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You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Blind Pigs, Acorns

Blind Pigs, Acorns

by Tom Levenson|  May 2, 201312:35 pm| 50 Comments

This post is in: Grifters Gonna Grift, Both Sides Do It!, Bring on the Brawndo!, Our Failed Political Establishment

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I suppose it’s not really a surprise that someone who sprays as much verbiage as Mr. Newt Gingrich must on occasion come up with something which which I can agree:

It would be a major mistake to put American troops in Syria.

No one in the region wants us invading yet another country.

None of our allies want our strength diverted from Iran.

There is no practical mission American forces could accomplish without a very large commitment.

Yup, that’s about right.

But still, I’m not going to give Gingrich any props for this one moment of clarity.  The problem with Newt is not that he is incapable of clear thought at times, but that he chooses to relinquish that capacity when it’s convenient.

Pierre-Auguste_Renoir_-_Le_Clown_(Claude_Renoir)

Which is to say that I’m with Tom Kludt, the author of the bit at TPM from which the quotes above are taken,  when he suggests that the odds of Gingrich saying something more or less sane sensitively depend on whether or not he’s running for something at the time:

At a Republican presidential debate last year in Arizona, the former House speaker mocked President Barack Obama for not doing more in Syria.

“This is an administration which, as long as you’re America’s enemy, you’re safe,” Gingrich said. “You know, the only people you’ve got to worry about is if you’re an American ally.”

And thus the real problem.  It doesn’t actually matter much what Gingrich says when no one (outside of the credulous Village) is listening.  We have a deep problem in our politics that derives directly from the fact that the leaders of that feral beast known theRepublican party has become give tacit and sometimes overt permission to the crazies that form the hardest core of their supporters. Ted Cruz and the Pauls, Bachmann, Gohmert, and all the rest talk apocalypse.  The allegedly “responsible” leadership — Gingrich himself in this case, domesticates the truly wild-eyed, the folks who accuse Obama of high crimes and misdemeanorsor.  Or recall Romney, dog whistling during the campaign last year:

“Sometimes I think we have a president who doesn’t understand America.” This line was straight out of the “Alien in the White House” playbook, a riff that reinforced the worst impulses of some in the audience, as one woman at a Romney rally named Katheryn Sarka eagerly reaffirmed when I asked her what she thought of the line: “Obama doesn’t understand America. He follows George Soros. Obama is against our Constitution and our democracy.”

After his big Nevada win, this line of Mitt’s scripted victory speech stood out: “President Obama demonizes and denigrates almost every sector of our economy.”

As discussed yesterday, we live in a country where 3 out of ten Americans, and 44% of the GOP expect armed rebellion in the next few years.  This is not a view compatible with democratic process.  The destruction of the American polity is not a both-sides-do-it phenomenon.  It is a hail mary act of intimidation, and perhaps outright violence to come, by a failed political party, one whose hopes of gaining legitimate power shrink with every passing year of demographic change.

Hmmm.  A reckless, failing political movement threatening violence unless its minority hold on power persists.  When before now have we seen that in American history?

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Clown — Claude Renoir, 1909

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Reader Interactions

50Comments

  1. 1.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 2, 2013 at 12:39 pm

    None of our allies want our strength diverted from Iran.

    Since you agree with President-For-Life-Of-The-Moon, what does that even mean?

  2. 2.

    Tom Levenson

    May 2, 2013 at 12:41 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Don’t say I agree with him; just that he’s got the non-intervention in Syria angle right.

  3. 3.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 2, 2013 at 12:43 pm

    @Tom Levenson: It sounds like he doesn’t want to invade Syria because he’s still jonesing to invade Iran.

  4. 4.

    Certified Mutant Enemy

    May 2, 2013 at 12:44 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    BINGO!

  5. 5.

    Mark B.

    May 2, 2013 at 12:44 pm

    @Tom Levenson: I don’t know if making the right decision for the completely wrong reason deserves full credit. Maybe a D- or something.

  6. 6.

    Stoned Stats

    May 2, 2013 at 12:47 pm

    Ahem…that’s Dr. Newt Gingrich to you, sir.

  7. 7.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    May 2, 2013 at 12:47 pm

    @Mark B.: Tom already says that he’s not going to give Gingrich any credit for this “one moment of clarity.”

  8. 8.

    raven

    May 2, 2013 at 12:48 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: HE ain’t going to invade anything.

  9. 9.

    Morzer

    May 2, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    Gingrich—Primary Mission
    —Advocate of civilization
    —Definer of civilization
    —Teacher of the rules of civilization
    —Arouser of those who form civilization
    —Organizer of the pro-civilization activists
    —Leader (possibly) of the civilizing forces.

  10. 10.

    Schlemizel

    May 2, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    Have no fear Tom. You can rest assured that whatever President Obama does this slimy amphibian will immediately point out how wrong the CinC is and how much better he himself would have done. Even if Obama does exactly what Newt claimed was right just 5 minutes before

  11. 11.

    Hill Dweller

    May 2, 2013 at 12:50 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    It sounds like he doesn’t want to invade Syria because he’s still jonesing to invade Iran.

    Col. Larry Wilkerson was on Maddow last night saying he thought the people(McCain, Graham, etc.) pushing for Syria intervention are actually envisioning it as the first step toward a war with Iran.

  12. 12.

    Haydnseek

    May 2, 2013 at 12:51 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: This!

  13. 13.

    mai naem

    May 2, 2013 at 12:52 pm

    Newtman sticks his finger in the air and sticks out his other hand for whoever’s going to allow his to grift the most $$$. Ditto for most Republican pols and, really, most retired pols.
    OT – http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BRITAIN_TAX?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Here’s something that would never happen here because job creationaling is hard work. Also too, somewhat related to job maintaining is hard work – http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MED_SUICIDE_INCREASE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-05-02-11-59-08

  14. 14.

    Zifnab

    May 2, 2013 at 12:53 pm

    As discussed yesterday, we live in a country where 3 out of ten Americans, and 44% of the GOP expect armed rebellion in the next few years. This is not a view compatible with democratic process.

    Meh. Give it another few years. If the GOP can take the White House in ’16, or reclaim the Senate, we’ll be right back to “Elections have consequences!” and “Sore/Loserman!” :-p

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    May 2, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    @Mark B.:

    I don’t know if making the right decision for the completely wrong reason deserves full credit.

    Hence the blind big, acorn title.

  16. 16.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 2, 2013 at 12:55 pm

    @raven: I didn’t say he was, douchebag. Go yell at the clouds or return something to Radio Shack or whatever old people do on Thursday afternoon.

  17. 17.

    Michele C

    May 2, 2013 at 12:56 pm

    Ok. Newt accidentally getting one thing right is news, though as everyone points out it’s for the wrong reasons.

    However, did you read that thing about South Carolina from the “in American history” link? They didn’t ratify the 19th amendment for half a century? And, after very little research, I found that SC didn’t allow women to serve on juries until 1969.

    I am now positive the reason I keep getting the “Christian Mingle” ads is because I keep swearing, “Jesus feckin’ Christ!” and the computer is noticing.

  18. 18.

    cmorenc

    May 2, 2013 at 12:56 pm

    @Tom Levenson:

    It is a hail mary act of intimidation, and perhaps outright violence to come, by a failed political party, one whose hopes of gaining legitimate power shrink with every passing year of demographic change.

    The GOP hopes to gain power by changing and shrinking the definition of “legitimate power” in a way that makes their followers still a controlling majority of those deemed a legitimate part of the electorate. That, coupled with refusal to respect the legitimacy of the democratic party as a party controlling the government, regardless of electoral results (because no way could the democrats win legitimately in their view).

  19. 19.

    Bulworth

    May 2, 2013 at 12:58 pm

    None of our allies want our strength diverted from Iran.

    Well, I’m sure we could swing by Syria after the Iranians greet our invading forces as Liberators.

  20. 20.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 2, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    @Michele C:

    Ok. Newt accidentally getting one thing right is news, though as everyone points out it’s for the wrong reasons.

    How is it right to not want to invade one country because you want to invade another country? Why isn’t it just as appalling (or more) to want to invade Iran as if he wanted to invade Syria?

  21. 21.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 2, 2013 at 1:01 pm

    Been waiting for an open thread but I’m gonna put this here because there is “Acorn” in the title:

    Came home from work last night and my mostly non-political wife asked me a question that I never thought she’d utter.
    “Who is John O’Keefe?”
    “Do you mean James O’Keefe the third?”
    “Yeah, that’s who it is.”
    “Why in the hell are you asking me this?”

    So my wife donates her time and efforts to a worldwide anti-sex trafficking charity (and other women’s issues) and received an email from a fellow local volunteer that said: Google James O’Keefe and ACORN. They were working in San Diego to stop trafficking. We should partner with them!!!!

    My head almost exploded. I guess that’s one way of looking at the ACORN fiasco.

  22. 22.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    May 2, 2013 at 1:06 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: You’re the one adding words to the list, so stop yelling. When Gingrich gets his army together to invade Iran, yell at him.

  23. 23.

    Michele C

    May 2, 2013 at 1:06 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead: Oh, sorry, not what I meant. I just meant that he got it right that we shouldn’t invade Syria. I was probably imprecise because I was flabbergasted at South Carolina.

  24. 24.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    May 2, 2013 at 1:07 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Yep, he works to stop trafficking in the same way that a pimp keeps women from being unemployed.

    ETA: Actually, upon reading that, it makes less sense than when I wrote it. But him being in a “pimp” suit just puts all sorts of unappealing images in my head.

  25. 25.

    Librarian

    May 2, 2013 at 1:10 pm

    No, I give him zero credit, because he has no principles except whatever benefits Newt Gingrich. Tomorrow he will be calling for the invasion of Syria and denying that he ever said anything else.

  26. 26.

    quannlace

    May 2, 2013 at 1:12 pm

    how wrong the CinC is and how much better he himself would have done.

    Hell, does anyone really believe that Newt seriously wanted to be President? He got into the Primaries for pure self-promotion and to sell his and his wife’s books.

  27. 27.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 2, 2013 at 1:14 pm

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent): Heh.
    I gave my wife some links to the ACORN thingy and subsequent O’queefiness. She stayed up until midnight researching and is going to blast this idea with both barrels.

  28. 28.

    catclub

    May 2, 2013 at 1:16 pm

    I know that pigs that find truffles find them by smell, and I suspect that pigs find acorns the same way. … So wouldn’t a blind pig actually be just as, if not more likely, to find acorns?

    I bet that is the ONLY old saying that is not accurate!

  29. 29.

    catclub

    May 2, 2013 at 1:20 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: I recognize the thought processes of workers/volunteers for an extremely (as most are) penurious charity.

    “We should partner with them!!!!”

  30. 30.

    dm

    May 2, 2013 at 1:21 pm

    It is a hail mary act of intimidation, and perhaps outright violence to come, by a failed political party, one whose hopes of gaining legitimate power shrink with every passing year of demographic change.

    There’s some of that, I’m sure. But I couldn’t help thinking of this survey last night when John Cole was ranting:

    I honestly think we are not too far from food riots and the blood of douchebags running in the street.

    I think part of that 29% includes a lot of John Coles without blogs to vent on. A lot of us are having wistful thoughts about the sound of tumbrels rattling down Wall Street and into The Village.

  31. 31.

    MattF

    May 2, 2013 at 1:22 pm

    Ah, Noot. It’s true– there are, once in a while, temporal intervals during which he says things a reasonable person might say. I remember, some years ago, I happened to see him on CSPAN. Calm. Reasonable. Was able to emit complex sentences without going astray.

    But then… the subject of unions came up. UNIONS. His complexion turned pinkish, and then a sort of puce/mauve. His hair stood on end. Steam started coming out of his ears. Yes, quite a show, but no, not a reasonable man.

  32. 32.

    catclub

    May 2, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    @Librarian: I give Gingrich some credit for his attacks on Mitt the vulture capitalist.

    remember the 30 minute attack ad in south carolina?

    all the other GOP candidates were too cowardly to go after that aspect of Mitt’s resume.

    Of course, Newt shut up when the rest of the GOP establishment came down on him like a ton of bricks.
    (And the money spigot from Sheldon Adelson was probably kinked for a while.)

  33. 33.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 2, 2013 at 1:29 pm

    @catclub: Yup. This same person is a multi-level marketer (recent convert). Her other idea was that everyone becomes a rep (under her) and then the organization will give 2% of their sales to their charity. 2% out of the reps’ end, not the org’s end.

  34. 34.

    joes527

    May 2, 2013 at 1:41 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: If you actually Google James O’Keefe and ACORN, most of the first page hits (in fact, everything other than O’Keefe’s wikipedia entry) are about how he is paying 100K to the ACORN dude he smeared.

    Even if you don’t know the full back story, how do you get from that to “we should partner with him?”

  35. 35.

    Svensker

    May 2, 2013 at 1:42 pm

    @Just Some Fuckhead:

    Ditto? Why do we not need to “divert” ourselves from Iran? Iran is not particularly diverting, except to Iranians, and perhaps we should leave them to get on with their lives without us and our snouts being poked in.

  36. 36.

    Michele C

    May 2, 2013 at 1:51 pm

    @MattF: Moon colonies! Orphanages! Death penalty for drugs! Lasers! Death rays! Space mirrors! Geo-engineering! Second Life! Beach volleyball! Gut the State Department and it’s anti-Bushiness! Iran! Iran! Iran!

  37. 37.

    ranchandsyrup

    May 2, 2013 at 1:58 pm

    @joes527: That was exactly what my wife was saying when I walked in. The girl who sent the email to the group is dating a wingnut is my best guess.

  38. 38.

    Trollhattan

    May 2, 2013 at 2:00 pm

    Wouldn’t fighting in Syria effectively be a proxy war with Iran? Because that would be cool. Newton should get behind this awesome action.

  39. 39.

    celticdragonchick

    May 2, 2013 at 2:04 pm

    As discussed yesterday, we live in a country where 3 out of ten Americans, and 44% of the GOP expect armed rebellion in the next few years.

    I just did a quick calculation based on the debate yesterday where most folks that either very few or none of the respondents would seriously take up arms. Given a population of 311,951,317 persons and that 33 percent, give or take, expect a necessity of armed revolt, I figured maybe 1% of that number might really be serious about that (that is likely rather low, but let’s go with 1%)

    That leaves 1029439 people willing to fight. That is still over one million, which is enough to be one huge fucking problem. Again, I think this understates the case as it is. For more entertainment, look here at Redstate where every day is April 19, 1775 in Concord and Lexington.

    The craaaaazy is bad out there.

  40. 40.

    Patricia Kayden

    May 2, 2013 at 2:26 pm

    @celticdragonchick: If they decided to fight, wouldn’t they be setting up themselves to be destroyed by the military? You don’t get to rebel against a democratically elected government with no consequences?

  41. 41.

    Chris

    May 2, 2013 at 2:45 pm

    @quannlace:

    I think his time in Congress probably persuaded him that it’s more fun being there than in the White House – much less public pressure on you, and you get to clog up the machinery of government joyfully.

  42. 42.

    Chris

    May 2, 2013 at 2:46 pm

    @catclub:

    Oh yeah. That’s what makes the O’Keefe thing even more repugnant. As if there weren’t already too little money going to these causes, now scum like this is trying to divert it into their anti-poor-people-voting campaigns.

    I really hate conservatives. Have I ever mentioned that before?

  43. 43.

    Chris

    May 2, 2013 at 2:48 pm

    @catclub:

    I give Gingrich some credit for his attacks on Mitt the vulture capitalist.

    I give him credit for the best zinger of the Republican primary – “The only reason you’re not a career politician is because you lost your reelection campaign to Ted Kennedy!”

  44. 44.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    May 2, 2013 at 3:59 pm

    @Belafon (formerly anonevent): I’M NOT YELLING, YOU STUPID COW.

  45. 45.

    boatboy_srq

    May 2, 2013 at 4:02 pm

    As discussed yesterday, we live in a country where 3 out of ten Americans, and 44% of the GOP expect armed rebellion in the next few years.

    Because that’s worked so well for Spain. And Chile. And Argentina. And Guatemala. And Honduras. And Pakistan. And Myanmar. Nothing works so well to invigorate the defense of liberty as having Reichwing nutjobs take over the government. The only problem is the intervening period when the nutjobs are in power, and the defenders of liberty get invigorated by being arrested/imprisoned/killed/disappeared. It’s a real pity the Teahad doesn’t have a clue which end of the argument they’re on.

  46. 46.

    celticdragonchick

    May 2, 2013 at 4:32 pm

    @Patricia Kayden:

    If they decided to fight, wouldn’t they be setting up themselves to be destroyed by the military?

    Some studies back in the 90’s concluded that the military would be seriously compromised by any right wing insurgency, with 30% or even more of the troops refusing to fight or actively defecting to the other side. The rangers in 75 Bat at Hunter AAF were talking about that for some time.

  47. 47.

    Bruce S

    May 2, 2013 at 4:38 pm

    Newt Gingrich is kind of on a roll here. I understand he also loves ice cream and enjoys zoos.

  48. 48.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 2, 2013 at 5:29 pm

    Broken clock, etc.

    Doesn’t change that Newt’s head would look much better on a pike than on his shoulders.

  49. 49.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 2, 2013 at 5:34 pm

    @celticdragonchick:

    That works both ways. When I was serving on 9th ID staff in the 80’s, a few of us were discussing Pat Robertson’s Presidential run, and a few troops volunteered that they’d join me in the hills in the resistance.

  50. 50.

    El Cid

    May 2, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    Any true statement ever uttered by Newt Gingrich is true in spite of, and not because of, it having been uttered by Newt Gingrich.

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