Anyone familiar with Rovian politics knows the playbook. Take an acknowledged win, strength or plus and attempt to turn it into a loss, weakness or a negative. Manipulate the truth, twist it as far as it will bend, even at the risk of making a complete ass of yourself.
Well, here we have Newt Gremlin ... I mean Gingrich, chiming in about Bill Clinton's epic speech---days later. Guess it took him that long to get the latest GOP twisted talking points straight.
According to the LA Times:
Onetime Republican presidential primary contender Newt Gingrich said that former President Bill Clinton’s rousing defense of President Obama last week was an implicit indictment of Obama’s record, a new attack Republicans are making to blunt any momentum that Clinton’s backing might give Obama.
The Clinton speech at the Democratic National Convention was “eerily anti-Obama, if you just listen to the subtext,” the former House speaker said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning.
Subtext? No, try
context, you bloviating windbag. In what universe do these people live in?
Clinton provided historical references from his own presidential tenure to not only frame his argument, but to paint a complete and accurate picture. EVERYBODY with half a brain cell has acknowledged that Clinton gave a full-throated, factual defense of the president's policies and job performance. But in the GOP alternate universe, down is up and up is sideways.
Go below the squiggle to view more of Newt Gingrich's certifiable madness.
Newt says:
“Here's Clinton saying, ‘I reformed welfare because I worked with Republicans; you didn't, Mr. Obama.'
What Bill actually said:
One of the main reasons we ought to re-elect President Obama is that he is still committed to constructive cooperation. Look at his record ... He appointed Republican secretaries of defense, the Army, and transportation. He appointed a vice president who ran against him in 2008....he ... appointed several members of his cabinet, even though they supported Hillary in the primary. Heck, he even appointed Hillary.... I'm grateful for the relationship of respect and partnership she and the president have enjoyed. And the signal that sends to the rest of the world, that democracy does not have a -- have to be a blood sport, it can be an honorable enterprise that advances the public interest...President Obama's whole record on national security is a tribute to his strength, to his judgment, and to his preference for inclusion and partnership over partisanship. We need more of it in Washington, D.C. "
Newt says:
"[Clinton is basically saying,] I got to four balanced budgets by working with Republicans; you didn't, Mr. Obama.’”
What Bill actually said:
We all know that he also tried to work with congressional Republicans on health care, debt reduction, and new jobs. And that didn't work out so well. But it could have been because, as the Senate Republican leader said, in a remarkable moment of candor, two full years before the election, their number-one priority was not to put America back to work. It was to put the president out of work.
Newt says:
"....think about it: [Clinton is basically saying] 'I had the longest period of economic growth in history; you didn't, Mr. Obama."
What Bill actually said:
I had this same thing happen in 1994 and early '95. We could see that the policies were working, that the economy was growing, but most people didn't feel it yet. Thankfully, by 1996, the economy was roaring, everybody felt it, and we were halfway through the longest peacetime expansion in the history of the United States. But...the difference this time is purely in the circumstances. President Obama started with a much weaker economy than I did. Listen to me now. No president, no president -- not me, not any of my predecessors -- no one could have fully repaired all the damage that he found in just four years.
And this:
[I]n the last 29 months, our economy has produced about 4.5 million private-sector jobs. We could have done better, but last year the Republicans blocked the president's job plan, costing the economy more than a million new jobs. So here's another job score. President Obama: plus 4.5 million. Congressional Republicans: zero.
What was that about Welfare again, Newt?
“Here's Clinton saying, ‘I reformed welfare because I worked with Republicans; you didn't, Mr. Obama.'
Really?? The president didn't work with Republicans to reform welfare? Well, again, let's let Bubba put this lie to rest:
"Here's what happened ... When some Republican governors asked to try new ways to put people on welfare back to work, the Obama administration listened, because we all know it's hard for people to get jobs today, so moving people to work is a real challenge. So the administration said they would only do it if they had a credible plan to increase employment by 20 percent."
Oh, and here's one last parting shot from Bubba:
‘Though I often disagree with Republicans, I never learned to hate them the way the far right that now controls their party seems to hate President Obama and the Democrats.’
Did the GOP deny the hate charge? Did one surrogate come forward in faux outrage? Did Mitt Romney? Well, did he?
Bueller? ...Bueller? ...Bueller? .... Anyone? Anyone?
Newt and the GOP can't dispute Clinton's facts, instead, they attempt to twist the man's words. Everybody with a shred of intellectual honesty has admitted that Clinton defended the president with a fact-laden speech that nobody in the GOP can poke holes in.
According to CNN, Bill Clinton:
"continues to keep his speeches fresh, friendly and factual in the hope that his listeners will open their minds to what he says".
And this from
Slate:
[Clinton's performance was] "a classic persuasion speech, treating his audience like it was listening, laying out the case with an argument behind it..."
And finally, more from CNN:
"Clinton's credibility and history with a similar economic situation (though Clinton said that no president could have fixed the damage Obama was handed in just four years) made him the right messenger to the right audience at the right time for Obama. He delivered and he delivered big."
But forget all that. In the GOP bat#### universe, everyone's madder than the inhabitant's of Alice's Wonderland. Only Alice doesn't live there anymore. Karl Rove, the Koch brothers, Adelson and the nuts in the Tea Party rule the roost.
And now, for some sanity. Heeeeeeere's Bubba!
9:15 PM PT: I made the Rec List! Wow! Thanks a bunch. :-D