FATS, NEWT & "THE PHONEY WAR"

I only caught a little bit of Fats Limbaugh today but I did hear him come back from his noon break and welcome the "welfare and medicaid recipients" who are just getting up so I know he hasn't given up pandering to racist white males. In line with most of the wingnuts, he tried to smear YearlyKos by calling in a "fringe meeting" of "kook fringe bloggers."

Fats also mentioned that Newt Gingrich called Fredo's WOT a "phoney war" and said that remark "wasn't helpful." When I Googled, I found that Newt wrote that back on July 10 in Human Events. I found one mention in the July 24th edition of Newsday but that's it for the print media until Newt recently gave a speech to college conservatives.

Here's the heart of Newt's piece:

Just as in the years leading up to World War II, the signs are all around us. The rise of Hamas. The re-arming of Hezbollah. The Iranian dictatorship's relentless drive for nuclear weapons. Terrorists from New Jersey to London to Iraq and Pakistan who are saying repeatedly and publicly that they want nothing more than to kill us.

So my question is this: In our own existential war, do our leaders hear these
voices that are determined to destroy us? And will our "phoney war" end
on our terms, or the terms of our enemies?

CNN did mention on August 4th that Newt made a similar remark to college students (via Lexis-Nexis):

A man who led the so-called Republican revolution is now calling the war on terror phony. Newt Gingrich told a group of conservative college students in Georgia that more has to be done to fight lslamic militants. Mr. Gingrich says that it would be more effective to wean the U.S. off of foreign oil.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution covered Newt's speech and here are some excerpts:

Gingrich says war on terror 'phony'
Former speaker says energy independence is key
By BOB DEANS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/03/07

Washington - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday the Bush administration is waging a "phony war" on terrorism, warning that the country is losing ground against the kind of Islamic radicals who attacked the country on Sept. 11, 2001.

A more effective approach, said Gingrich, would begin with a national energy strategy aimed at weaning the country from its reliance on imported oil and some of the regimes that petro-dollars support.

"None of you should believe we are winning this war. There is no evidence that we are winning this war," the ex-Georgian told a group of about 300 students attending a conference for collegiate conservatives.

We were in charge for six years," he said, referring to the period between 2001 and early 2007, when the GOP controlled the White House and both houses of Congress. "I don't think you can look and say that was a great success."

"I believe we need to find leaders who are prepared to tell the truth ... about the failures of the performance of Republicans ... failed bureaucracies ... about how dangerous the world is," he said when asked what kind of Republican he would back for president.

He reserved his most pointed criticism for the administration's handling of the global campaign against terrorist groups.

"We've been engaged in a phony war," said Gingrich. "The only people who have been taking this seriously are the combat military."

"We have to take this seriously," said Gingrich.

"We used to be a serious country. When we got attacked at Pearl Harbor, we took on Imperial Japan, Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany," he said, referring to World War II.

"We beat all three in less than four years. We're about to enter the seventh year of this phony war against ... [terrorist groups], and we're losing."

ABC also picked up on this:

Gingrich calls War on Terror "Phony"
August 04, 2007 1:01 PM

ABC News' Joe Kildea Reports: Newt Gingrich, former Republican House Speaker, called the war on terror "phony" in a speech to a group of young conservatives in Washington, D.C. on Thursday.

The potential GOP presidential candidate told attendees of the National Conservative Student Conference that "We’re about to enter the seventh year of this phony war…and we’re losing."

Gingrich added, "None of you should believe we are winning this war. There is no evidence that we are winning this war.


Now, when will Newt be attacked as a "defeatist" by the wingnuts?