Joe Scarborough: Newt Gingrich’s History Of Attacking Ronald Reagan Shows He Is ‘Ideologically Unmoored’

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by Alex Alvarez | 9:44 am, January 26th, 2012

» 28 comments

The folks at Morning Joe took a trip down memory lane Thursday, looking back at Newt Gingrich‘s views on Ronald Reagan — particularly how they haven’t always been as rosy and laudatory as Gingrich characterizes them today.

As The National Review reports, back in 1985, as Reagan prepared to meet with then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Gingrich characterized their upcoming meeting as “the most dangerous summit for the West since Adolf Hitler met with Chamberlain in 1938 Munich.” Additionally, the Congressional record shows that, on March 21, 1986, Gingrich said that President Reagan “personally knows there is a Soviet empire, and it is a global transnational threat to America and to freedom… He ranks with Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy and Nixon in trying to focus attention on the Soviet empire and in trying to protect freedom. Yet President Reagan is clearly failing.” And, on November 3, 1983, the record shows Gingrich opining that “beyond the obvious social indicators of decay, the fact is that President Reagan has lost control of the national agenda.”

Host Joe Scarborough added his two cents:

The man who we conservatives believe was more responsible than anybody else in liberating Eastern Europe was constantly being attacked by Newt Gingrich, who actually called Reagan’s policies toward the Soviet Union “pathetic” and said that his foreign policy was an “abysmal failure.” I think all this really tells us about Newt Gingrich is what most people already know, and that is that he is just ideologically unmoored. He will say whatever he thinks will gain him an advantage that day and when the tide turns, he, too, will turn with that tide.

Have a look, via MSNBC:

morning joe, msnbc, newt gingrich, Ronald Reagan, The National Review

Mo Fokker

Ooh. Now there is a nice find.
Anonymous

How to spell republicans = H Y P O C R I T E S
Mo Fokker

“He will say whatever he thinks will gain him an advantage that day and when the tide turns, he, too, will turn with that tide.”

Yes, but Mitt Romney is a lot like that too.
Anonymous

He’s got the establishment plenty scared! Drudge turned on him today. Expect he’ll try to channel MLK and overcome! Go Newt! Unfortunately being the moral family values guy that I am I’m forced to back the President. I’m not sure there are enough swingers to put Newt over the top but there’s always Hope and Change:)
Anonymous

Nice to see the GOP have been calling people ‘
Chamberlain’ way before BO showed up.
Anonymous

“Unmoored”. Is that another way of saying that Gingrich is crazy? I think he is. He is all over the place. He is up and down, crying one minute and ranting the next. We don’t need a crazy man in the WH, or anywhere near government.
Anonymous

Why can’t they support a man (Paul) that has always been consistence? instead of these phonies.
Mo Fokker

Because they are unprincipled like Romney and Gingrich, plus they want to expand the size of our military and the military industrial complex because those jobs are considered “private industry jobs”.
Anonymous

Well they keep peddling the nonsense that Obama is practicing “appeasement”. Looks like they were accusing Reagan of doing the same.
Charles Ulysses Feney

This will send the Right wing into apoplexy.
Mo Fokker

Drudge Report I think already has.
Anonymous

Because they see holding their own accountable as a referendum on their own professed values system, which explains their hypersensitive defense of anyone they initially back (See: Pablo, Herman Cain.)

All a candidate has to do is state that he is a conservative (from the beginning, not the previously-self-identifying progressive like Romney), and they’ll support him. Plus they don’t have a candidate who can win anyway, so what the hell right?
AMP2020

I don’t mean this sarcastically: Newt would be an AMAZING debater if he wasn’t such a hypocrite. Seriously. The guy can think on his feet. Every interview I see of him, he’s rarely ever “thrown off” by a question.
http://www.sarainitalyblog.blogspot.com/ sarainitaly

that’s gonna leave a mark.
The Real Royal Emperor

I’m not so sure it’s much of a problem. In my observation there are plenty of degenerate pigs who think the height of passion is a woman who will get buzzed, lift up her skirt and do the Can-Can in the kitchen, and there are plenty of women who will do just that. Newton Leroy and Callgirlista may have found their respective soulmate.
Anonymous

Ouch. This may just be the beginning of the end for Newt.
http://twitter.com/TheMorningSpew The Morning Spew

Okay, so why not show this?
http://themorningspew.com/2012/01/26/connie-chung-interviews-kathleen-gingrich/
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VK7U6RFTAUIPW2JR2NGPBP2IYA super

All that shows was Newt was to the right of Reagan. That Newt held more conservative positions then Reagan.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VK7U6RFTAUIPW2JR2NGPBP2IYA super

why?
all it demonstrates is that Newt was to the right of Reagan.
That Newt was more conservative then reagan back in the 80′s while at the sametime Mitt was to the left of Obama.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VK7U6RFTAUIPW2JR2NGPBP2IYA super

why?
all it shows was that Newt was MORE conservative then Reagan. That Newt was to the right of Reagan in dealing with the soviets.
Anonymous

So is CNN going to permit Newt to run the show tonight – or will CNN? That is the question.

They can either run with the ratings that Newt’s rant will give them for the coming days – or they can show America that they are a leader in cable news.

Which will it be CNN???
Anonymous

True super, it shows that Newtwas to the right of Reagan and clearly had Reagan listened to Newt the USSR wouldn’t have lasted as long as it did. Unfortunately, that RINO Reagan started talking to Gorby and this enabled the USSR to last much longer than it should have. I could now see why Newt was paid $1,600,000 to be an historian.
Anonymous

I used to call my parents “Chamberlain” whenever they met with my teachers.
Anonymous

My dear sir, please don’t pay attention to these vicious malicious attacks from the left. They are just being used to bring down the integrity of our beloved Newt who has always been a principled family man with high moral character.
Anonymous

And this is why conservatism is always right.
Anonymous

I hope they will allow Newt to moderate so that he could yell at himself.
Anonymous

All he has to is repeat how much he hates Obama and all is forgiven. Remember that his politics, personal history or ability to lead is meaningless to the base. It is all about who hates the Kenyan/Muslim/Non American dark guy in the WH.

“The conservative movement these past three years has shown an amazing ability to forgive offenses once deemed unforgivable, providing they are committed by”one of our own.” The contest is to prove that you are “one of
us.” That’s a contest to which Gingrich comes with large advantages.

David Frum
Anonymous

http://evilbloggerlady.blogspot.com/2012/01/amazing-animals-pikas.html I nominate the Pika. Gingrich or Romney cannot not cut it and there are no other conservatives in the race…oh wait? Rick Santorum? I forgot about him.

Sorry, I cannot take seriously Joe Scarborough claiming to be a conservative. Sorry, that is like Benedict Arnold claiming to be an American Patriot.