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Let’s take a trip down the political rabbit hole to a mystical universe known as NewtLand!
This is where Newt Gingrich goes to get high on the fumes of his feverish ego and invent his own reality. For example, the current contender for the GOP presidential nomination has conjured up the fanciful claim that he is not – repeat, NOT – a Washington lobbyist.
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Since lobbyists are right down there with loan sharks in public approval ratings, Gingrich thought it best to fuzz the reality of his decade-long lobbying career. He now insists that his favor-seeking corporate clients did not hire him for his insider connections in the Capitol City, but because he’s a “historian” and “transformative thinker.”
So please believe him when he says that the financial giant, Freddie Mac, paid him $1.6 million over six years to give them history lessons. Also, just accept his word that he was paid $55 million by several health care corporations between 2001 and 2010 because they merely wanted to bask in the glow of his transformative thoughts. Indeed, when asked by the Washington Post what those clients got for their millions, Gingrich said that he set them up with “a really important guy who really knows a lot and who really has lots of information.” That guy was, of course, himself.
And, yes admits the former House Speaker, he has chatted up his old congressional cronies about issues of concern to his clients, but he did so as just another concerned citizen. It was not – repeat, NOT – lobbying.
Who does the Newtster think he’s fooling? You can claim that chicken manure is chicken salad – but one whiff reveals the truth. Gingrich’s silly semantical dance around the L-word is a devastating revelation of his true character – this guy is so full of himself that he believes his own lies.
“Gingrich the lobbyist? How do we define ‘lobbying,’ then?” The New York Times, January 30, 2012.
“So Who’s a Lobbyist?” The New York Times, January 27, 2012.