Letters to the Editor
sysprog
Published Letters: 1700 Editor's Choice: 2
-
The Learned Master of Persuasion and Negotiation
[Read the article: If only Newt Gingrich were president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989559,00.html
TIME magazine ** Monday, Nov. 16, 1998
Fall Of The House Of Newt
By NANCY GIBBS AND MICHAEL DUFFY...If Clinton is a prisoner of his appetites, Gingrich is a prisoner of his ego. He kept trying the same strategy again and again, drawing lines in the sand and waiting for his adversary to come across. Except it was Gingrich who always blinked first. In May 1995, when Clinton seemed at his weakest, Gingrich boasted to TIME of his plans to shut down the government and then wait for the President to come crawling, meekly accepting Newt's cuts in Medicare and other government programs. "He can run the parts of government that are left [after the cuts], or he can run no government," Newt said. "Which of the two of us do you think worries more about the government not showing up?" As it turned out, it was Newt.
After the shutdown, Gingrich remorsefully talked of sidelining himself, of having "thrown one too many interceptions." Back then no one knew that this would be his habit. In June 1997 the issue was disaster relief. Republicans loaded the bill with blatantly partisan riders, assuming Clinton wouldn't dare veto it. The President did, within minutes of its landing on his desk, and the Republicans were blamed for flood victims' getting stranded. A coup ensued, but Gingrich prevailed, primarily because there was no obvious candidate to replace him. His response: a 12-point memo on the lessons to be learned from the disaster-relief disaster. Lesson One: "In dealing with Clinton, you must never put yourself in a position where he can be compassionate or self-righteous."
So where was Gingrich last spring? Putting himself in a position in which Clinton could be self-righteous. So confident was Gingrich that the intern scandal would doom the President--despite polls that were already consistently showing that the public didn't care--that he assumed he would have the upper hand in any budget deal. Instead, the public saw the Democrats as the party that was trying to attend to business while the Republicans were distracted by scandal.
All that history made it hard, after the elections last week, for anyone to trust Gingrich with another two years as Speaker. Most may have been willing, once again, to accept his promises of change -- change in management, in decision making, in priorities. But there was one thing Gingrich couldn't change. "The problem for the party is that Newt is the face of the party," said a G.O.P. congressional operative on the eve of Gingrich's resignation. "Until we elect a President, he's the most visible spokesman we have. The snake won't die unless you cut off its head."
- - By NANCY GIBBS AND MICHAEL DUFFY
- - With reporting by James Carney, John F. Dickerson, Karen Tumulty and Michael Weisskopf -
Mmmm … Giraffeburgers
[Read the article: If only Newt Gingrich were president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://unauthorised.org/anthropology/anthro-l/march-1995/0336.html
“If combat means living in a ditch, females have biological problems staying in a ditch for thirty days because they get infections and they don’t have upper body strength. I mean, some do, but they’re relatively rare. On the other hand, men are basically little piglets, you drop them in the ditch, they roll around in it, doesn’t matter, you know. These things are very real. On the other hand, if combat means being on an Aegis-class cruiser managing the computer controls for twelve ships and their rockets, a female may be again dramatically better than a male who gets very, very frustrated sitting in a chair all the time because males are biologically driven to go out and hunt giraffes.”
– - Adjunct Professor Newt Gingrich, Reinhardt College, January 7, 1995, “Renewing American Civilization.” -
Strange Phrasing By Blair
[Read the article: If only Newt Gingrich were president]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/uk_news/politics/6529431.stm
Mr Blair said British forces should not be in Iranian waters - but added "it is our contention that they weren't".
I truly don't know what to make of that less than assertive statement. Myself, I could contend that the Iranians were lying, but unlike me, Blair needn't contend -- he knows the facts.
Perhaps Britain and Iran agreed not to call each other liars, but, instead, to leave the question vaguely unresolved?
Or perhaps the facts themselves are unsettled, like the border?
-
Update : Cliff May dips his toe in reality.
[Read the article: National journalists believe you should trust them]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]http://townhall.com/columnists/CliffMay/2007/04/05/opting_for_failure
...Back in November, even after the Democrats bested Republicans in the elections, it was assumed that most Americans would be furious over any attempt to de-fund troops engaged in combat.
But recent polls, taken by such organizations as Pew, CNN and the Washington Post suggest that a substantial number of voters no longer see it that way: Confidence in the possibility of salvaging a successful outcome in Iraq is running low; support for Congress legislating a specific date when American troops will come home is running high...
- - Cliff May -
Totally Different
[Read the article: Newt Gingrich's 1997 trip to China]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Gingrich didn't wear a scarf.
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25004