Man of Words 'Inspires' Wordsmiths

I'll say this for Newt Gingrich (who I interviewed in person back when he was a congresscritter): He's a muse, of sorts. Newt's foibles makes for forthright and interesting commentary.

Example 1. R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr. compares: "Newt Gingrich is conservatism's Bill Clinton, but without the charm. He has acquired wit, but he has all the charm of barbed wire."

And this: "After Newt's and Bill's disastrous experiences in government, both went on to create empires — Bill in philanthropy and cheap thought, Newt in public policy and cheap thought."

Example 2. James Kirkpatrick opines: "Now the official Movement intelligentsia is beginning to panic at the prospect of Gingrich. Reportedly, a lot of this is personal—they know Newt and just can’t stand him.

But, on substance, it’s hard to see why they’re so worried. In Gingrich, they have someone who makes the right noises to the rubes but then carries out the cheap labor agenda of the corporate elite. The rubes have the words, but no action. They have the rhetoric of resistance, but the substance of surrender."