It seems like a lot of people misunderstood what Newt meant by phony war. I think he went on to talk about the great efforts the military is being asked to give, while the civilians are off at the mall and the country club, and that we need to get off of oil and stop funding the enemy.
Wait, isn’t that one of the left’s faux arguments?
Jaibones on August 4, 2007 at 3:43 PM

I don’t know if this thread is still active and I don’t mean to be contrary, but. I’ve heard Newt make this argument before and what nobody seems to want to ask is what sacrifice are the civilians supposed to be asked to make? Military draft? Ration Cards? Victory Gardens? Please explain that to me. Heck, Americans can’t even take $3/gal gasoline! If they only understood that most of Europe pays about $8/gal now and they have a much less expendable income due to the high taxes they pay for their welfare state.

I understand why Bush told us to go ‘to the mall and shop’. Yeah, he might have explained it a little better for those who don’t understand that the terrorists, ala AQ, have our economy in their headlights. They want to bring it down because they understand that is the way to defeat us. The best way for Americans to fight is to make the US economy strong.

And surely Newt understands this, Reaganomics and all. He would be better served as a potential ’08 candidate if he took that road.

I think that Bush has stated numerous times that we need to wean ourselves off of oil for the sake of our national security. But that doesn’t mean that if we stop buying Saudi oil those that want to kill or convert us will go away.

It seems like a lot of people misunderstood what Newt meant by phony war

I you have to explain what he ment it bad communication not bad message.

Wait, isn’t that one of the left’s faux arguments?

AZ_Redneck on August 3, 2007 at 10:55 PM

AZ_Redneck

Perhaps you misunderstand the point and intent of Reagan’s 11th Commandment. Republicans criticizing other Republicans in PUBLIC only undermines the Republican Party. As I’m sure you’ve noticed the Ds just love it when the Republicans fight with each other, which this group of Congress members since ’04 have done very effectively with each other. You don’t see the Ds criticizing each other in public do you? They have adopted Reagan’s Commandment and it served them well in ’06. My 2 Texas Senators understand that as well. They have very effectively stood their ground on issues when not in agreement with the Administration without being critical of the President in public.

Newt is a connoisseur of language and knows very well how to use words which causes me to look more to his motivation of why he says it instead of what he says. In this instance Newt criticizes the Bush Administration for fighting a ‘phony war’ and offers the evidence that 1) Islamic radicalism is on the rise. Well, this is a generational war against an ideology that we all know is spread around the globe and shared by a large group of the Muslim population. I would expect that radicalism would rise to a peak before it began to decline. 2) a national energy strategy would be a more effect means to fight the war. Now who here really believes that if we just stopped buying Saudi oil the Islamic radicals would go away and leave us alone? BTW, Newt’s position on this issue is no different from the Administration’s but we all know the D controlled congress isn’t going to do the things necessary to achieve that goal. The Rs had the opportunity to do something before ’06 and couldn’t stick together and get it done! 3) He reserved his most pointed criticism for the administration’s handling of the global campaign against terrorist groups … the only people serious about this war is the combat military. Well, we all know that’s not true. The combat is only one aspect of the fight and Newt knows that! I think the Administration has done very well in handling the global aspects of this fight. Everything from freezing assets to renditions to wiretappings .. and a heck of a lot of stuff we’re not privy to only because someone hasn’t leaked it yet, the building of a global network of intelligent agencies, the number of plots that have been uncovered locally that we do know about, etc.

But the motivation for why he’s saying this is in his criticizing the partisan snipping that is preventing the government from acting. And that is not Bush’s fault. He didn’t create the polarization. That is clearly the Ds fault. And it’s been that way since the 2000 election and we all know it. I think we all realize that if a Republican takes the WH in ’08, the Ds are going to come unglued. But Newt is trying to portray himself as a uniter but even a President Gingrich won’t prevent that.

You can’t unite the Republican voters behind you by criticizing fellow Republicans in public, especially the President. And I know that a whole lot of those here despise Bush for a number of reasons but the majority of Republican voters do not. Yes, they have war fatigue and yes they are majority against the Z visa in the immigration bill, but not the rest of it and they are still Republicans. That’s why I say his strategy .. to build the Republican base for ’08 .. is idiotic. You can’t build it by destroying it. So this is really just a ‘phony speech’.

Isn’t it surprising that Giuliani is leading the Republican polls? He clearly doesn’t represent the far right and he’s more of the fiscal conservative, social moderate in the bunch. But if you listen to him when he takes a position opposite the Administration, he doesn’t do it critically. That’s one reason why the Republican voters have rallied around him. BTW, Fred! follows Reagan’s 11th Commandment too.

My problem with Fred is that though he looks and sounds presidential in the movies, I’m not yet convinced that he’s electable in reality….or is, in fact, RUNNING for the office….and that bothers me.

I dislike Newt at times…

He is wrong about renewable energy. China will just take up the slack.

Yeah but no more oil boycotts, no more “Our friends the Saudis”. Lots of advantages to be had.

The problem is that there are no conservatives running. Neither the Reps or Dems currently in power want a conservative to run because they would see their power decrease. It is time for the country to understand that most problems can not be fixed by government and in fact government makes the problems worse.

but if I recall Newts are something like 65 or 75% “definitely NOT” vote for.

That’s because the democrat party identified him as someone to fear and went out and systematically demonized him and destroyed his reputation. Running for president right now on the dem side is a plagiarist, an unidentified cocospirator, a nutjob from Cincy, a trial lawyer with one term of elected service, a social worker from Chicago who has never had a real job. And one of these guys is likely to be the next president because the msm, who we claim not to trust, keeps telling us which conservatives are electable and which are not.

Second that

Bradky on August 3, 2007 at 5:35 PM

Loud Eggheads need not apply.

But his grasp of science, personal honor and his willingness to fight the big battles is …. less than we need in someone to lead the greatest nation ever.

I’d love to see him in the next President’s Cabinet, like to see him as a daily pundit on Fox News or on Talk Radio for an hour or two. But he is WAY down on the list of people I’d pick to actually make any tough decisions.

That’s maybe not “winning”, but it sure ain’t losing.

I still think that Newt is one of the few people out there with both some real ideas for the future of this country and the courage to carry them out. Too bad he doesn’t stand much of a chance…

I think the right should borrow a page from the left’s playbook. The reason we are in Iraq is because of the irrational fearmongering of nuclear energy.

Republicans need criticism, and “eleventh commandment” be damned. It is absolutely true that the Republicans were in charge from 2001 to 2006, and they simply didn’t do a good job. The #1 Republican, Bush himself, has not done a good job at the #1 think we hired him to do – fight the war on terror – and he hasn’t done a very good job at anything else, either.

Quite simply, the Republicans need new leadership. McCain, Giuliani and Romney just ain’t gonna cut it.

If you not only can’t diagnose your own problems but aren’t even allowed to talk about them, you will never fix them.

They would say we are trying to change a religion, which we are, but it seems to me that this is one area that we do have to consider being a little more causious with our statements and declarations.

CaptainObvious on August 3, 2007 at 6:55 PM

I respectfully disagree. The sooner the beekeeper suit (thanks Billy Ed) is pulled off islamic ideology the better.

The problem is that too many people acquiesce to islam’s insistant, foot stamping claim that it is the superior ideology. I do not believe islam is at all superior in any way. I don’t have to, and I won’t pretend to. Evidence is overwhelmingly to the contrary on every level.

Weakness is provocative, and right now I can’t help but think the world fervently believes America is at an historically weak period.

Where islam is concerned, this is a time for confrontation. We can be patient and wait for the much-hoped-for reformation, and islam will use that foolish weakness to continue their conquest unabated.

I am appalled at the lack of testicular fortitude I’m seeing virtually planet-wide. The jihadis have got to go.

He did no such thing. He said Bush is fighting the enemy in the wrong way, he did NOT say there is no such thing as a war on terror! You make it sound with your headline as if Newt thinks there is no enemy or that there is no actions we should be taking against al Qaeda.

I am ashamed of HotAir for this assistance to anti-American, anti-Security types the country over.

Texas Gal on August 3, 2007 at 10:34 PM

Reagan’s 11th is flawed. The 11th causes folks to keep saying the emperor is wearing clothes, when you and others darn well know he isn’t.

That would be a good start to make America understand we are at war.

unseen on August 3, 2007 at 5:38 PM

Unseen ’08!

You have what sounds like a perfect plan for America, IMHO.

You payin’ attention, Fred!, and the rest?