Newt Gingrich and Captain Renault

I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
                 --Captain Renault on ordering Rick’s American Cafe shut down in Casablanca

Watching Newt express horror at having his own character assassinated reminds me of Captain Renault expressing shock at finding gambling going on in Rick’s establishment. Remember this is Newt--whose impassioned denouncements of Jim Wright, Tip O’Neill, President Bush (41) and anyone else whose name would resonate on C-Span were delivered in the well of the deserted House after hours. Never fail to exploit a good photo opp--even if you have to jerry rig it yourself. (Apparently Tip O’Neill also understood the power of imagery, and he ordered the C-Span cameras to pan around the chamber so viewers would understand that Newt was grandstanding to an empty House.)

Newt, the self proclaimed ‘transformational figure', has indeed, been one of the driving forces that poisoned and crippled the Congress. It was Newt who introduced a vocabulary list that the Republicans memorized and recited like obedient school children. From his mid-90‘s GOPAC memo, Language: A Key Mechanism of Control, here’s a small sample of the words Republicans were instructed to use against Democrats:

destructive... destroy... sick... pathetic... lie... liberal...sensationalists... hypocrisy... permissive attitudes... self-serving... greed... ideological... insecure... corrupt… excuses… shame... bizarre... cynicism... cheat... steal... abuse of power... patronage…

Since the GOPAC days, many of those words could be applied to Newt. He’s been compared to Greek tragic heroes, but I think that’s giving him too much credit. It’s quite possible to be the poster child for helium-filled hubris and have no redeeming qualities at all. Newt ain’t no Agamemnon. Phineas T. Bluster? Now, that's got potential.

But back to my original premise: the man who perfected the politics of character assassination blubbers like a baby when his own tactics are used on him. So perhaps Newt’s life is a cautionary tale after all: if you live by the sword you will die by the sword, and the petard on which you are hoisted may be your very own.