I followed Cal Thomas’ advice (see “Who can fix our broken politics? How about Newt?”) and watched the entire discussion on www.americansolutions.com.

Newt Gingrich was expansive, erudite, clever, charming, open, nonpartisan, reasoned and reasonable. I found myself a little spellbound by the history professor’s grasp of both the past and the present.

Even Cuomo was somewhat charmed, although not to the point where he intended to cede anything.

Both men were, as I expected, literally brilliant in putting forth their case, and Newt Gingrich did in fact look and sound Presidential.

As a matter of fact I found myself wondering how the Republicans could have possibly put forth such a vacuous, syllable-challenged dwarf like the present occupant of the White House when they have Newt.

Fortunately I took some time to digest it all. After all this Newt, this incredibly bright and charming leader, is the same Newt who helped to push partisanship to new and uglier heights to achieve his “Republican Revolution” back in 1994.

This is the same Newt who recently gave a speech at a First Amendment dinner suggesting we might need to re-examine the First Amendment, and invoking the terror bogie to make it stick.

This is the same Newt who showed up on James Dobson’s door to make his mea culpa, to receive a blessing from one of our nation’s theocratic dictators, and obtain the surefire votes from his slavish slobbering evangelical masses.

But besides wondering which Newt will show up for the Presidency, I cannot forgive him for his unconditional support for this waste of lives and treasure and national power in Iraq.

You see, perhaps you didn’t know better, and perhaps President stupid didn’t know better; but Newt definitely knew better.

He stood by while Bush and Cheney pushed the case to invade and occupy a secular Middle Eastern country which had actually done the United States no harm. He said nothing while the American people were told this would be a quick, nearly self-financing war.

He remained mute while the administration told everyone we would be welcomed as heroes. He quietly watched as the Bush administration dismantled the Iraqi army, the only remaining source of stability.

He was a sycophantic mouse when we needed a lion, and now he wants us to believe him in his quest for intellectual discussion and logical problem-solving.

The answer is, the highly charged political Newt will always show up in the crunch.

Newt Gingrich is undoubtedly one of the smartest political leaders in America today. However, his time for greatness came and went when he was out of power.

He was weighed in the balance and found wanting of that “profile in courage” essential to the very greatest.

Xenophon, Leonidas, Cato, Scippio, Pepin, Joan of Arc, Martin Luther, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, FDR, and Winston Churchill (to name a few) were either brilliant, or brilliantly dedicated at a time of crisis. They also possessed that certain fearless something which forced them to do the thing that was right.

It would be unrealistic to expect greatness from the dullard who is now President. Newt has proved he has all the qualities of greatness, and the fatal flaw which excludes it.

Timothy J. Parker
Peachtree City, Ga.

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