Words, Mere Words: Newt Gingrich Speaks Well. But Is He Smart?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

If Newt Gingrich's career in public service proves anything, it is that he will never be caught saying “Oops.” Gingrich is currently rising to frontrunner status in the Republican presidential primary largely because he's willing to talk about any subject at any time, is ready to do so with some measure of linguistic facility, and has sufficient self-regard to exploit every opportunity to demonstrate his rhetorical command. He has managed to leverage the televised debates to his benefit by acting like a professor before an unprepared lecture hall of students, condescending to the moderators by treating every question as a logic exercise. And so, however improbably, his Ph.D in history has earned the status of an important credential to the Republican Party.

But if Gingrich has amply proven his academic talents, he has also demonstrated their limitations. The Republican Party should not mistake his communication skills with evidence of real knowledge, or even of good reasoning. Gingrich may be a master of academic exercises—his ability to make bookish references and formulate long sentences demonstrate as much—but that does not mean he knows what he is talking about.

Gingrich's patterns of speech are largely analytically acute, and sometimes aesthetically interesting, but substantively, they are very often lacking. Language is supposed to be a package that carries substance, but Gingrich is sometimes so pleased with his uninterrupted stream of words, that he mistakes it for an actual flow of ideas. This, sadly, is an affliction endemic in academia, where too many spend too long trying to score points in petty intellectual fights; the further the substance of the debate recedes, the faster the self-satisfaction of the participants grows.



http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/97429/newt-gingrich-smart

[no_hypocrisy]

1. I refer you to "The Wizard of Oz".

Scarecrow: I haven't got a brain... only straw.
Dorothy: How can you talk if you haven't got a brain?
Scarecrow: I don't know... But some people without brains do an awful lot of talking... don't they?
Dorothy: Yes, I guess you're right.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

2. Well there was time when caught in the hypocrisy of criticizing the Obama administration

for giving due process to the Somali "Fruit Of The Looms Bomber". While never saying a peep about Jr's Administration giving due process to Richard Reid. He proceeded to "educate" Jon Stewart on the fact that Richard Reid was a US citizen, so it's different. Now, those of us who've ever picked up a fucking newspaper know that Mr Reid was a UK citizen. He's a fucking moron who shouldn't be addressing homo sapien anywhere.

I'm not even going to get into the whole Sonia Sotomayor is a racist, "language of the ghetto" and imbecilic comments he's shit out of his mouth.

[NICO9000]

3. He only appears "smart" when stacked up next to his rivals

A dead dog would look smarter than Bachmann, et al. He's a bloviating jerk with a huge ego.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

4. Gingrich just looks smart standing next to boxes of rocks.

I honestly think that any regular poster on DU would be more knowledgeable and more effective at articulating even the Republican message than morons like Perry, Cain, or Bachmann.

[northoftheborder]

5. Gingrich speaks in the "word salad" language.

He knows lots of words, knows how to pour them out, would never have to say "oops". Some people call this "talking diahrrea". If you're not paying attention, you think he knows something. But it's often nonsense, contradictory, hypocritical. I've known this since he became Speaker of the House, years ago. He's just the same.

[opihimoimoi]

6. +999999999.03

the dude is crude and RUDE....The kamakazi candidate thrown in front of the BUS.

Of Throwaway Value...cheap loss