Newt Gingrich hasn't a clue about Obama's West Point speech

   

First of all, let me say that I think Newt Gingrich is an intellectual snob. Mr. Gingrich may be a Republican but after he publicly endorsed Dede Scozzafava, the hand-picked ultra-liberal Republican candidate in the hotly contested 23rd Congressional District race in New York, only to have her drop out and throw her support for the Democrat, Gingrich revealed the true expanse of his intelligence. For those who missed Gingrich's reasoning he claimed that Dede Scozzafava represented the diversity the Republican Party needed. The same call for "diversity" was used by Gen. George Casey to justify Muslims in our military after a Muslim terrorist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, massacred 13 soldiers in Fort hood while screaming the Muslim war cry, "Allahu Akbar, Allah is great" as he shot the unarmed soldiers. "Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse," Casey added on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Anyone who supports a RINO, a Republican In Name Only, as Mr. Gingrich did, be it in the name of diversity or anything else must share the same DNA. So now we read in today's Cincinnati Enquirer headline story that Mr. Gingrich has praise for Barack Hussein Obama's plan for Afghanistan.

As far as Obama's West Point speech on his plans for Afghanistan, no one summed up the substance of the issue better than Gabor Steingart writing in the German newspaper Der Spiegel.

"One didn't have to be a cadet on Tuesday to feel a bit of nausea upon hearing Obama's speech," wrote Steingart. "It was the least truthful address that" that this American president "has ever" delivered.

Steingart continues, [Mr. Obama] spoke of responsibility, but almost every sentence smelled of party tactics. He demanded sacrifice, but he was unable to say what it was for exactly.

An additional 30,000 US soldiers are to march into Afghanistan -- and then they will march right back out again. America is going to war -- and from there it will continue ahead to peace. It was the speech of a Nobel War Prize laureate.

Just in Time for the Campaign

For each troop movement, Obama had a number to match. US strength in Afghanistan will be tripled relative to the Bush years, a fact that is sure to impress hawks in America. But just 18 months later, just in time for Obama's re-election campaign, the horror of war is to end and the draw down will begin. The doves of peace will be let free.

The speech continued in that vein. It was as though Obama had taken one of his old campaign speeches and merged it with a text from the library of ex-President George W. Bush. Extremists kill in the name of Islam, he said, before adding that it is one of the "world's great religions." He promised that responsibility for the country's security would soon be transferred to the government of President Hamid Karzai -- a government which he said was "corrupt." The Taliban is dangerous and growing stronger. But "America will have to show our strength in the way that we end wars," he added.

It was a dizzying combination of surge and withdrawal, of marching to and fro. The fast pace was reminiscent of plays about the French revolution: Troops enter from the right to loud cannon fire and then they exit to the left. And at the end, the dead are left on stage.

Obama’s Magic No Longer Works

But in this case, the public was more disturbed than entertained. Indeed, one could see the phenomenon in a number of places in recent weeks: Obama's magic no longer works. The allure of his words has grown weaker.

It is not he himself who has changed, but rather the benchmark used to evaluate him. For a president, the unit of measurement is real life. A leader is seen by citizens through the prism of their lives -- their job, their household budget, where they live and suffer. And, in the case of the war on terror, where they sometimes die.

Political dreams and yearnings for the future belong elsewhere. That was where the political charmer Obama was able to successfully capture the imaginations of millions of voters. It is a place where campaigners -- particularly those with a talent for oration -- are fond of taking refuge. It is also where Obama set up his campaign headquarters, in an enormous tent called "Hope."

In his speech on America's new Afghanistan strategy, Obama tried to speak to both places. It was two speeches in one. That is why it felt so false. Both dreamers and realists were left feeling distraught.

The American president doesn't need any opponents at the moment. He's already got himself.