Scene: An editorial board meeting with Newt Gingrich and the Des Moines Register.

Gingrich is humping his new book, To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular Socialist Machine. Nothing inflammatory there. Right?

http://thinkprogress.org/2010/05/29/gingrich-nazi-walkback/

Yet, the editorial board gives Newt a beatdown and has him backtracking throughout the entire interview.

An excerpt:

Newt Gingrich sat down with the Des Moines Register editorial board this week to discuss his new book To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular Socialist Machine. Right at the start of the interview, a Register editor asked if Gingrich thinks “voters are stupid since they elected President Obama in 2008.” The former Speaker walked back the entire premise of his book. “The whole question of the scale of change has nothing to do with Obama,” he said.
:wow:

Later in the hour-long interview, Gingrich backtracked even further. “I’m not here saying Obama is the bad guy and if he wasn’t there things would be good.” Soon after, the Register editor called Gingrich out:

DMR EDITOR: I was really taken aback by something you just said, in that “I”m not here saying Obama is the bad guy.” In your book you say, “The President’s secular socialist machine represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did.” That sure sounds like you think he’s a bad guy with bad ideas.

Gingrich again tried to distance himself from the fiery rhetoric in his book, simply saying that the “secular socialist machine” is taking over “traditional America” without linking Obama to it.

More at link. Hilarity ensues. He just makes shit up.

Wife dumper Gingrich (R) is a real piece of Family Pharisee Values work, as he once again demonstrates.

Got no respect for the horde of republicon chickenhawk 'leaders' hellbent on making America FAIL with their wimpy weasly whackjob words & wishes.

This story seems like a big deal.

He's really outdone himself here.

Typical "gotcha" journalism from the librul media. Newt doesn't have to deal with substantive questions; he can always to go Fox for a big fluffing. But to actually take what he wrote and ask him to answer for it? Oh, the huge manatee! Poor Newt! He's accustomed to "interviews" where he says whatever he wants to say and the reporters just write it down like good little stenographers. If he flip-flops or totally contradicts what he just said the sentence before, nobody's supposed to notice. How rude of them!

Gingrich's entire thesis about Obama's radical, socialist, blah blah blah is completely contradicted by Newt himself almost immediately. If you are going to claim that Obama is attempting to enact some sort of totalitarian secular agenda which is going to destroy traditional beliefs in this country, and then you cant even call him a "bad guy", that makes you a lying tool.

Also the end part where the interviewer says that the discussion they had was pretty reasonable and nothing like the insane shit he writes in his book, is a perfect example of how these conservatives operate.

Scare the shit out of your base with inflammatory rhetoric and then downplay the more extreme elements when you actually have to explain your positions to people who dont already agree with you.

The most important thing to take away from this is that Newt is a fucking weasel capable of changing his own beliefs and principles depending on who he is talking to.

Great post. You nailed the whole thing right there.

:thumbsup: