Delusions of grandeur

Watching the Republican debate from South Carolina last night, a thought occurred to me: Newt Gingrich exemplifies nearly every negative trait he and the right wing ascribe to baby boomers.

Conservatives love to criticize the baby boomer generation, or should I say its liberal members, of being self-absorbed and dedicated to nothing more than their own pleasure. Few people attracted as much of that scorn as former President Bill Clinton and, I will admit, a lot of that criticism has been deserved. As a baby boomer myself, I confess some of that generational critique might just contain a fraction of truth.

But, when it comes to being a poster boy for the worst traits of my generation, I suggest Newt Gingrich takes the cake. And then eats the cake. And then licks the frosting off the plate.

Newt's self-absorption is the stuff of bad novels which, coincidentally, he has some experience writing. If you go back through some of his public writings and speeches, it's amazing what a high opinion he has of himself.

Questioned about some of this last night, he agreed -- as if it was a good thing -- that he has "grandiose thoughts" about himself and his prospects. I expect he meant "grand," though I doubt he would now admit he misspoke. Dictionary.com defines grandiose as: pompous... overblown... having an exaggerated belief in one's importance, sometimes reaching delusional proportions... Seems about right to me.

Here are a few choice quotes from our genius candidate and preserver of American values:

“She isn’t young enough or pretty enough to be the President’s wife.”
After divorcing his first of three wives.

 “I’m not a natural leader. I’m too intellectual; I’m too abstract; I think too much.”
If only we could get him to rest his enormous brain once in a while.

“The idea that a congressman would be tainted by accepting money from private industry or private sources is essentially a socialist argument.”
Addressing questions about corruption in Congress.

“The problem isn’t too little money in political campaigns, but not enough.”
Unless the big money is backing Mitt Romney.

“I have enormous personal ambition. I want to shift the entire planet. And I’m doing it. I am now a famous person. I represent real power.”
At least he has some perspective.

“Gingrich – Primary mission, Advocate of civilization, Definer of civilization, Teacher of the rules of civilization, Leader of the civilizing forces.”
Then again, I could be wrong. Can a Super Newt action figure be far behind?

“The most serious, systematic revolutionary of modern times.”
OK, this is getting ridiculous.

 “It doesn’t matter what I do. People need to hear what I have to say. There’s no one else who can say what I can say. It doesn’t matter what I live.”
Discussing his own concurrent marital infidelity while attacking President Clinton for the Monica Lewinsky affair.

“The left-wing Democrats will represent the party of total hedonism, total exhibitionism, total bizarreness, total weirdness, and the total right to cripple innocent people in the name of letting hooligans loose.”
Do I really need to comment on this one?

“These people are sick. They are so consumed by their own power, by a Mussolini-like ego, that their willingness to run over normal human beings and to destroy honest institutions is unending.”
Or this? The ego on this guy and his ability and willingness to project his own personal failings to his political opponents is astonishing.

Even his language is bloated. There should be a drinking game based on the number of times he uses self-inflating words like "fundamentally," "serious," or "absolutely." He tries to establish an image of being so knowing, so important, and so certain that none should criticize him, that clearly he is the smartest guy in the room. One of my favorite comments about Gingrich came from the NY Times' Paul Krugman: "He’s a stupid man’s idea of what a smart person sounds like." Exactly.

Self-confidence is an important asset in a leader. It takes a certain level of self-assurance to command the respect of your employees, your troops, your citizens. But Newt's posturing is not that of confidence, it is that of delusion. Whether he truly believes what he is saying or not, I can't tell.

He might really think he is the second coming of Pericles, or Churchill, or any of the other historic figures to whom he compares himself. If that's the case, he may also be a little deranged. If he doesn't really believe all that claptrap, he's just another posturing politician trying to lie his way into office. Either way, he is clearly not qualified to be President.

But he is fun to watch.