You might know the term “Flippin’ the bird”, but I want to call this “Flippin’ the Newt”:
Newt Gingrich on March 7, on what he would do in Libya:
Exercise a no-fly zone this evening, communicate to the Libyan military that Gadhafi was gone and that the sooner they switch sides, the more like they were to survive, provided help to the rebels to replace him. I mean, the idea that we’re confused about a man who has been an anti-American dictator since 1969 just tells you how inept this administration is.
Newt Gingrich yesterday (two weeks later), after Obama did pretty much what Gingrich said he himself would do:
Let me draw the distinction. I would not have intervened. I think there were a lot of other ways to affect Qaddafi. I think there are a lot of other allies in the region we could have worked with. I would not have used American and European forces.
Political commentator Taegan Goddard calls this “An Epic Flip Flop“. What’s really frustrating is that Matt Lauer, who was interviewing him yesterday, let him get away with it.
Not only that, but Gingrich criticized the Libyan intervention, saying “This is about as badly run as any foreign operation we’ve seen in our lifetime.” Perhaps he was born yesterday, or else he just conveniently forgot about the Iraq War, which Gingrich helped plan. What a jerk.
UPDATE: PolitiFact gives Gingrich a “Full Flop” on this one.
