Why Gingrich is Bad (and Romney is Awesome): A Politico Megathread Spectacular

[Politico]

Here's another thing about Gingrich: If he had paid more attention to Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda instead of Monica Lewinsky, if he had not bogged down the Clinton Administration with pointless subpoenas, perhaps 9/11 never would have happened. One cannot overstate how much time was wasted on the Lewinsky imbroglio. The whole ordeal was completely pointless, too, and Gingrich was cheating on his wife at the same time he was railing against Clinton and preaching about "moral values". What a grandstanding hypocrite...

Without Gingrich's incessant pestering over Monica Lewinsky, perhaps the Clinton Administration would have had more time/resources to spend on serious business such as Al Qaeda...

[Yelnoc]

Bu-
...

Meh, what's the use?

[Mynheer Peeperkorn von Thurn und Taxis-Hohenlohe]

lol wut? What did you expect him to do? Do you understand the differences between Executive and Legislative?

[© Tweed the Younger]

alcohol was legalized in 1933

[Politico]

lol wut? What did you expect him to do?

Not inundate the executive branch with subpoenas over a completely pointless affair that had nothing to do with the job of the POTUS. It was a national circus that nobody wanted, and who knows what a more focused Clinton Administration could have accomplished abroad with regards to anti-terrorism initiatives.

I guarantee Newt Gingrich said the name "Monica Lewinsky" hundreds of times prior to 9/11, and probably never said the name "Osama Bin Laden" even once during the same time period.

[Thomas D]

The Starr report was given to congress in early September of 1998. The President was Impeached on December 19, 1998. So the House didn't spend that much time on the issue.

Plus there were the 1998 Midterms in between those dates. So I'm not sure how much would have gotten done even without the scandal.

[Politico]

The Starr report was given to congress in early September of 1998. The President was Impeached on December 19, 1998. So the House didn't spend that much time on the issue.

Plus there were the 1998 Midterms in between those dates. So I'm not sure how much would have gotten done even without the scandal.

It was not just the Starr Report. It was an endless circus he perpetuated upon the Clintons and the foundation of it all was bogus claims made by shady characters from Arkansas. The only thing he ever nailed on Clinton was the "stain on the blue dress," but everything else was bunk. It was a national distraction from the more serious matters at hand.

I am just thinking back to why I dislike Gingrich so much, and the more I refresh my memory and think about all angles, the more I dislike him.

[Wonkish1]

Wow just when you think Politico can't stoop any lower.

I'm starting to feel sorry for him now!

[Mynheer Peeperkorn von Thurn und Taxis-Hohenlohe]

Gingrich did 9/11.

[BigSkyBob]

Here's one: what if Bill Clinton hadn't wasted time/resources on Monica Lewinsky? What if he had said, "Yes, we were in the room alone togeather. Yes, we had sex?"

[Politico]

Wow just when you think Politico can't stoop any lower.

I'm starting to feel sorry for him now!

Here's a thought: Newt's next "alternative history" novel should be about how much better America would have been without Monica Lewinsky-gate...

[Politico]

Here's one: what if Bill Clinton hadn't wasted time/resources on Monica Lewinsky? What if he had said, "Yes, we were in the room alone togeather. Yes, we had sex?"

Clinton is not completely innocent in this ordeal. With that said, the distraction was the circus Gingrich and Co. created, not a few minutes every now and then between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky (It's not like Hillary was putting out; who are we kidding?)

[BigSkyBob]

Here's one: what if Bill Clinton hadn't wasted time/resources on Monica Lewinsky? What if he had said, "Yes, we were in the room alone togeather. Yes, we had sex?"

Clinton is not completely innocent in this ordeal. With that said, the distraction was the circus Gingrich and Co. created, not a few minutes every now and then between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky (It's not like Hillary was putting out; who are we kidding?)

Please, Clinton was the chief law enforcement officier in the land while he was going to extraordinary lengths to obstruct justice. That's not a minor detail.

[Politico]

Here's one: what if Bill Clinton hadn't wasted time/resources on Monica Lewinsky? What if he had said, "Yes, we were in the room alone togeather. Yes, we had sex?"

Clinton is not completely innocent in this ordeal. With that said, the distraction was the circus Gingrich and Co. created, not a few minutes every now and then between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky (It's not like Hillary was putting out; who are we kidding?)

Please, Clinton was the chief law enforcement officier in the land while he was going to extraordinary lengths to obstruct justice. That's not a minor detail.

He never should have been asked questions about Lewinsky. It had nothing to do with his job. We have no idea what kind of arrangement he had with Hillary Clinton. I think it's a safe bet that Bill was not getting any action at home. He had to find it somewhere. Can you blame the guy for that?

I agree that he should not have lied, but I disagree that he should have been asked the questions in the first place.

[Cincinnatus]

This has to be one of the dumbest OP's I've seen since joining.  Of course, there's no better place for it then in the 2012 board

lol wut? What did you expect him to do? Do you understand the differences between Executive and Legislative?

I'm sure he does, but his motive is to attack Newt or whatever other Republican he can with mindless nonsense.  Seriously, the Republicans sh**t on them self's enough to the point where you can come up with something better than this Politico.

[Yank2133]

Romney's demise is really getting to Politico.

[Proud Lieberal from Northeast]

Gingrich did 9/11.

Rehabilitate Osama now!

[© Tweed the Younger]

Rehabilitate Osama now!

^^^^^

[Nagas]

What's next? Gingrich put WMDs in Iraq?

[CathKhan]

Senate Democrats caused the Iran Hostage Crisis. If Nixon hadn't been bogged down by the media circus surrounding Watergate, he could've returned to where he wanted to be, foreign affairs, and averted the crisis before it even started.

This is fucking ridiculous. Clinton never did his job in the first place. Aside from that, after Newt stepped down (in 1998 I believe), Clinton had all of 2000 and probably all of 1999 to catch Osama. For God's freakin' sake here. This is just so fucking outrageous I can't put it into words. You're blaming the media circus of a marital scandal in 1998 for a terrorist attack in 2001. And not only that, you're not even blaming the President who allegedly committed the scandal, you're blaming the Speaker of the House for blowing it out of proportion. With this line of logic, I'm gonna bet we could blame Barack Obama for 9/11. George H. W. Bush for 9/11. Jimmy Carter for 9/11. Hillary for 9/11. Everybody for 9/11.

[WillK]

...
Without Gingrich's incessant pestering over Monica Lewinsky, perhaps the Clinton Administration would have had more time/resources to spend on serious business such as Al Qaeda...

This is a good thing, right?  Cuz if Clinton ad been able to focus  on serious stuff he might have been more successful which would be bad for Republicans.  And if 9/11 hadn't happened then we wouldnt have been able to experience the full awesomeness of W.   And of course Newt thinks there is value in a terrorist attack every now and then -- remind us average folks to be afraid and accept the perpetual security state -- so good for NeoCons to have 9/11 to use as a catalyst for policy action.  

[Bacon King]

This attack is especially weak, actually, because six months before 9/11 Newt Gingrich was publicly calling for the establishment of a Homeland Security Department to prevent potential terrorist attacks from happening.

[The Mikado]

Did the Lewinsky debacle handicap Clinton in foreign policy?  Undoubtedly so.  The attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan in retaliation for the Embassy bombings, the highly effective Desert Fox operation in Iraq, and the entire Kosovo intervention were labeled "Wag the Dog" efforts by the media and the GOP.

Does this equal what the OP's saying?  Not so much.  There were some tragicomic failures at fighting Osama bin Laden (does anyone remember in 199...8ish when the NSA successfully wiretapped bin Laden's cell phone, then bragged about it and caused bin Laden to stop using said cell phone?), and even though the entire government wasted the entire years of 1998-9 debating stains on dresses and cigars, I don't things would've turned out that differently.

[BigSkyBob]

Here's one: what if Bill Clinton hadn't wasted time/resources on Monica Lewinsky? What if he had said, "Yes, we were in the room alone together. Yes, we had sex?"

Clinton is not completely innocent in this ordeal. With that said, the distraction was the circus Gingrich and Co. created, not a few minutes every now and then between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky (It's not like Hillary was putting out; who are we kidding?)

Please, Clinton was the chief law enforcement officier in the land while he was going to extraordinary lengths to obstruct justice. That's not a minor detail.

He never should have been asked questions about Lewinsky. It had nothing to do with his job. We have no idea what kind of arrangement he had with Hillary Clinton.

I might very well not matter what "arrangement" Bill Clinton had with his wife, but, it sure as Hell matters what "arrangement" he had with voters. He went on 60 Minutes and presented himself to the electorate a person whom "had caused pain in his marriage" for which he was deeply sorry, and vowed never to do it again.


Yes, the electorate had every right to judge his character, including his fidelity to his wife. Bill and Hillary Clinton had every right to go on 60 Minutes and declare that their sex life wasn't anyone business but their own, that they had an open marriage, and that they weren't going to discuss the matter any further. They chose to take the stance that polled best for them, knowing full well it was a fraud upon the American people. What they did isn't okay.

Further, he was the chief law enforcement officer of the land. For him to obstruct justice was simply unacceptable.

[Politico]

This is what happens when you have a few beers before getting on here. I apologize, folks. I stepped a bit too far with this one.