Not that anyone should give a rat's ass but here's a little commentary on a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Gingrich Passing Judgment On Powell? Hahahahaha!
DANIEL RUTH
Published: Jul 13, 2003
With the possible exception of James Traficant, convicted congressman and serial toupeest, there probably never has been a less inspiring or intellectually obtuse figure on the American political scene than Newt Gingrich.
Indeed, how the Foghorn Leghorn of the neoconservative movement ever managed to become speaker of the House of Representatives is either a mystery of Mary Deare-like proportions or a sad commentary on what passes for leadership in this country.
Yet there he was the other day, out of power but not out of biliousness, blaming Secretary of State Colin Powell for the war in Iraq.
Uh, Mr. Disgraced Speaker? The secretary of state doesn't declare war. Only the president has the authority to send troops into harm's way.
Aren't you supposed to be a history professor?
In a speech several weeks ago, shortly after the fall of Baghdad, Gingrich vilified Powell's tenure at the State Department this way: ``The last seven months have involved six months of diplomatic failure and one month of military success. The first days after military victory indicate the pattern of diplomatic failure is beginning once again and threatens to undo the effects of military victory.''
As well, Gingrich laid into Powell for traveling to Syria for a meeting with President Bashar Assad because the latter is a sleazy, ``terrorist-supporting, secret-police-wielding dictator.''
Ahem. If the secretary of state was only allowed to meet with upstanding pillars of democracy, Colin Powell would have more spare time on his hands than Kato Kaelin.
And again, this may come as something of a shock to the defrocked speaker, but secretaries of state don't sneak out in the dead of night to play footsie with tyrants. The president generally approves the travel budget.
Fighting Cockroaches
Indeed, if anything supports the notion of Powell possessing diplomatic skills that make the likes of Dean Acheson seem like a street thug, it is the fact that the secretary of state has miraculously avoided striding up to Gingrich and punching him in the mouth.
After all, the former speaker has accused Powell of running a ``rogue'' department - disloyal to President Bush, unprincipled and accommodating to evildoers.
Interestingly enough, the undermining of Powell by Gingrich is reminiscent of a similar pout-fest by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who accused former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark of being a ``blow-dried Napoleon'' for having the audacity to criticize the U.S. war in Iraq.
Perhaps a review is in order. Clark, who graduated first in his class from West Point, was wounded four times in Vietnam and received a Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Medal. DeLay's official biography doesn't mention his years with an extermination company, where the closest he came to hand-to-hand combat was fighting cockroaches.
Look Who's Talking
Similarly, Powell rose to the rank of four-star general in the U.S. Army, survived two tours of duty in Vietnam and served as national security adviser to the first President Bush before becoming chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Oh, and then there were all those honors: Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star, Purple Heart. In case Gingrich forgot, that last one is for combat wounds.
Geez, the only hardship Gingrich ever had to endure in Congress was being relegated to the back of Air Force One en route to Yitzhak Rabin's funeral, and he whined about it more than Yosemite Sam demanding to see the high-wire act.
Although it is certainly more than fair to take issue with Powell on foreign policy issues, does anyone honestly believe that a man whose integrity and patriotism are beyond question would be willing to preside over a ``rogue,'' disloyal government agency?
Meanwhile, Gingrich, a professional glad-hander for most of his adult life, traveled the land preaching ``family values'' while carrying on an affair with a congressional aide and was forced to pay $300,000 in fines for ethical breaches.
This is the dimwit hectoring a true American hero about values?
Wouldn't this be like Jayson Blair lecturing Walter Cronkite about journalistic ethics?
Naw, even Blair has more credibility.
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