It's The Today Show that assumes we're idiots when they put these cartoon characters on their show all the time and pretends that they're serious people.

Then thers's that photo of "Stuff Happens" Rumsfeld shaking hands with whats-his-name from Iraq

The right wingers will only be happy when a foreign head of state or foreign journalist throws a couple shoes at President Obama. They cannot stand to see the sharp contrast between the treatment the world gave Bush and the handshakes and smiles now seen across the globe in response to President Obama. Pathetic!

But we're left with one or the other -- either Gingrich doesn't know what he's talking about or he assumes we're idiots.

Oh, definitely the latter. But he isn't talking to "us." He's talking to the 25-percenters whose paranoid latent fascism and guns-and-religion-clinginess provide his and Glenn Beck's bread and butter. He knows these people are utter idiots who will swallow any conspiratorial drivel that fits their preconceived notions about Obama being a crypto-Muslim antichrist socialist. The fact that a "liberal" MSM outlet like the Today show provides an outlet for such pandering is perhaps a matter more worthy of some discussion.

"Jed Lewison put together this video of U.S. presidents -- Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan -- smiling and greeting several 'Russian dictators.' "

Let's not forget W and Putin.

The problem is that Newt's target audience will accept his statements at face value, and as usual, won't want to be confused by the facts.

Steve:

He's basically energizing the base. Polishing his extreme right-wing credentials for a 2012 run.

Truthfully, no one else will care.

"either Gingrich doesn't know what he's talking about or he assumes we're idiots."

I see a third and more likely possibility: that Gringrich assumes that we are as stupid as he is.

What's ridiculous about this is that not only have all presidents of both parties greeted leaders of hostile nations, but can anyone think of ANY examples where an American president did NOT greet a foreign leader who was in his presence, but instead administered a deliberate snub? Any example of a president refusing to shake the hand of a foreign head of state at an international forum? I sure can't think of any.

There are millions of voters that do not remember Jimmy Carter, let alone John Kennedy. The Cold War could be something Big Pharma waged shortly after smallpox and polio were brought under control. Oh, wait, those voters don't even realize those two diseases ever were a problem. Nikita Krushchev won a gold in the 2004 power lifting event, right? Nah, Gingrich can toss around any old horseshit analogies he wants, all that's required is an accompanying ominous soundtrack and a general sense of dread and hysteria. The idiots that comprise our citizenry will take it from there.

I'd like to ask the producers of the Today Show how Gingrich's ass tastes.

For them to let him lie so brazenly, on their air, with barely a token effort to correct him, I just have to assume that at least on of the producers of the Today Show is at least tonsil-deep in Gingrich's ass on a fairly regular basis.

Because anyone with any self-respect wouldn't let a disgraced loser like ol' Newtie on their air to spew his fact-free-flatulence without at least trying to correct him. Why would you want your viewers to be dumber at the end of the broadcast than the beginning, unless of course, you're unrepentant scum AND loves you the taste of Gingrich ass?

Maybe Newt's third wife should be on the watch. For someone to eat that much ass so well, that's the kind of gal (or depending on the state Newt and his new friend reside fella), you marry.

Someone is going to have to put together a clip of other Presidents greeting foreign leaders along with these statements by Newt and his idiot buddies, and then ask them point blank to explain their reasoning. If only we had a journalist with a platform for doing just that...

Every time BHO smiles, our enemies fear us a little less.

That's all they got? Body language? In the form of a handshake? And a bow to the leader of Saudi Arabia?

If body language is all they got they really are scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I find this hilarious. And that the TV pundits think that this is important to ordinary people just proves how gullible they think their audience is.

Man, its like a zen koan for idiots. "How do you mend fences with someone who hates your country?" Why would you *bother* mending fences with any other kind of person?. Jeebus even Gilbert and Sullivan grasped this conundrum when they had a character "disinherit his own unborn son" and reply to criticism "if a man can't disinherit his own unborn son, whose can he?" Newt and the others are just beyond--worlds and eons and light years and galaxies beyond--stupidity at this point.

aimai

Every time BHO smiles, our enemies fear us a little less.

Obama has been smiling and taking Republicans' lunch money on a daily basis since the day he took office - and before that he smiled while systematically tearing the candidacy of John McCain down brick by brick.

Let our enemies think that smile doesn't mask the killer instinct of a shark. It worked so well for the Republicans when they made the same mistake.

Gingrich is a former history professor. If the contest is about whether Gingrich is stupid and doesn't know the truth or he is being manipulative and mendacious, I vote for Gingrich the manipulative liar.

every time a wingnut whines, george washington smiles.

Why wouldn't Gingrich know this? His non-political career was as a frickin history professor.

But we're left with one or the other -- either Gingrich doesn't know what he's talking about or he assumes we're idiots.

I don't think it's a binary choice. I think he does both.

Were any of these Repug idiots awake last November 4? Just how do they think talking exclusively to their incredible shrinking base is going to get them back to a majority?

Of course, in the Napoleonic spirit of "never interrupt the enemy while he is making a mistake", I hope they keep it up.

Yes, he was a college history prof. Maybe this speaks to the state of education under the Republicans?

If Obama hadn't shaken hands, THAT would have spurred right wing nuttery accusations re: O's lack of diplomatic savvy. Fact: GOP/right extremists will attack President Obama and First Lady Obama for ANYTHING (handshakes, bare arms) because it/they CANNOT accept that people who look so different than themselves, and all that that implies, are actually in the White House of the (for the first time in a long time) pretty much united USA.

His mouth opens, and all he can offer us is fecal matter! Newt Gingrich's crazy-talk is belied merely by noting Pres. Kennedy talked directly with our enemies, and his administration produced an international treaty that banned atmospheric testing of nuclear devices - a true victory for American diplomacy and the global environment to date!

Newt is rapidly becoming that unsatisfying prize found at the bottom of a Cracker-Jacks box! -Kevo

How exactly does it happen that, with all of the important actual news to cover, The Today Show producers decide that this is a topic worth discussing.

These morning shows are crap, and day after day, The Today Show blazes the manure-covered trail.

I'm undecided which Newt holds in greater contempt: the true believers that hang on his every word or our nation's democratic institutions. The steady diet of bullshit that he feeds the GOP base is clear evidence of the former. His long history of underming the public's faith in government argues for the latter. However, I have never believed that he doesn't know what he's doing.

Newt HOPES we're idiots, and he KNOWS he's full of shit.

Heh- Venezuela is more popular than the Republican Party!
http://www.openleft.com/diary/12937/republicans-less-popular-than-venezuela

Has Chavez ever called for the destruction of the United States? I'm just curious.

Gingrich lives in this disturbing, dangerous neoconservative world where courtesy and diplomacy are wrong. It is really terrifying. The idea that, because someone disagrees with us, we must behave rudely and cavalierly is mind-numbing.

Maybe Newt's worried about cooties.

After all, he got VD from a toilet seat!

As Newt slips into irrelevance and obscurity, he lashes out in increasingly more silly outbursts. The right wing doesn't care. Neither does the center or left wing. Only the media wastes its time on things Newt.

The only embarassingly stupid breach of protocol I can recall between a US president and the head of another nation is Shrub's neck rub of the German Prime Minister. In another thread someone rminded that Bush was conspicuously avoided at one of his last summit meetings.

I suppose newt would have been happier if the president had pulled a Cheney.

Therein lies the major difference between the Republicans and Obama, class.

Gingrich lives in this disturbing, dangerous neoconservative world where courtesy and diplomacy are wrong. It is really terrifying. The idea that, because someone disagrees with us, we must behave rudely and cavalierly is mind-numbing.

Actually, as someone mentioned above, Newt does know better; he's merely barking at his base which does not.

Lost in all this melodramatic bullshit are the reasons why Obama might want to engage Chavez and the rest Latin America/Western Hemisphere.

"How do you mend relationships with somebody who hates your country?"

The Man With a Head Sculpted Out of Mashed Potatoes is right! The United States should only mend relationships with countries that already love us!

But we're left with one or the other -- either Gingrich doesn't know what he's talking about or he assumes we're idiots.

Nope. There's always door #3: Gingrich doesn't know what he's talking about (has he ever?), and he assumes we're idiots, since that's the only way he ever got anywhere - being elected by idiots.

either Gingrich doesn't know what he's talking about or he assumes we're idiots.

Of course it could be more accurate to read this with an and and not an or.

But I was also struck by the argument that U.S. leaders couldn't possibly talk to hates and wants to destroy the United States.

Notwithstanding that Chavez has never advocated "destroying" the US (even if he ever had the power to do so). Chavez has made it clear for years that his problems were not with the American people, but with the previous administration. Maybe some enterprising reporter (obviously NOT Meredith Vieira!) could ask Gnewt to cite any instance where Chavez advocated the destruction of the US.

John Foster Dulles once refused to shake Ho Chi Minh's hand at an international conference. That one really worked out well for us, didn't it?

Did anybody check to see if President Obama was carrying a concealed umbrella?

slappy magoo Too much ..totally cracked me up while I was sitting at my desk at work.

Thanks, John

Quote: 'But we're left with one or the other -- either Gingrich doesn't know what he's talking about or he assumes we're idiots."

There also is a third and better option: Newt Gingrich is an idiot!

"But we're left with one or the other -- either Gingrich doesn't know what he's talking about or he assumes we're idiots."

There you go again, Steve, presenting false dichotomies.

I believe this is a double-bank-shot strategy to put the Daily Show out of business by making parody so easy that Jon Stewart and his team get bored.

Or, followers of Newt are really too stupid to be allowed to live.

Frustratingly, the video stops at the 11 second mark. This happens on both this page and the page you linked to.

Any suggestions?

Hold on a minute! The press and everyone in the blogs keeps assuming Chavez is akin to Hitler. From what I have read, he is the democratically elected, very popular, president of Venezuala. He promotes egalitarian concerns, which makes him unpopular with the extremely wealthy in his country, and has fought the stranglehold international corporations have on his economy, which has earned him the wrath of American whores like Pat Robertson.

He has also fought his local Fox-like media which has called for a violent junta, as I understand it. Are we on the wrong side of this issue?

No Republicans don't shake hands with dictators (which is meaningless), they just support them in substantive ways, like arms shipments and military training. i.e. Central America, Iraq, Iran-Contra, et al.

he press and everyone in the blogs keeps assuming Chavez is akin to Hitler. From what I have read, he is the democratically elected, very popular, president of Venezuala.

Time to review your German history, candideinnc. Wikipedia is your friend.

Inkadu--are you saying he is the Venezuelan equivalent of the Nazis? I have heard claims followers of Chavez acted illegally to support him in the last election. His opponents have made much of this. I have also heard that the Carter outfit looked at the election and found it had been democratic. Wickipedia said that the charges against Chavez were broad stroke accusations--something that should make you suspicious. Or did YOU not read Wickipedia?

candideince sez: he press and everyone in the blogs keeps assuming Chavez is akin to Hitler. From what I have read, he is the democratically elected, very popular, president of Venezuala.

inkadu responds: Time to review your German history, candideinnc. Wikipedia is your friend.

While I don't doubt that the error-filled wikipedia says that Hitler was elected President of Germany, the fact is that he lost when he ran against Hindenburg, and his Nazi party never won a majority of the popular vote, nor ever controlled a majority of Parliament (until after the Enabling Act, when all other parties were outlawed). Hitler rose to power primarily via intrigue and threats of (and actual) violence against his political opponents.

Chavez, on the other hand, has been thrice elected President of Venezuela with well over 50% of the popular vote each time.

I wish someone at mediamatters would add up all the face time Gingrich and McCain have on the teevee, as opposed to, say, Secretary of State Clinton.

The media treat Gingrich like he is some kind of elder statesman. Why is his stupid mug is all over the place?