Gingrich: The cartoon professor

The degraded Republican Party debates are a reality TV show version of genuine debates - like that among the 2008 Democratic candidates who actually debated three different health care plans - Hillary Clinton's, John Edwards's excellent plan, and Barack Obama's [which lacked the individual mandate Edwards and Clinton said was necessary].
Now that Herman Cain is gone and Rick Perry reduced to an SNL character we have the rise of the insufferable Newt Gingrich (whose bubble will burst - before November 2012, and probably before the GOP convention).  Stephen Budiansky does an excellent take-down.  Read the whole thing, not just the block quote below. - GWC
Stephen Budiansky's Liberal Curmudgeon Blog: The cartoon professor:

"I have been perplexed for some time why Newt Gingrich is routinely acknowledged even by his bitter enemies within the Republican Party as a "genius," but the answer turns out is simple: he acts exactly like one of those obnoxious elitist intellectual know-it-alls that the right-wing no-nothings think is the hallmark of an intellectual. He is constantly reminding us of his doctorate in history; he routinely claims he understands issues more deeply than anyone else; he has made a career of denouncing or (when he had the authority) eliminating professional expertise that might challenge his own certain pronouncements; and he is a veritable fount of crackpot "big" ideas (mining minerals on the moon, protecting the United States from sci-fi doomsday scenarios, and "fundamentally transforming" everything as a first step to doing anything."

Read more: Steve Budiansky's Liberal Curmudgeon Blog
h/t James Fallows
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