Another Jaw-Dropper from Newt

In every Republican debate thus far, there’s been a gaffe or position taken by one of the candidates that gives conservatives heartburn.  In Tuesday’s CNN debate, cosponsored by the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute, it was Newt Gingrich’s turn to take center stage.

In talking about illegal immigration, Gingrich middle-fingered his conservative audience by saying, “If you’ve come here recently, you have no ties to this country, you ought to go home, period.  If you’ve been here twenty-five years and you got three kids and two grandkids, you’ve been paying taxes and obeying the law, you belong to a local church, I don’t think we’re going to separate you from your family, uproot you forcefully, and kick you out.”

Just getting warmed up, he added a left jab to the ribs with, “I don’t see how the party that says it’s the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy which destroys families that have been here a quarter century.”

Regardless of one’s stance on illegal immigration, Gingrich’s comments reinforced the widely held belief that his mouth yields more surprises than a piñata.

As with Newt’s infamous “extreme right-wing social-engineering” comment in reference to Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan, it’s hard to decipher what he even means by “If you’ve been here twenty-five years.”  Is he saying that the U.S. should send back illegals who have been here only twenty-four years?  How about twenty-one years?  Or fifteen?

In a way, his twenty-five-year reference is not that much different than liberals’ use of such terms as “fair share” and “social justice.”  What do these terms mean — and who decides what they mean?  Likewise, who decides precisely how many years an illegal needs to be here to be given amnesty?  (And, regardless of Newt’s arguments to the contrary, his words describe de facto amnesty.)

In 2010, I served as a panelist on the “Summit on America’s Future” panel in New Orleans, along with Gingrich, Charles Krauthammer, and Dick Armey.  At one point in the discussion, I happened to glance down at Newt, sitting on the end.  To my surprise, his head was drooping and his eyes were closed.

Afterward, in the green room, I smiled and said to him, “Looked like you were snoozing a bit down there.”  To which he replied, “Hey, you gotta sleep whenever you can.”  Which sounds reasonable — but in the middle of a panel discussion in front of a live audience?

So, maybe … just maybe … when Gingrich spews out one of his famous jaw-droppers, his brain is snoozing even though his eyes may be wide open.  I’d hate to think that he’s actually aware of what he’s saying.

To paraphrase Forrest Gump’s mom, Newt Gingrich is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you’re going to get.

Special note:  Happy anniversary to D.B. Cooper, wherever he may be, who literally jumped into the national spotlight forty years ago today.  If you’re too young to know who this mysterious cult figure is, be sure to check out his story on the Internet.  It will give you a good respite from politics.