Why I Support Gingrich - & Utterly Abhor The Total War Being Waged Against Him From The Right

Hey, right leaning Pundits - here's a plan.  If you want to unleash vociferous, one-sided, intellectually dishonest attacks, how about aiming them away from Republican candidates for President.  This is disgusting and suicidal on a level I did think possible for the right.  And it is unforgivable.

I am so tired of listening to right wing pundits attack Gingrich with all of the vociferousness and intellectual dishonesty that the left used on Sarah Palin.  Indeed, I would bet that you would have to go back to the Republican country club elite's attack on Barry Goldwater to find anything similar.  And just as a reminder - they succeeded in getting LBJ elected.  The U.S. has been saddled with the massive welfare state of the "Great Society" ever since.  Indeed, it is actions like we see today that led to the articulation of Reagan's 11th Commandment.

I am absolutely livid at pundits telling me that I am an idiot (Ann Coulter, Kathleen Parker) or a racist (Glenn Beck completely off his meds) for supporting Gingrich.  I am utterly disgusted at pundits giving me a one sided whisper campaign based on a jaded view of history as articulated by people with knives out for Gingrich (Jennifer Rubin, Brian Bouldoc, George Will).  Really, what the hell is wrong with these people?

Indeed, visit Right Scoop to listen to Mark Levin making the same points.

Do you want to know why I support Gingrich.  Briefly:

1.  Record of Achievement -  Gingrich is the only person running who has actually succeeded in moving the nation rightward.  He was the principal architect of the Contract With America.  He got our economy in working order and balanced the budget.

2.  Demonization and The Speakership - I remember Gingrich's speakership and downfall vividly.  Indeed, that was my introduction to the left wing / MSM partnership in the politics of demonization and demgagougery.  Gingrich was painted quite literally by the left as the personificaiton of evil and, eventually, Republicans in Congress largely went along with that.  Yeah, Gingrich failed in his showdowns with  Clinton.  But the MSM at the time were the true victors in that fight.  Anyone remember the "Gingrich Who Stole Christmas" campaign?  The MSM was every bit as leftist back then, but they also had an advantage.  There was no alternative media.  The MSM completely controlled the flow of information - and virtually all of it was skewed hard left.

The ugly truth is that many on the right back then read the MSM handwriting on the wall and happily went along with it for their own aggrandizement.  There was a coup led by Denny Hastert and the roach killer, Tom DeLay.  Boy they were great replacements for Gingrich, weren't they.  Is there anyone - and I do mean anyone - who, with the benefit of hindsight, can say the coup did anything other than end the conservative surge and return us to the bad old days of Nelson Rockefeller's Republican Party?

What it comes down to is this - the first thing to remember with all the hit pieces coming out today on the right aimed at Gingrich - there are a whole lot of people trying to justify their actions during the mid-90's.  They turned their back on Gingrich when it was politically expedient to do so.  With that in mind, when Brian Boulac or Ann Coulter or any of these other low rent bomb throwers writes another hit piece centered on Gingrich's speakership, look to see if they bother to run it by Gingrich for his response before publishing.  I am done reading any of these intellectually dishonest "pundits."    

3.  We face immense problems.  When I look at the domestic agenda of Gingrich, it is economically more far reaching than Romney's (don't take my word for it, take Larry Kudlow's) and I trust Gingrich to take on the leviathan regulatory bureaucracy that continues to grow in our nation like kudzu.  I expect Romney to try and co-opt that bureaucracy and for his economic plan to be far more accommodating to the existing paradigm and the wishes of Democrats.

When I look at foreign policy, the biggest challenge to Western civilization arises out of the spread of Wahhabi Islam and the expansion of the terrorist state animated by the soon to be nuclear Khomeinist state.  We have yet to have a single person in government to join in a Reagenesque war of ideas to shine the light on this and join, finally, the war of ideas.  Gingrich is the only person with both the knowledge and testicular fortitude to do it.

4.  Electability:  I look upon Gingrich as far more electable than Romney.  Anyone who is the Republican nominee is going to be demonized by the left on a scale not heretofore seen.  Gingrich is far more likely to be able to effectively counterattack and keep focusing the nation on what really matters - the horrid economic record of our neo-Keynsian President.  Indeed, recalling how petulant Obama became during the last general election when he was truly challenged, I expect Gingrich to be far more effecting in getting under Obama's skin and exposing him for the shallow radical left wing narcissistic that he is.

When Romney gets attacked - or feels that he is getting attacked by, say, Bret Baier, he doesn't do so well.  Indeed, I see parallels between Obama and Romney in that regard.  An Obama Romney campaign would be dirty - and even.  A Gingrich Obama campaign would be dirty - but Gingrich would be much more effective.  

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Of John McCain, Kos Coulter and the Goldwater Myth

A vociferous element of the Republican Party, epitomized by Ann Coulter, would destroy the Republican Party rather than see McCain become president. It seems more of a tantrum displaying the irrationality I had thought was only associated with the far left. It is, I believe, incredibly foolish.

McCain was not my first choice for the Republican nomination. No matter. He will be the Republican nominee. I will support him wholeheartedly.

To say that I am appalled by the reaction on the conservative side with the reaction to John McCain being the likely nominee would be understatement. As a threshold matter, much of what I am hearing is a distortion of McCain’s record.

On the single most important issue we face, national security, no one questions McCain’s credentials. McCain was correct in his calls for an increase in troop strength far before 2007. He also supported Iraq and the surge when it appeared that it would end his Presidential bid. That is principle, folks. Most politicians do not have it. If McCain is in the White House, we stand a chance to win the war against terror. Most politicians, Republican’s included, would have folded up in Iraq in 2006 in order to win the Presidency.

On the economy, McCain voted against the Bush tax cuts not because he was against tax cuts, but because he wanted concomitant spending cuts. That is called fiscal responsibility. That is also far more Reganesque than anything we ever got from Bush. Bush has spent like a drunken Democrat, along with the rest of the Republicans in Congress. If he had imposed some fiscal discipline, Republicans may well not have lost the Congress in 2006. Moreover, McCain promises to end earmarks.

On trade, McCain is the single strongest advocate of all the candidates for free trade.

On subsidies, McCain went to Iowa and said it was time to end farm and ethanol subsidies. That’s honesty. That is integrity. That is precisely correct.

On immigration, McCain’s proposal was . . . Reganesque. Don’t claim McCain is not a conservative for proposing this plan. It may be inappropriate for a host of reasons, but so is the frothing of the mouth because McCain proposed it and then claiming him a traitor. Christ, get a grip.

McCain Feingold – McCain made a mistake on this one. He has, as I recall, admitted as much. Get over it.

McCain Lieberman – Someone need to get beat McCain over the head with a two by four on this one.

The gang of fourteen – Get over this one. McCain can reach across the aisle. We got most of what conservatives wanted out of it and we did not create a scenario that could later come back to haunt Republicans in a big way.

Supreme Court Judges - The primary manner through which the socialist left has pursued their agenda over the past several decades is through the courts. In just the past two years, liberal justices have competely gutted the Fifth Amendment right limiting the government's ability to take private property. A few years before that, the liberal justices began looking to the modern laws of other countries to decide how to interpret the Constitution. Both are an incredible travesty. With that in mind, do you want more Scalias or more Ginsbergs. In the end, this may be as important as the issue of national security in whether to support McCain.

What I am hearing now – this utter refusal to support McCain, is a temper tantrum worthy of the far left. Indeed, some, such as Ann “Kos” Coulter, threaten to campaign against McCain. Is she taking a page from Kos and Ned Lamont. That was a real victory, wasn't it. Likewise, the plan to sabotage McCain’s run for the Presidency in order to remake the Republican party into some sort of purist Conservative heaven is dangerous fantasy indeed. The belief that we are reliving the Goldwater years is a myth. Nixon followed Goldwater – and took us out of Vietnam in the name of “surrender with honor” or something like that. He imposed price controls. He was as far from a conservative as you can get.

The belief that if we keep out McCain now and let either Hillary or Obama have at it for four years, that we can then run a “true” conservative as a savior, much as what happened with Carter and Regan, misses a very important point. One, there is no Regan on the horizon. Two, we are still paying for Jimmy Carter's presidency, and the price will likely outlive us. Carter allowed Islamic fundamentalism to take hold by allowing Iran to fall to Khomenei. An Obama or Clinton could well undo the gains we have made against this scourge and, indeed, a precipitous withdraw from Iraq could make it far worse. McCain will not make that mistake. But if a Democratic President does, we will greatly compound the problems our nation must face.

The last thing we need is another middle class entitlement program. The history is that such programs are difficult in the extreme to get rid of once in place. How about trying to unseat Hillary after Hillarycare is in place.

I apologize for the rambling on this one. This is all stream of consciousness under a time crunch at the moment. But regardless, the point is that this outpouring of hatred towards McCain is largely unwarranted and problematic in the extreme. The Republican movement is more than just people who want all illegal immigrants boxed up and sent home yesterday. To the extent some of us would establish a litmus test, we may find the pure conservative Republican party at the end of that road to be very small indeed - and wholly irrelevant.

Update: Other bloggers or articles drawing similar conclusions include:

Daniel Henninger in the WSJ

Powerline

Hugh Hewitt

Dr. Sanity

Victor David Hanson.

Soccer Dad - Campaign Consultant Kang Speaks

The Glittering Eye - The Anti-McCain Republicans

Big Lizards - Why Should We Care Whether Hillary or McCain Wins?

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