Posted on 01/13/2012 1:18:24 PM PST by nickcarraway
This new ad from the Gingrich campaign is making the rounds:
If you don't feel like watching, it compares Romney to previous Massachusetts wusses Michael Dukakis and John Kerry and ends with the narrator snarking, "Just like John Kerry, he speaks French, too" before showing a clip from the now infamous Olympic committee video.
BOOM! Mr. "we look to the cities and small towns of America not the capitals of Europe" just got served a dose of his own xenophobic pandering.
But wait, does Gingrich really want to go down this route. He has his own dark Francophone past as the AFP's Stephane Jourdain reported last month:
And Gingrich, former speaker of the House of Representatives, spent several years in Orleans as a youth when his father was posted there as a soldier, during a period when France still hosted US military bases.[...]
From 1956 to 1958, Gingrich lived in Orleans between the ages of 14 to 16.
He tells how he had a revelation when visiting the ossuary memorial at the World War I battlefield of Verdun with his father in 1958.
"As a young man, I planned on becoming a zoo director or a vertebrate paleontologist," Gingrich writes in a book. "Yet during one special weekend as a teenager, I learned a powerful lesson that sparked my dream of entering public office and becoming a leader of our nation."
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.foreignpolicy.com ...
Because it’s not relevant and nobody cares?
So Republicans in 2012 should repeat what Democrats did in 2008, and ignore their candidate’s background? I remember how much FR was against that in 2008. Is everyone becoming a Democrat?
At least he coulda/shoulda married somebody who plays a patriotic AMERICAN instrument, like the Sousaphone.
Exactly. This has to be one of the dumbest responses to a campaign ad I have ever seen. OMG, OMG, Newt speaks French too!!!! oy vey I know, French was used to pair Romney with Kerry, along with a few other things. Regardless, I stand by my opinion that Newt also speaks French is dumb. The ad wasn't worth even responding to.
Wasn't that renamed the Freedom Horn around 2003?
Seriously, being able to speak a foreign language (or having any other knowledge) is better than lacking that knowledge, and we look silly in using it in an attack. Focus on Romney's ability to change his ideology like a chameleon changes it's color to blend into its background. Focus on his history as governor of Taxachusetts. But using knowledge of a foreign language as a negative is one step away from accusing your opponent of being an east coast elitist because he wears shoes.
The ages from 14 to 16 are formative years, if you know what I mean... wink, wink.
Newt also acts like a Frenchman in the bedroom. At least he used to.
“spent several years in Orleans as a youth when his father was posted there as a soldier”
I think it’s pretty well understood that Newt went wherever his dad was stationed.
As a PhD in history, Newt probably was required to demonstrate reading knowledge of two or three foreign languages as a degree requirement. That doesn’t mean he can speak them. He might or might not be able to speak French, it depends on what he did in Orleans.
>> it depends on what [Newt] did in Orleans <<
I’ve heard that 16-year-old American boys tend to “pick up” lotsa French when they live in Orléans.
>> Wasn’t that renamed the Freedom Horn around 2003? <<
Aw, shucks! You’re right. My bad. I stand corrected.
(And I withdraw the intended insult to Ms. Bisek-Gingrich!)
Calista also dresses up as a french maid one night a week.
>> Calista also dresses up as a french maid one night a week <<
Ah, as our FRiend Karl would remind us, I think you meant to say as a “freedom” maid!
This film about Romney could have been made by a left wing French intellectual? Why in the world did Gingrich default to this point of view? Apparently, he sees Romney as too far to the right, while FR sees him as to far to the left. Why the discrepancy? I think it's fair to ask how deeply Gingrich drank from the wells of French left wing intellectualism and Anti-Americanism while he was there?
Well that does it for me. If a candidate speaks French, I simply cannot vote for him.
This is really becoming silly.
Gingrich is the one who brought it up by attacking Romney for speaking French.
I believe Newt does scream “Freedom” at some point in the evening.
Newt speaks it with a strong Georgia accent so it’s OK.
And to be honest with you, the whining by the GOP on behalf of Romney, the candidate that is being shoved down our throats is way over the top. Gonna backfire.
The GOP establishment wants to maintain control and CLEARLY it is not because they are looking out for the best interests of our country. Our country will continue to decline under a Romney presidency. To settle for just not as bad as Obama is a disgusting cop-out on behalf of patriots.
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