I don’t know — perhaps it is a loss of brain cells over time, or a hardening of the arteries that carry blood to the brain. But when I hear my elders spout things like this I can only take comfort in the fact that they probably won’t be around much longer.
Back in October, a group of Republican voters in Arizona gathered at NPR’s request to watch one of the early GOP presidential debates on TV. Wednesday night, they got together again. NPR’s Ted Robbins watched with them in Saddlebrooke, a retirement community northwest of Tucson, and asked them to share their thoughts.
… Gingrich supporters like Nancy Macdonald said their guy is the smartest, most experienced in the field.
“He’s so incredibly knowledgeable about what he’s doing. He knows people all over the world. He’s got so much history, and he’s a historian,” she said.
… Everyone at this debate-watching party said they like the current Republican candidates just fine, and that they hate the president — and hate is not too strong a word for Larry Stinson.
“I’m almost 80 years old,” he said, “and I tell you what, I’m totally at the point where I’d like to leave this country if the sucker gets back in. It won’t happen. But honestly, I think he’s destroying this country.” [NPR Morning Edition]
Ms. Macdonald, you’re right: Newt Gingrich has so much history, but it seems that people like yourself tend not to remember it. The Internet is a marvelous thing, ask your grandchildren to look up Mr. Gingrich’s history and you might be surprised.
Oh, and Mr. Stinson: Fox News has told you over and over that President Obama is destroying this country, but if you turned your brain on for a moment and thought for yourself, could you actually name anything he’s done that would “destroy” our country? And I mean, other than:
- Cut prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients by 50% and began eliminating the plan’s ridiculous “donut hole” gap in coverage
- Required insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions
- Shrank the Federal deficit by 8% year-on-year
- Saved the American car industry (or are you driving a Japanese car, Mr. Stinson?)
- Created more than 3.7 million jobs with stimulus
- Established a credit card bill of rights so that credit card companies can’t scam you out of your life savings.
But hey, I’m sure none of that affects you and probably makes your life a living hell. So, Mr. Stinson — if you’d like to leave, please don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
‘Cos we don’t want ass prints on our nice door.
