Wednesday, May 18, 2011

"Darkness at Newt?": Former House Speaker Prisoner of Tea Party GOP

Some recent political unrest in the Republican Party this week brought back memories of a novel a read quite a few years ago called "Darkness at Noon", a book that about political torture and show trails that was an inspiration to other writers, including George Orwell when he came to write "1984" . There seems connection between that political tome and the former House Speaker and multi-term Congressman from Georgia--and old conservative--Newt Gingrich.

 

  Let me offer a brief summary of the book, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Darkness at Noon (German: Sonnenfinsternis) is a novel by the Hungarian-born British novelist Arthur Koestler, first published in 1940. His best-known work tells the tale of Rubashov, an Old Bolshevik and October Revolutionary who is cast out, imprisoned, and tried for treason against the very Soviet Union he once helped to create.

The novel is set in 1938 during the Stalinist purges and Moscow show trials.

I wonder if Gingrich ever read the book while an undergraduate? If he did,  he's likely feeling a bit like Rubashov, the Old Bolshevik.  Not that's he going to get literally tortured, make a false confession at a show trail and then face execution--well, not physically.  But he did just have a  near-death experience or two recently thanks to the fanatical wing of the "tea party" Republicans, the same Republican Party he once led his "Contract With America" to impressive  victories over the Democrats in 1994.

Now "Old Bolshevik" Gingrich wants to be the GOP nominee for President. The only problem is that he spoke honestly about the radical agenda of severe cuts in Medicare and Medicade brought forth by  "New Bolsheviks" under Paul Ryan. 

 

 

Gingrich called the plan to end Medicare as a functioning entity for those who will be eligible for the program in roughly the next decade "too radical a jump" and "right-wing social engineering".  The program gut-tings are indeed too radical a jump and would leave millions of seniors more prone to economic distress, bankruptcy and penury if it's replaced with a voucher system, as Ryan and almost all other GOP Congresspeople want, that will not come near to covering medical costs that doctors, hospitals and private insurers would demand.

 

The very reason Medicare and later Medicade (a federal and state aid program for the poor of all ages ) was created was to give seniors and the poor medical security through a payroll tax program similar to Social Security.  The Ryan plan undermines programs that have boosted millions out of poverty and given them the treatment that would otherwise have been denied to them. 

 

Gingrich, unaware apparently that his party is now in the thrall of social Darwinist and  Ayn Rand objectivist cranks like Ryan made his statements on "Meet the Press" and later to the "Wall Street Journal". 

And, you guessed it, the new guard under the likes of Paul Ryan and Eric Cantor and company didn't take those "radical"  statements all that well.    

 

Here's a summary of the fallout, from today "The Note" put out by ABC's Michael Falcone and Amy Walter:

“In an attempt to conduct damage control in the opening days of his campaign, Newt Gingrich called Rep. Paul Ryan to apologize for comments he made criticizing the Medicare plan widely supported by GOP members of the House,” ABC’s Arlette Saenz notes. “‘I made a mistake and I called Paul Ryan today. He’s a very close personal friend, and I said to him, the fact is that I have supported what Ryan’s trying to do on the budget.’ Gingrich said on Fox News’ “On the Record” with Greta Van Susteren. ‘The budget vote is one that I am happy to say I would have voted for, I will defend, and I’d be glad to answer any Democrat who attempts to distort what I said.’ Gingrich said the two men ‘had a very good private conversation,’ and believes they will be able to ‘work together both to make sure Democrats can’t misuse information and can’t lie about where we are and also to make sure we work together.’” http://abcn.ws/lqXCFb

And what about calling Ryan’s plan “right-wing social engineering”?

“I was trying to say something that is really important. We are at the beginning of a process of solving the entitlement problems of the United States,” Gingrich said last night. “These are enormous challenges. I believe deeply that the American people have to be an integral part of it. I think that what Paul Ryan has done is he has started that process. He has begun the opportunity, something which President Obama failed to do, to have an honest conversation, to go to the American people, to share with them his current ideas.”

That's what I call some fast backtracking folks.  Almost like they had the guy in a vise.

 

 Gingrich is not a literal prisoner in an authoritarian gulag of course.  But if he wants to be President, he'd better learn from Koestler's book and recall Orwell's process of political "double think"--the art of holding two opposing views in your head at the same time--quickly if he wants to stay relevant in the party he helped boost the fortunes of not so long ago.      

10 comments:

  1. We allowed our country to be hijacked for eight years by these right wing nuts and they almost destroyed it then this last mid term election we once again gave them the controls...when will the American voters realize that these right wing tea party extremists are dangerous people when placed in positions of authority? This past week's uproar over Gingrich's remarks referring to these tea party extremists such as Ryan as 'radicals" or pushing radical policies is exactly right. They are now feeding on Gingrich and I believe most people are beginning to see these right wing people for what they truly are...a danger to this country.

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  2. I'm not sure we can completely rule that out can we Doug?
    He could I suppose end up in Camp Obama (formerly the Guantanamo Bay gulag) where the legend inscribed over the gate reads 'Yes We Can'.

    But really associating the likes of Newt Gingrich with Koestler's novel could get Bolshevism a bad name I think Doug.

    What I see here is the manufacture of artificial debate by which the only "opposition" voices in the corporate media are same as the mainstream, this gives the appearance of democracy where really there is none.

    As you point out Doug, Gingrich is practicing 'doublethink' for publicity purposes by performing the role of his own 'opposition' for the benefit of democrat leaning floating voters, while reinforcing his loyalty to the GOP leadership for consumption of republican camp followers.

    Meanwhile there is wall-to-wall consensus politics in the American one party state which brings us neatly back to Stalinism and the truism that all social engineering is 'right-wing' whatever its ideological pretensions may be.

    My impression is that what Gingrich said is literally meaningless, he is a past master in articulating empty rhetoric and this is just another example of that black art as I see it Doug, a sound bite without any substance whatsoever.

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  3. Doug, I appreciate the dots being connected here - and it's been years since I read "Darkness at Noon", so I'll have to do that again.

    I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that Gingrich is any sort of victim of the new order of the Republican party. He's been right there as a cheering-section while they've gained power; I'm thinking his recent comments about Ryan are an anomaly.

    He's never impressed me as any sort of genuinely moral person - floating with the tide is more like it. Remember - David Barton is his favorite 'historian'; he's cozied with the Fundies for the past several years now, and loves the whole Tea Party Patriot movement.

    I'd count on more of the same from the Newter....

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  4. Exactly Mike. I see some polls in the media that indicate that a lot of potential are finally seeing the light and that Gingrich's remarks were calculated to appeal to a more moderate general election base that any GOP candidate might need to get elected.

    It seems that Gingrich, for all his flaws, had learned some lessons from his days in the 1980's and 90's as a right-wing shoot-from-the-hip loudmouth with a new idea every day to leave sensible voters dazed and confused. That's why his tenure as Speaker of the House was rather short--in his heart he is a "propagandist", not a leader That position has now been filled by more extreme types,as you pointed out.

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  5. Exactly Mike. I see some polls in the media that indicate that a lot of potential voters are finally seeing the light and that Gingrich's remarks were calculated to appeal to a more moderate general election base that any GOP candidate might need to get elected.

    It seems that Gingrich, for all his flaws, had learned some lessons from his days in the 1980's and 90's as a right-wing shoot-from-the-hip loudmouth with a new idea every day to leave sensible voters dazed and confused. He actually tried to put daylight between him and the Tea Party crowd. In the end, he chickened out in less than a day. I'm not sure where he stands now, but I'm certain he might as well be the captive of the very GOP extremists he helped nurture. Irony is a b-----, as someone once said.


    That's why his tenure as Speaker of the House was rather short--in his heart he is a "propagandist", not a leader That position has now been filled by more extreme types,as you pointed out.

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  6. I think one of Obama's key mistakes in 2009 was in not closing Bush/Cheney ugly little Guantanamo scheme, AA. It was a major letdown from his promise in the matter and one he should have carried out quickly upon assuming office.

    Obviously I'm being tongue-in-cheek about all this talk of Newt as some kind of victim here, but I can't help wondering if Gingrich would have been a good little Grand Inquisitor in a place like Stalin's Russia of the 1920's and 30's.


    The limitations of the mainstream American corporate media as presenting real political opposition is something I will not dispute.

    Thats all social engineering ultimately being right-wing is one that seems to fit nicely if you are talking about America in the last 30-odd years. The Left, for whatit is over here, is constantly playing defense and trying to get its message heard even when polling indicates the public supports many of their positions on domestic policy. Why this is so would be a fit topic for a completely different blog I will attempt in the future.

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  7. I think one of Obama's key mistakes in 2009 was in not closing Bush/Cheney ugly little Guantanamo scheme, AA. It was a major letdown from his promise in the matter and one he should have carried out quickly upon assuming office.

    Obviously I'm being tongue-in-cheek about all this talk of Newt as some kind of victim here, but I can't help wondering if Gingrich would have been a good little Grand Inquisitor in a place like Stalin's Russia of the 1920's and 30's.


    The limitations of the mainstream American corporate media as presenting real political opposition is something I will not dispute.

    That all social engineering ultimately being right-wing is one that seems to fit nicely if you are talking about America in the last 30-odd years. The Left, for what it is over here, is constantly playing defense and trying to get its message heard even when polling indicates the public supports many of their positions on domestic policy. Why this is so would be a fit topic for a completely different blog. I will attempt to do so in the form of a book review in the near future.

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  8. It would do me good to revisit that novel from my college days, Will. I'm sure I would see a lot more nuances in the novel now that its no longer blanketed in a Cold War context.

    I don't think I did a good job here in showing I was being attempting to be satirical in regard to "The Newter". He is rather like one of those pre-1794 French Revolutionaries who finds himself about to be guillotined by the very fanatics he helped nurture. And they are fanatics in my book.

    Amazed how fast Gingrich pulled back from his disgust at the Ryan Plan. He's no "Number 6" that's for damn sure.

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  9. I agree Doug...I heard the situation described like this today and thought it to be the best explanation I've heard so far.."Gingrich did something he seldom ever does and something Republicans and right wing extremists never do...he told the truth"

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  10. I think that's a very incisive quote, Mike.

    Gingrich's expressed opinion about social engineering was at the very least honest and direct...the trouble was it was not only truthful from his personal perspective but it wasn't in the current far-right playbook. He's being set upon as some kind of heretic... and now I predict he will tow the line.

    Thanks for sharing that.

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