The Spectacle Blog
Republicans, including Sarah Palin and Rudy Giuliani, made a “strategic blunder” by making a joke of Barack Obama’s work as a community organizer, Newt Gingrich says in a new book about the radical ACORN group.
It was “not helpful” for Palin and Giuliani to mock community organizing in their speeches at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Gingrich tells investigative reporter Matthew Vadum in his new book, Subversion Inc. The GOP’s mockery “trivialized Obama and Obama is not a trivial person,” Gingrich said in an exclusive interview with Vadum featured in the book:
In [Gingrich’s] opinion it was a strategic blunder for Palin and Giuliani … [Gingrich said:] “Obama is the most serious radical threat to traditional America ever to occupy the White House.” It would have been better if Republican leaders “had gotten up and said, here is what [Obama] was teaching, and they had taken the audience through the five principles of [radical organizer Saul] Alinsky.” Such a discussion “would have sobered the country. It wasn’t a funny thing. It was a profound insight into how radical Obama is.”
Vadum notes that Gingrich was attacked by ACORN in the 1990s, when some 500 members of the radical group descended on the Washington Hilton chanting “Nuke Newt!” and forced the then-Speaker of the House to cancel a planned speech. A frequent contributor to The American Spectator, Vadum has won praise from Andrew Breitbart, David Horowitz and Michele Bachmann for his new book, the full title of which is Subversion Inc.: How Obama’s Red Shirts Are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers.
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Cris| 6.23.11 @ 12:49PM
The sooner the right stops giving any attention to Newt's pathetic babbling, the sooner he'll go away.
florin| 6.23.11 @ 2:00PM
It's a 'strategic blunder' for Newt to consider that he is still relevant in any way. He is so desperate to be on stage that he becomes more and more desperate and shameless...someone told him to go away before he makes more of a fool of himself...but Newt will not go away. Fox News and conservative publications need to ignore him in order to help him from making a complete fool of himself....
loulou| 6.23.11 @ 3:49PM
Amen.
Fox News needs to ignore Newt AND John McCain!
Occam's Tool| 6.23.11 @ 5:48PM
Read and think carefully---Newt was stating that Obama should have been stapled to his radical friends, and his "Community Organizing" work, as evil and despicable as it was, should have been given serious evaluation. McCain refused to question Obama's patriotism, and those of his cronies, when this was the most open to question of any President, ever. THAT was his mistake---he didn't want to win badly enough.
W| 6.23.11 @ 6:01PM
OT, I re-read it, you are correct. There should have been more focus on obama's associations. Hannity did it but O'Reilly did not. Dole refused to attack Clinton in 1996.
Clint| 6.23.11 @ 9:16PM
This is about Newt trying for payback against Our Tea Party Co-Favorite Sarah Palin.
"Sarah Palin: The “Lamestream Media” Is Responsible For Newt Gingrich’s Gaffes
Doug Mataconis · Thursday, May 19, 2011
Newt Gingrich’s misstep this week was actually a double fault in Sarah Palin’s eyes. Not only did he attack his own party’s proposal to reshape Medicare, but he did so by appearing on the oh-so-dreaded “lamestream media.”
Palin offered her diagnosis on a pair of Fox cable shows Wednesday and used Gingrich’s latest woes as an example of why Republican presidential hopefuls should avoid the traditional media.
“There’s got to be the preparation on all the candidates’ parts for those gotchas. That’s what the lamestream media is known for nowadays is the gotcha trip-up questions,” she told Sean Hannity on his Fox News Channel show Wednesday
She took Gingrich at his word when he told NBC’s David Gregory that House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal to overhaul Medicare was “right-wing social engineering,” an assessment she called terribly wrong. But that doesn’t mean he should have apologized for it.
“I don’t know why politicians feel that they have to apologize for something that they said just because they’ve gone through a 24-hour cycle of the lamestream media giving them a hard time,” she said. “If Newt Gingrich believes that it’s right-wing social engineering to undo Obamacare and reform Medicare … then say so. But don’t apologize later just because the media has dinged you on what you said.”
hrh | 6.23.11 @ 12:51PM
Apparently Gingrich is not aware of Alinsky's tactic of mocking and ridicule.
Ridicule is the most potent weapon, according to Alinsky and his disciples.
Hence, the nonstop ridicule of Palin for the last 3 years.
PRECISELY because she understands the weapon that ridicule is and used it against their Obama.
CLASSIC case of progressive radicals being able to dish it but not being able to take it.
For all his intelligence, Gingrich misses this point. That's because he is Ruling Class, thank you Angelo Codevilla for describing them so well.
DRed| 6.23.11 @ 1:26PM
You really think Saul Alinsky was the first person to think that ridicule was a useful political tool? That's ridiculous.
hrh | 6.23.11 @ 2:17PM
Erm, sooooo, what's your point re: Gingrich saying it was a "strategic blunder" to ridicule Obama?
Also, there's coming up with an idea and then there's popularizing an idea and making it an effective policy tool. Alinsky did the latter even if not the former.
For instance, Americans didn't invent the automobile. But we certainly popularized it.
DRed| 6.23.11 @ 2:57PM
Newt's probably right about the community organizer thing. At least in terms of the entire electorate, people don't think of Obama as a non-serious lightweight. Sarah's brilliant at speaking to her base, but what Newt is pointing out is that the country, as a whole, doesn't like what she says when she does.
People don't ridicule Sarah Palin because they read the writings of another of the right's semi-obscure Jewish bogeymen (Alinsky, Chomsky, Piven, Sunnstein, Stern, Soros etc). Almost all politicians (and Sarah is certainly no exception) ridicule their opponents. They do it because it's effective and fairly easy, especially in the current media environment. I suppose I could criticize Sarah's detailed policy positions instead of ridiculing her, but it wouldn't be as fun, now would it? And I've never read Rules for Radicals.
hrh | 6.23.11 @ 3:42PM
Could you?
Criticize Sarah's detailed policy positions, I mean?
And I don't back down that the Ruling Class in the media and both parties know Alinsky's ridicule teaching, because the Ruling Class includes journalism teachers, media titans, political operatives, etc., and they teach ridicule because yes, it works.
And thousands of others follow the lead of the Ruling Class in using ridicule - - whether or not they know of Alinsky - ... including all the newswires who pick up the stories from those who decide what the stories will be.
Exhibit A: Palin's daughter fixes Palin's hair in Haiti.
The AP caption writer writes that Palin brought a hairdresser with her on a missionary trip.
Even though there are several photos by this reporter in which Palin's daughter is clearly seen and the ONE photo in which she is obscured - because she's behind Palin while she puts a hairpin back in - is the one the caption writer chooses to send across the wire.
With the approval of whoever has final say in letting stories and photos go out.
Sure, hours later they printed a retraction.
But who cares at that point?
The Ruling Class has succeeded in ridiculing Palin by lying about her through their legitimate channels.
DRed| 6.23.11 @ 3:47PM
That was a joke-she has no detailed policy positions.
unseen| 6.23.11 @ 4:28PM
Do you understand how uninformed you appear when you say stupid stuff like that?
DRed| 6.23.11 @ 5:32PM
Okay. Point me to all her detailed policy positions and I'll apologize.
Occam's Tool| 6.23.11 @ 5:50PM
Review her Facebook page in detail, DRed. She thinks through things. She also has books out.
DRed| 6.23.11 @ 6:37PM
She's posting detailed policy positions on facebook? I suppose it's better than twitter. I'll give it a look, but you can color me skeptical.
Seek| 6.23.11 @ 6:50PM
Bristol Palin gets more free publicity in a day because of her mom's elevated stature than she otherwise would get in a lifetime. Nobody is "mocking" Sarah's family. They're getting what they want: publicity and a shot on "Dancing with the Stars."
Matthew Vadum | 6.23.11 @ 6:37PM
Stern?
DRed| 6.23.11 @ 6:39PM
Andy Stern. SEIU thug supreme.
Michael L. Hauschild| 6.23.11 @ 12:54PM
Strategic blunder? How can someone of this literary skill not see the irony in his own statement. I firmly believe that this man has lost his facilities
Occam's Tool| 6.23.11 @ 5:51PM
I think, Michael, and I may be wrong---he intended to point out that Obama's evil is very serious, indeed, and the work he did as an Organizer clearly elucidated this evil.
But again, he can't say that simply and squarely.
Oldefarte| 6.23.11 @ 1:03PM
Possibly his wife's extravagant spending of money on jewelry has clouded his brain cells. Of course El Chosen One is a radical/extremist, socialist, community organizing street thug from Chicago. Newt, it's called THE TRUTH!!!!!!
Ken (Old Texican)| 6.23.11 @ 1:23PM
Folks forget...
The McCain campaign loosers put a muzzle on Sarah.
Whether she runs or not...she is all IN for restoring America. She is going to tear some communists, (pardon the shorthand) a new anal orifice.
W| 6.23.11 @ 1:44PM
McCain would have carried only Arizona without Sarah. But she is gracious in her book about McCain, and even campaigned to get him re-elected as senator. Meanwhile his staff did not support or help Sarah.
Gingrich cannot stop talking. There is no filter between his brain and mouth.
George S| 6.23.11 @ 2:25PM
Obama won the presidency, therefore arguments against it being a strategic blunder hold no water. Newt has it right on this one, ridicule belies the danger. It's like airing an episode of Hogan's Heroes to warn of the dangers of the Nazis.
McCain and the Republican party failed miserably to run with the ball on Obama's background, associations and ideological beliefs. That is the mother of all strategic blunders. Especially after talk radio and conservative outlets threw the ball into the court. For ridicule to work requires people to understand the subtext. Defeating Obama in 2008 should have been serious business -- as we can all see why in 2011.
JimH| 6.23.11 @ 2:30PM
Part of the problem is that some people hear the term Community Organizer and think it an innocuous or maybe helpful job, sort of a modern day barn raising coordinator. What most people don’t realize is that what a CO does is to get a bunch of people together in order to pester (intimidate?) the government or other large institution to provide some good or service, not help them provide it for themselves.
WinnieR| 7.2.11 @ 3:37PM
Jim:
Me thinks "pester" is too kind! These CO's are thugs and have gotten away with extortion using those tactics. Ethical and good-willed they are not. Study some of the union organizers' behavior and you'll find they are cut from the same mold.
Reading Vadum's book gives great insight into ACORN and how powerful they have become without the awareness of the public.
I highly recommend his book "Subversion...."
LarryK| 6.23.11 @ 2:36PM
Newt- Pot - Kettle
Zilla | 6.23.11 @ 2:43PM
I never thought I'd say this, but Newt has a good point, not that it wasn't right to ridicule zero, he should be mocked heartily as often as possible, but that the Republican candidates FAILED to publicly speak about zero's hard core radicalism. It was barely mentioned because nobody wanted to be called "WAAAAaaaaaaccccciiiissssttttt!!!!!" if mainstream America knew just how jacked up that islamocoddling commie's past is, they would not have voted for him no matter how badly the stupid people screamed that it was the only way to prove that they weren't KKK or something.
unseen| 6.23.11 @ 4:32PM
Newt has no point. Everything saod at the convention was directed by the RNC/McCain staff. Palin's and rudy's speech was passed by the McCain people. McCain thought instead of attacking Obama he could ridicule him McCain the man that couldn't say Obama's middle name and didn't bring up his preacher once. It was McCain and his handlers startegy to ridicule Obama and like any VP candidate Palin was the attack dog. Or in this case the ridicule dog.
Newt is attacking the wrong people and he isn't stupid to not know these things. Ask yourself why he isn't attacking McCain's strategy and instead attacking Rudy and Palin?
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 6.23.11 @ 3:25PM
I'm going to organize a group of jewelry stores.
jrjr| 6.23.11 @ 4:27PM
Gingrich who? Not even the people who get paid for being around him - want to be. The left is putting the mouth on the other "republicans." Why not the Newt?
MikeN| 6.23.11 @ 4:56PM
So was it a strategic blunder for Newt to talk about being seated in the back of the plane?
Was it a strategic blunder to focus entirely on deficit reduction and spending cuts and pass no tax cuts?
I Survived Arlen Specter| 6.23.11 @ 6:06PM
Gingrich is one of many who excell at putting the stupid in The Stupid Party. If the GOP establishment & his water carriers on talk radio would ignore him & stop making excuses for his pathetic mutterings maybe he would go away. If it weren't for Bill Bennett, Mike Gallagher, Michael Medved, Newt's mini-me Sean Hannity, & Hugh Hewitt constantly keeping this bozo on the air spewing his "ruling class" establishment nonsense he might have disappeared by now. Please go away Newt.
Mike| 6.23.11 @ 6:39PM
Now that the right has thrown Newt off the island, he is free to tell the truth.
I am beginning to think that when he talked about right wing social engineering he was talking about the entire right wing agenda - to undo every reform from Theodore Roosevelt forward. Under attack: the entire social safety net, labor rights, child labor laws et. al.
Cpm| 6.23.11 @ 6:57PM
Newt fell off the island of his own accord, if he's talking it is nothing but spite for the people who were supposed to carry him on their worshipful shoulders.
J.C.Eaton| 6.23.11 @ 8:36PM
Look at what Gingrich has to become to be acceptable, even commendble to lefties. Funny.
charles pembroke| 6.24.11 @ 5:31AM
Shut up Newt.Your a has been.Your toast.Your a weebie wobbly.We don't need no stinking newt.