{"id":5984,"date":"2011-12-19T09:30:09","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T17:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=5984"},"modified":"2011-12-19T09:37:39","modified_gmt":"2011-12-19T17:37:39","slug":"newt-gingrich-adds-another-zany-plank-to-his-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=5984","title":{"rendered":"Judge Not: Newt Gingrich Adds Another Zany Plank To His Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"

GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich continues to adopt some of the most lunatic positions from the right-wing fringe. First it was calling child labor laws “truly stupid.”<\/a><\/em> Then it was calling Palestinians an “invented people.”<\/em> Now Gingrich wants to go after judges he doesn’t like.<\/p>\n

\"Newt<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

Gingrich was questioned about his prior comments that he would, as president, eliminate judges and courts that he regarded as overstepping their authority. As an example he suggested that the entire Ninth Circuit could be done away with. On Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer noted that Gingrich’s proposal would violate the Constitution, and asked the former Speaker how he would enforce this. Would he send the Capitol police to arrest such judges? Gingrich replied…<\/p>\n

“If you had to. Or you’d instruct the Justice Department to send a U.S. marshal.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This may go down in history as one of the stupidest, and most dangerous, statements from a presidential contender. The notion that a president could unilaterally punish judges for decisions with which the president disagrees is fundamentally unconstitutional and anti-American. Such power would mean that judges would have to live in fear of losing their job if they displeased the White House. It would mean that they could not decide cases on the merits, but would have to decide based on the political repercussions of their ruling. That would, in effect, make the judiciary an irrelevant appendage of the White House, rather than an independent and impartial administrator of the law.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see how Gingrich’s Tea Party supporters respond to this repulsive stance. The Tea Party has always tried to portray itself as opposed to big government and the encroachment of power by government institutions. There is nothing more representative of a power grab than one branch of government asserting that it has the authority to eliminate another branch. And that’s exactly what Gingrich is proposing.<\/p>\n

But I wonder if Gingrich has thought this through. If President Obama were to adopt Gingrich’s view today, he could have Justices Thomas and Scalia arrested and thrown off the bench. Then he could appoint two new judges to take their place. Somehow I don’t think that’s what Gingrich had in mind? In fact, were Obama to try that he would be swooped on by outraged Republicans and Tea Partiers and castigated as a traitor.<\/p>\n

And if it wasn’t disgusting enough that Gingrich would propose something so contrary to American values, Fox Nation characterizes this as Gingrich criticizing “Anti-American Judges.”<\/em> That’s a loaded term that implies that any judge that makes a ruling that a president doesn’t like is anti-American and, therefore, subject to impeachment. Of course, it’s the policy advanced by Gingrich, as well as the spin given to it by Fox, that is anti-American, not the judges that Gingrich yearns to impeach.<\/p>\n

[Update]<\/strong> Fox Nation doubles down with a second column on Gingrich’s dictatorial aspirations. This one sports a curious headline that lamely tries to tar Bob Schieffer of Face the Nation as having been “jacked up”<\/em> by Gingrich and calls the program “Slay the Nation.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fox<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n

Also note that on the morning following the death of Kim Jong Il, the Fox Nationalists place this rehashed story at the top of their web site above a much smaller link to a story on the deceased leader of North Korea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

GOP frontrunner Newt Gingrich continues to adopt some of the most lunatic positions from the right-wing fringe. First it was calling child labor laws “truly stupid.” Then it was calling Palestinians an “invented people.” Now Gingrich wants to go after judges he doesn’t like. Gingrich was questioned about his prior comments that he would, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[152,1],"tags":[527,568],"class_list":["post-5984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-election","category-general","tag-fox-nation","tag-newt-gingrich"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-1yw","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32048,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=32048","url_meta":{"origin":5984,"position":0},"title":"Did Fox News Just Tip Donald Trump’s Hand On His VP Pick?","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/13\/2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Media speculation about who Donald Trump will select as a running mate has been heating up in recent days. The fabled shortlist is said to have been whittled down to a handful including Chris Christie, Mike Pence, and Newt Gingrich. Trump's camp is saying that the decision will be made\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"Trump\/Gingrich","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-gingrich-question.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-gingrich-question.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/trump-gingrich-question.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":48389,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=48389","url_meta":{"origin":5984,"position":1},"title":"Newt Gingrich Issues an Asinine Threat Over Making Trump a Martyr","author":"Mark NC","date":"1\/24\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The floundering Fox News Trumpskyites are getting more desperate with each day that passes since Joe Biden decisively defeated their hero Donald Trump. It wasn't enough that their inflammatory, seditious rhetoric incited a violent attack on Congress that resulted in five deaths and dozens more injured. Nope. They are recklessly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/gingrich-trump-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/gingrich-trump-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/gingrich-trump-baby.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5875,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=5875","url_meta":{"origin":5984,"position":2},"title":"Newt Gingrich Admits That Fox News Analysts Don’t Know What They’re Talking About","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/1\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"If there is one thing that Newt Gingrich knows about, it is what Fox News analysts know. He was, after all, a Fox News analyst himself. So it is with direct personal experience that Gingrich reveals that... \"One of the real changes that comes when you start running for president\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5823,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=5823","url_meta":{"origin":5984,"position":3},"title":"The Newt Gingrich Plan: Fire Janitors And Replace Them With Children","author":"Mark NC","date":"11\/20\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This election cycle has seen some pretty remarkable performances by candidates that seem to have no concept of decency but an abundance of ignorance. Michele Bachmann wants members of Congress to be investigated for treason. Donald Trump pushed Birtherism to new levels, even after President Obama provided the birth certificate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50306,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=50306","url_meta":{"origin":5984,"position":4},"title":"Newt Gingrich Visits Fox News to Peddle the Overtly Racist ‘White Replacement Theory’","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/4\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Fox News has officially become the White Nationalist Network of America. Their efforts on behalf of blatantly racist philosophies and organizations makes it impossible to deny their close association and aligned goals. No better example exists than the fact that this week Fox's top rated program host, Tucker Carlson, is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/gingrich-trump-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/gingrich-trump-baby.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/..\/Pix\/Trump\/gingrich-trump-baby.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5881,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=5881","url_meta":{"origin":5984,"position":5},"title":"Newt Gingrich Slams Poor Children – Again","author":"Mark NC","date":"12\/1\/2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week Newt Gingrich floated a ludicrous plan to fire union janitors at schools (putting them on the unemployment rolls and devastating their families) and replacing them with school children. The brilliance of this plan is that, while impoverishing the families of the once gainfully employed janitors, it would simultaneously\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5984"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5984\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5989,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5984\/revisions\/5989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}