Remember that electrifying moment in the first Republican candidate debate of the current silly season when Chris Wallace asked a gotcha question of Newt Gingrich and got soundly trounced by a man with more intellect than half the states on the East Coast combined?
I watched Newt two nights ago on the "Center Seat" segment of the Fox Report with Bret Baier. They've been having one of the presidential contenders on every other day or so to sit with the panel for about twenty minutes and answer some questions. I was struck by the dialogue between Newt and one of the arguably most intelligent folks on the planet, Charles Krauthammer. The interchange was noteworthy and it was easy to see that the two men had deep respect for each other even if they were not in total agreement.
Newt has characterized himself as the tortoise versus Romney's hare. We all know how that race turned out. When it comes to clear understanding of the issues both domestic and international, few have the depth of Gingrich. And, few have the ability to express complex issues clearly.
The danger, of course, is that America isn't smart enough for such dialogue. They are deep into three word slogans. "Yes We Can!" or "Hope and Change" or "Occupy Palm Springs." When they ask what time it is they want a digital read-out, not a lecture on how to build a chronometer. They may even wanted it dumbed down to simply "early" or "late".
I've discounted Newt as yesterday's news so far. He's been around for a long time and he's got some marital baggage that makes him tough to embrace for the ultra-conservative Right wing. But this isn't about choosing a spouse. It should be about choosing a governmental leader.
So, it shouldn't be surprising when one of the media elite spouts off to Gingrich and then gets enlightened in a most detailed way:
Piers Learns About Reality From a Realist
Telling someone like Gingrich his business is probably not prudent.
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