|
In recent weeks, Newt Gingrich has again become a national spokesman for the republican party. By no small coincidence, Newt is sharing the stage with former VP Dick Cheney. The two are so toxic, that it would be best if people simply ignored them. However, as the corporate media is spreading their diseased message, I’d like to take a minute to focus on their previous coordinated efforts to bring this nation into the war of occupation in Iraq.
In their book "The Broken Branch," Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein high light the role that Gingrich played in damaging the Congress. His agenda included the infamous "Contract with America" (page 94), which he used to, among other things, get an "unprecedented flood of publicity" in the corporate media, and to put himself in the position of the "anti-president" (page 97)..
As much as he used the media to spread his message, he also coordinated efforts behind the scenes to fight President Clinton and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s efforts to make government documents available to the public ("Worse Than Watergate; John Dean; page 17).
When President Clinton rejected the shadowy figure Ahmed Chalabi, upon the recommendation of intelligence advisers, Gingrich – as Speaker of the House – joined with Richard Pearle and Paul Wolfowitz in an alliance with Chalabi ("Hubris"; David Corn & Michael Isikoff; page 51).
Although Newt would resign in disgrace, it is important to remember that he had accomplished his primary goals: he damaged the Congress; corrupted the concept of "impeachment" in a manner that helped create an unwillingness on the part of a limp Congress to hold a revolutionary Executive Office accountable for crimes and abuses of the power of office; and cemented the relationships that would allow him to maintain extraordinary access to power for an unelected politician.
On February 1, 2001, for example, the Washington Post reported that Gingrich was serving in a high position on the "Commission on National Security/ 21st Century." As a member of the Defense Policy Board, along with Henry Kissinger, Newt advised Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, and George W. Bush. ("The War Within"; Bob Woodward; pages 130 & 148).
Gingrich’s former foreign policy aide William Luti became the top assistant to John Hannah in the Bush 2 administration ("Worse Than Watergate"; page 102). After 9-11, Luti would transfer to the Defense Department, to work with Doug Feith in creating the neoconservative intelligence group, the Office of Special Plans ("Hubris"; page 52).
Speaking of the consequences of 9/11, two days after the attacks on America, Gingrich joined with a "new" group including Cliff May, James Woolsey, Richard Perle, Charles Krauthammer, and Frank Gaffney, which began using the media to connect 9/11 with Iraq in the public’s mind ("The Politics of Truth"; Joseph Wilson; page 337). Gingrich was able to get coverage by calling upon friends such as Tony Blankley, the editor of the Washington Times. Blankley, of course, had previously served as Gingrich’s press secretary.
The next day – September 14 -- the very busy Newt Gingrich took part in an American Enterprise Institute press conference. Along with Jeane Kirkpatrick, David Wurmser, and Michael Ledeen, Newt helped spread the lie that Usama bin Laden could not have carried out he 9/11 attacks without the active support of Saddam Hussein ("Hubris"; page 67).
During the lead-up to the war on Iraq, the un-elected Newt Gingrich took part in meetings with VP Cheney and Scooter Libby, at the CIA headquarters. There, they pressured CI analysts to skew intelligence to fit the political needs of the administration ("The Politics of Truth"; page 6).
On or about March 8, 2003, Gingrich joined with Scooter Libby in running a meeting in VP Dick Cheney’s office. The purpose of the meeting was to organize a "work-up" on Joseph Wilson, in order to discredit him ("The Politics of Truth"; pages 326-7, 452).
After Wilson had exposed the administration’s purposeful attempts to twist intelligence to fit their needs – and to cover-up intelligence that proved the administration was wrong – Gingrich, Libby, and Cheney continued to go to the CIA headquarters, to warn analysts against "pulling a Wilson" (page 338).
During the Scooter Libby criminal trial, which resulted in felony convictions, Gingrich was able to appear numberous times on Fox News as an "analyst," where he discredited the prosecutor. Fox News purposely failed to reveal the role Gingrich played, which clearly created a conflict of interest, to say the least.
If Fox News was wrong to give Gingrich a platform then, than surely the other media sources that put him on stage today – without reporting the truth about his active participation in the crimes and abuses of power committed by the Bush-Cheney administration – is double wrong.
Thanks for reading this.
H2O Man
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
