at 4:22 pmpags2 says:
Gingrich is not running for president because he is unelectable due to his ethics problems.
I’m not at all sure that Newt isn’t trying for the 2012 nomination. First of all, I don’t think his ego would tolerate not having the top spot and second of all, Republicans don’t care about “ethics” when discussing other Republicans. As long as he’s not caught with a dead girl or a live boy, none of the GOP voters would care about his affairs and his crappy treatment of his wife.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:22 pmThere are some legitimate reasons why long-range missiles in North Korea capable of reaching the United States might be of concern to us. But Gingrich doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for serious discussion when he goes all science fiction.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:22 pmMissCMolly ! Steve McQueen’s first big thrilla~
July 20th, 2009 at 4:23 pmshouldn’t newt be somewhere in MO, buying a pickup truck and getting a free AK47 with it?
why does anyone listen to this retarded redneck?
July 20th, 2009 at 4:27 pmRantingTommy says:
why does anyone listen to this retarded redneck?
Because nobody in the Democratic party is talking, so he and the other neocon clowns are the only ones that are speaking.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:31 pmgummble-bee-itch says:
I’m not at all sure that Newt isn’t trying for the 2012 nomination. First of all, I don’t think his ego would tolerate not having the top spot and second of all, Republicans don’t care about “ethics” when discussing other Republicans. As long as he’s not caught with a dead girl or a live boy, none of the GOP voters would care about his affairs and his crappy treatment of his wife.
Newt would have problems with the Christian right. What he did to his wife would become an issue in the primaries and election. It would make it very difficult for him to use Christian values as a talking point.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:32 pmNewt should stick to something he knows, like hunting giraffes.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:32 pm“frickin’ sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their frickin’ heads”
July 20th, 2009 at 4:36 pmAnd the reason is simple; one weapon of this kind that went off over Omaha would eliminate most of the electrical production in the United States.
Sorry Newt, but the bomb with enough EMP necessary to shut down all electical production in the US would have to be several orders of magnitude larger than anything N. Korea has yet exploded.
Newt knows nuclear science about as well as he knows history.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:37 pmChristian lizard tongues
July 20th, 2009 at 4:38 pmPorky ashen-turd nappy
Try again Newton
When white racism and white male sexism fails, the GOP always resorts to fear-monger and war-monger and imperialism-monger. The first US imperial aggression was started under Republican President McKinley in 1898 when we invaded the Philippines, kicked out the Spanish colonialist government and installed our very own colonial government. Over two-hundred thousand Filipinos were murdered because they resisted US occupation. Republicans have usually been on the forefront of American imperialism, although in the 1930s and early 1940s they were “isolationists” who did not want to confront Hitler and the German Nazis. The GOP claimed that Hitler and the German Nazis were “a bulwark against Soviet Communism…”
July 20th, 2009 at 4:39 pmThese Plugs really do give some people the impression that there isn’t a host of experts working on such issues at all times, don’t they?
Always have a manual backup, and get on with it. Sheesh.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:39 pmNo, I think gummble-bee-itch has a point. Whenever a right-wing Republican commits adultry, he just askes God to forgive him, and God says, “Don’t worry about it. It’s cool.” Then all the fundies give him a standing ovation, because his talk with God proves what a good person he is.
On the other hand, if a progressive Democrat has an affair, he might as well not even talk to God, because God will just tell him to go to hell.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:40 pmI think Dewt (or newt?) is on a book tour for his buddy’s novel.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:40 pmBesides the fact that laser beams and electromagnetic pulses more readily conjure up a new James Bond script than significant national security threats, the idea of preemption, after our experience in the Iraq War, isn’t going to sell.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:41 pmFear mongering taken to new heights
Desperate measures from a man trying to make himself relevant. Who is flakier Newt or Palin?
July 20th, 2009 at 4:46 pm“Which is why I adopted the position towards North Korea that I would literally not allow them to fire any intercontinental range missile that we had not inspected. I would just take it out on the site.”
Really? Based on which international laws?
July 20th, 2009 at 4:46 pmI realize we all think Newt is a retard and works of fiction are not the best place to go for information on scientific issues – but no one here is actually arguing anything beyond nonsensical ad hominems. Gingrich does have a point. The greatest threat we would face from a nuclear attack is from the EMP. Were a ter’ist able to get his hands on a suitcase bomb or something and detonate it on the ground, the damage would be significant locally but negligible in the surrounding region. Were a nuke to be detonated in space or the atmosphere – let’s say “over Ohama” – it would completely destroy the power grid, the computers in your cars, the processors in your computers, your cell phones, etc. It would instantaneously return us to at least the turn of the last century and it would take years to repair it. In the meantime, you would have no power.
I read Prof_B’s referenced article and it was just reinforcing was Gingrich was saying so I’m not sure why you cited it.
Naturally, I completely differ with Gingrich on how to combat these kinds of threats. I think we need to invest the money that it’s going to cost to update and secure the electrical grid – which will require a radical redesign. We should also look at ways to protect electronic devices. Anti-ballistic missiles and preemptive strikes aren’t the correct approaches. But you all are acting like there isn’t any danger at all when the danger is very real. I’m not saying you should be scared, but don’t ignore the underlying problem.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:50 pmFear??? what fear.
Hey Newt why don’t you watch ZERO 9/11 .
Here is the link
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2296490368603788739
WE ARE NOT BUYING WHAT YOU HAVE TO SELL. WE KNOW THE TRUTH, AND SOON ENOUGH THE TRUTH WILL COME OUT.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:53 pmLike I said, Squirrel—always have a manual back-up. Our military has also become too reliant on satellite technology, and our industry and sales culture uses technology that shouldn’t have made it out of beta-testing—like most voice-recognition technology. We need to work on that.
Since EMP has been a threat since the invention of the nuclear bomb, I see no reason to spend any energy being particularly concerned about it right now. I have been embroiled in worry over nuclear issues during the Bush years. Now I’m calming down, thank you.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:02 pmRufus J Squirrel
In order to set off an EMP that would take out the US, the weapon would have to be detonated from an altitude higher than that of the International Space Station (per the Federation of American Scientists).
N Korea can’t even get a rocket to Hawaii (per the AP).
This is a non-threat (per smidget and her logic-powered super-brain).
I follow what you’re trying to say, but that is really more fear-mongering than it is reality based.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:12 pmElectromagnetic Pulse??? Pretty Hi tech.
Seems to me a rocket filled with GRAVEL, that was exploded in low earth orbit, would take out Most of the worlds Satellite communications.
Maybe I’m wrong , but I just Can’t believe that We believe that North Korea or Iran would launch a missile at the US. These things have a return address on them.
There’s got to be another reason for the Military obsession with star wars missle defense. Concern about an orbiting EMP weapon would make sense….assuming THEY could launch it, and WE could SHOOT it down.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:25 pmLaugh now. When I heard Condoleeza Rice claim that “no one ever imagined airliners could be used as weapons”, I went “Uh, hello? Tom Clancy? DEBT OF HONOR?” And when Bush said “no one imagined there’d be an Iraqi insurgency, I said “Have these people never even seen “Red Dawn?”
We need to be paying MORE attention to thriller fiction, if you ask me.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:41 pmOH! EMP means electromagnetic pulse. I thought Newt was talking about forcing Kimmy to tour the Experience Music Project. That’d show him.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:50 pmUh…correct me if I’m wrong, but the President of the United States is a man named Obama, not some private citizen named after a lizard.
July 20th, 2009 at 6:22 pmIf Ronnie hadn’t closed all of the asylums, Newt wouldn’t be allowed to roam free.
July 20th, 2009 at 6:30 pmThe conservatives believe they are morally superior and will lie, cheat, steal, rape, maim, and murder to prove it.
Above the Clouds, you make a good point. The pursuit of laser beam weaponry is nothing new:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw
July 20th, 2009 at 6:35 pmSure, North Korea could attempt an EMP attack, but we wouldn’t need lasers to protect us. That’s what Jack Ryan is for.
July 20th, 2009 at 6:53 pmhm. greengrinch strikes again, infusing terror into his own heart and screeching, “the sky is falling” and “woof” (er, “wolf”) at all within earshot.
EMP is a problem, but it isn’t going to be fixed by technical means, certainly not by any counter-weapon. sure, the Air Force is busy with an airborne laser system that is designed to hammer missiles of any sort during the boost/early launch stage, but they haven’t gotten past small scale testing yet. they haven’t put the aircraft in the air and fired the laser at full power. it’s a prototype system that has been worked on (and off) for a couple of decades; it may do a complete flight test with firing sometime in the next year or two, but it probably won’t actually be fired at a missile target for another year or so after that. and it may not work as advertised. high power laser weapons have problems in the atmosphere.
having said all that, we (the USA) investigated building a nuclear device specifically rigged to produce EMP; nuclear weapons can be “tailored” for specific effects, of which EMP is one possibility. my recollection is that at least one of our nuclear tests in space produced a noticable EMP event in Hawaii. however, EMP is NOT a nuclear weapon, as Mr. Greengrinch puts it; it’s a physics effect produced by nuclear weapons, but nuclear weapons aren’t the only way to produce one, they’re just a good way to produce a king-hell one.
the best way to prevent EMP is to get everyone with nuclear weapons, including those North Korean turds, to sign on to not using nuclear weapons, and then to agree to doing away with such weapons, and then going forward to do so in plain verifiable sight. the IAEA can probably handle the verification end, but that would drive the rePublicrites crazy. all the more reason to do it, I suppose.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:33 pmBy the way, vacuum tube technology is immune to EMP.
And yes, an EMP bomb delivered over Omaha would leave much of America paralyzed.
And then what?
then the North Korean Army could invade?
Then the Iranian Army cold occupy Chicago?
Then Al Qaeda could dismantle the Brooklyn Bridge with blowtorches?
If you’re really worrie that the United States would be *gasp* defenseless, I call your attention to Exhibits A through F, the Second through Seventh Fleets. (Why they renamed the First Fleet the Third Fleet is just one of those weird mysteries.) Most odf them have guided missile submarines capable of destroying any nation on Earth, and they’re spread out all over the friggin’ globe. Guaranteed retaliation–and the Seventh Fleet is right on North Korea’s doorstep.
Newt. While there are lots of folks out there who could do damage to the united States–and you seem to be fixated on the Axis of Evil when all it would take would be one Russian General who still hates the Yanks to launch HUNDREDS of thermonuclear warheads at America’s major cities–there’s NO FOLLOW UP. There’s no navy on the planet that could set up an invasion, no army to perform it. There’s no air force worth the name to project over the continental U.S.
Paralyzing the USA (partly) only makes sense if you’re going to take that opportunity to do something else. If you simply want to hurt the US, just float in a ship container into New York Harbor with a considerably simpler nuke in it. They still aren’t being inspected. But for eight years no Republicans, mysteriously, have talked about that.
And the other purpose is to scare the US. But why deploy an elaborate, hard-to build nuke on your one prototype ICBM when you can deploy a corrupt Republican ex-House member to scream bloody murder?
Much cheaper.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:46 pmRemember when Condoleeza Rice was talking about N. Korea having “glossy brochures” for nuclear missiles? Guess she hadn’t seen Raytheon’s snazzy website.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:54 pmpbeeg says:
By the way, vacuum tube technology is immune to EMP.
And yes, an EMP bomb delivered over Omaha would leave much of America paralyzed.
And then what?
then the North Korean Army could invade?
Then the Iranian Army cold occupy Chicago?
Then Al Qaeda could dismantle the Brooklyn Bridge with blowtorches?
I live in Chicago and I can assure you that no one could occupy the city which has thousands of illegal handguns, let alone legal ones.
July 20th, 2009 at 8:57 pmFirst off… Russia is no longer our “enemy.” It hasn’t been since 1991. A fact that Republicans soundly ignore, with an almost religious fervor.
Second off… China basically OWNS much of the U.S. so I wouldn’t think they’d want to damage their own goods.
Third off… North Korea is still several years from building long range missiles capable of striking even Hawaii.
Will someone please tell me why we listen to people like this and give them the nuclear arms codes when their morals and foreign policy is derived out of the book “War of the Worlds”?
July 20th, 2009 at 10:27 pm“THE NEWTER NEEDS HIS HEAD EXAMINE”, he must has been trying out a ‘NEW’, BATCH OF KOOL-AID, for the Republican “SHEEP.”
Maybe the next time NASA sends the Shuttle into outer space , they could take The Newt for a “ONE WAY TRIP.”
July 21st, 2009 at 12:19 am.
The only foreign policy that Newt Gingrich has is…
… Let America get attacked – A G A I N !
.
July 21st, 2009 at 1:39 amHey Rufus — in all seriousness, my point wasn’t to dismiss EMP as a problem; clearly it is a problem, which is why the armed forces (and government more generally) spent so much money on electronic ‘hardening.’
My point was that, in the context of TP’s recognition that Newt’s “ideas” are hardly revolutionary, Newt’s “come-to-Jesus” warnings over EMP smack in no small way of desperation. It’s like suddenly discovering that fire burns things down — whoa! My co-author like totally wrote this book about Mrs. O’Leary’s cow, and what — what, o Lord — is the Obama administration doing about the looming threat to America’s security posed by terrorist cattle?
July 21st, 2009 at 8:35 am‘If health care is defeated Obama will be a one term president.’
The Right said the same thing about Clinton; if they are so convinced they can ‘Waterloo’ Obama on this issue, it’s still amazing to me that they don’t have a single credible challenger for the Presidency in 2010.
Palin? Romney? Joe the Liar?
They are on the verge of total irrelevance.
July 21st, 2009 at 9:30 am‘Gingrich does have a point. The greatest threat we would face from a nuclear attack is from the EMP. ‘
Actually, the greatest threat the US faces is this kind of asinine fantasy world masquerading as foreign policy initiative.
Newt is a dinosaur plodding around in a circus he helped create; no matter how much fear and obstruction the Right continues to employ, people will not so easily forget how the US found itself in its current situation after 8 years of idiocy espoused and practiced by the likes of Gingrich and Bush.
The GOP is self destructing like a mission impossible tape.
July 21st, 2009 at 9:38 amIt’s nice, however dissatisfied I get with Obama and the Dems at times, that guys like this are part of an electoral minority these days. Talk about paranoid, can you imagine how many of us would be stark raving bonkers if Newtology ruled affairs in America again, especially given their daily Strangelovian palaver, seemingly on instantaneous Beck and Coulter.
But, an aside, doesn’t everyone believe that the late author of Jurassic Park knew more about global climate change than every single serious scientist in the world actually doing first hand study of the phenomenon?
July 21st, 2009 at 10:33 am