"Gingrich assumed that he's the whole Republican Party"

Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich

I'm not going to pretend that if I was a college student in one of Professor Newt Gingrich's classes, I'd be one of the first to drop out. I would recognize his brilliance, but have to admit that I couldn't follow him when he says things like, "The Reagan failure was to grossly undervalue the centrality of government as the organizing mechanism for reinforcing societal behavior." After reading it ten times to make sure I understood the words correctly, I would still be confused because why would a conservative Republican be criticizing someone who didn't want the government to control societal behavior?

Gingrich is a very complex, confusing, and at times, flat out contradictory man, which is showcased in a unique and fascinating way in a headline story on the Washington Post today. "Gingrich archives show his public praise, private criticism of Reagan," is about much more than his back and forth statements about Reagan, and instead a glimpse into what kind of man he is behind the scenes.

After statements like, "Gingrich “assumed that he’s the whole Republican Party," "That is my job. . . . It is not my job to win reelection. It is not my job to take care of passport problems. It is not my job to get a bill through Congress. My job description as I have defined it is to save Western civilization.," and "And Republican leaders who were resisting additional funds for science, he said, were “idiots” and “so incredibly stupid," you start to wonder if Gingrich suffers from a several case of narcissistic personality disorder.

But above all, this very interesting article isn't actually negative. It is just a look into a very complex man. Well worth the read!