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Audacity of Truth
Whiner-in-Chief:
"[W]hether the grumbling is about Republicans on Fox or bloggers in pajamas, there's a word for what the president and his aides are doing. That word is "whining." And nothing [...] does more damage to Obama's credibility or authority than the sense that a popular president is becoming the whiner-in-chief."
- John Nichols, Nation Magazine - 10/12/09
Newt Gingrich on the Baker-Hamilton Commission
ST reader Fat Tone sends along this must-read link to a piece written by Newt Gingrich on the much-talked about Baker-Hamilton Commission (aka the Iraq Study Group). Newt’s recommendation? They ought to visit Mount Vernon before coming to any definitive conclusions on what we need to do in Iraq.
Read it, and let me know what you think.
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5 Responses to “Newt Gingrich on the Baker-Hamilton Commission”
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If we’d had study groups in other wars would we have won a damn one? Study groups are for high school and college and take a serious look at some of these groupies.
That is an excelleent read- thanks FT and ST.
This realistically addresses the issues IMO. It seems to recognizes the failure of the current campaign in Iraq, or at least recognize a need for a change in strategy to realize the goal of an independent, free Iraq WITHOUT a cut and run (a.k.a. “redeployment”) approach. It also recognizes the larger scope that entails Iraq and consequences of failing.
I’m not a big Newt Gingrich fan, but the points he makes here are valid and important ones.
In business, I’ve seen that important new initiatives–new products, processes, and markets that are very different from the old ones–frequently have a hard time at the beginning and often appear chaotic. Then, there are always people who want to quit, seeing only the difficulty and not the potential gains (and/or the potential aversion of impending disaster which will happen sooner or later if nothing major is ever done.) I think Bush is dealing with a similar set of problems and reactions.
There’s an old proverb along the lines of “never show a fool something half-done” (because he won’t be able to grasp what it will look like when it’s complete.) Unfortunately, we seem to have a disproportionate number of fools in politics, media, and academia right now
His analogy between the American Revolution and the Iraqi War is laughable. He asks 11 questions of the commission, sprinkles in some fear-mongering and hyperbole, and concludes that “These 11 steps would be a powerful basis on which to move forward in Iraq and in the world.” What steps? These are questions. Where is the plan, man? Of course he ends where he starts by invoking the spirit of our founding father (patriotic music plays as Old Glory waves in the background). Are you buying this load of BS?
Gingrich is a history professor…so his tie in to Washington not only correlates to today ( why else study history ? ) but emphasizes the importance of not just where the US is…but also where Iraq is, at this juncture.