Gingrey Caves To Dittoheads

Phil Gingrey is a typical Republican coward. That's probably the worst insult I can hurl at the man.

In a post yesterday, I complimented Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey (and by "complimented" I mean "agreed with his statement") for his rationale in putting Rush Limbaugh's latest outbursts in perspective. It was a pretty innocuous and realistic statement.

"...it's easy if you're Sean Hannity or Rush Limbaugh or even sometimes Newt Gingrich to stand back and throw bricks. You don't have to try to do what's best for your people and your party. You know you're just on these talk shows and you're living well and plus you stir up a bit of controversy and gin the base and that sort of that thing. But when it comes to true leadership, not that these people couldn't be or wouldn't be good leaders, they're not in that position of John Boehner or Mitch McConnell."

Less than 24 hours later, after a right wingnut pirahna feeding frenzy, Gingrey has apologized for his comments.

"...in 2008 The National Journal ranked me the #1 most conservative Member of the House of Representatives.

As long as I am in the Congress, I will continue to fight for and defend our sacred values. I have actively opposed every bailout, every rebate check, every so called “stimulus.” And on so many of these things, I see eye-to-eye with Rush Limbaugh. Regardless of what yesterday’s headline may have read, I never told Rush to back off. I regret and apologize for the fact that my comments have offended and upset my fellow conservatives—that was not my intent.

... Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Newt Gingrich, and other conservative giants are the voices of the conservative movement’s conscience. Everyday, millions and millions of Americans—myself included—turn on their radios and televisions to listen to what they have to say, and we are inspired by their words and by their determination..."

So, Republican Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA), is such a weasel, he can't stand by the one moment of lucidity, probably the one honest statement to come out of his mouth in his six years in Washington, the most recent of which he was voted Most Conservative House member. Instead of choosing to rely on his record, on his National Journal accolades, he pissed in his pants the second he was flooded with phone calls impugning him for daring to suggest that it was easy to criticize when not in a leadership role, like Limbaugh and Hannity and the Almighty Newt Gingrich. How dare he insult the great Rush Limbaugh! Gingrey wriggled like the worm that he is and kowtowed to the frenetic freaks on the right that called his office to voice their anger. And not only that, he admitted listening to, and being inspired by Limbaugh and Hannity. Showing his true color (yellow), Gingrey begged for forgiveness and his political life, apologized and crawled back under his rock.

This comes on the heels of yesterday's Hardball with Chris Matthews. Matthews hosted idiots Pat Buchanan and Heidi Harris who are flummoxed and have no clue why President Obama would make such a grievous error as to give credence to Limbaugh when suggesting to the GOP that they shouldn't listen to Rush if they want to accomplish anything.

Well, judging by Gingrey's poopy pants and his apology, it looks like President Obama was correct again! The more these Republican "strategists" open their mouths to criticize, the more they look like fools. Buchanan should never miss the opportunity to keep his mouth shut. And Harris was two weeks late with the "mob museums" GOP talking point.

I'm sure there are many more Gingreys in Congress who are looking for someone to take the helm of their rudderless ship, and for now it seems like the Republican Party's de facto leader really is Rush Limbaugh. The more they listen to that bloated gasbag, the more they will marginalize their party and further fall into obscurity and irrelevance.

(H/T Greg Sargent)