Nov 11th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
New Slang
No RNC Chairman race for Newt Gingrich, but he is working on some new jargon:
However, my job as an American first is to develop a tri-partisan approach to developing solutions for the challenges we face. I use the word tri-partisan to designate the concept of attracting Democrats, Republicans, and independents to solutions that unify most Americans.
Through an unfortunate confluence of events, Gingrich has a passion for playing inane linguistic games and also scored a big win for the GOP in 1994. That, in turn, set into motion a deplorable trend in which many people seem to have decided, largely without evidence, that this sort of thing is integral to political success.
35 Responses to “New Slang”
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November 11th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
I think Obama should try partisanship.
November 11th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
So independents are a third party? Amazing.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
this is the GOP’s big ‘idea’ guy. His ideas are the kind you come up with when you get stoned and ponder whether our universe is just an atom in God’s fingertip.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Wasn’t there a Tri-partisan Pact right before WW II
November 11th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Joan Didion wrote a hilarious piece on Gingrich’s gimcrack intellectualism.
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/article-preview?article_id=1814
The full article can be found in her Political Fictions.
November 11th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Ah, tri-partisan. Newt is a piker.
Since it is clear to all serious thinkers that larger numbers before the hyphen preceding “partisan” are obviously better, I propose a pre-emptive “infinite-series-partisanship” approach. Under this method, policy solutions will be determined by allowing the prefix of “partisanship” to approach infinity and dividing the result by the the slope of Newt Gingrich’s forehead.
(Please forgive my methodology. It has been twenty years since I studied calculus.)
November 11th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Gingrich’s conservatism, love of new jargon and odd, seemingly futuristic ideas [see, e.g., GPS-based air traffic control as one of top 9 policy priorities], coupled with his immature behavior lead to only one conclusion: this is a guy whose emotional development was arrested at age 15 after reading Alvin Toffer’s “Future Shock.”
November 11th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Gingrich has a passion for playing inane linguistic games
In this regard, he has a remarkable kinship with Tom Friedman.
November 11th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Surely this is a time for cryo-partisan innovation.
November 11th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
You have to think that in a Gingrich orphanage the fat Republican kid would probably get his ass kicked.
November 11th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Tri-partisan. I get it. Like his tri-marriages. Makes sense.
November 11th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
I think that the indifferent should be added as a distinct group, and Gingrich could develop approaches for this more inclusive quadriplex
November 11th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Like tri-sexual? He’ll try anything?
November 11th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
I think Newt’s looking in on the good life he might be doomed never to find.
November 11th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Oh, I thought that was a typo.
Are you sure “my job as an American first is to develop a tri-partisan approach…”
isn’t really,
“my job as an American first is to develop a ‘try-partisan’ approach…”
Also, nice shoutout to The Shins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M11Kr1-q-pA
November 12th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Like tri-sexual? He’ll try anything?
Thanks, Cheech.
November 12th, 2008 at 1:45 am
I will give 100 bucks to the RNC if just once Newt says “tri-FARTisan.” 100 bucks, Republicans. Come on, you guys need it.
November 12th, 2008 at 2:12 am
It would be really interesting to have Gingrich as RNC chair, and not necessarily in a bad way. I’m not sure which party would benefit the most.
November 12th, 2008 at 6:21 am
Shorter Newt: I added a knife to the spork. That’s why I’m the ideas man in the GOP.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:19 am
In the book Ball Four, some coach, I think Sal Maglie, tells the pitching staff, “Boys, the secret to pitching is throwing strikes.” Newt seems like the same sort of incisive thinker—he cuts right to the heart of the bleedin’ obvious.
November 12th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Gingrich as RNC chair: every morning a fresh new “RNC deep thought for the day” — priceless!
November 12th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Gingrich’s strategy: Kick ‘em when they’re down. Kick ‘em when they get up. Kick ‘em when you’re down. That’s his “tri-partisan” effort. He’s the Flem Snopes of modern politics.
November 12th, 2008 at 9:08 am
I’m surprised that Gingrich has not yet blamed McCain’s defeat on Sixties values.
November 12th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Off of DTM (#3), maybe this is Gingrich’s way of acknlowledging that the GOP brand is destroyed by secrets, lies, and torture and needs to be launched into the sun. And he can lead the New Bull Moose Party to replace it! Can’t think of anyone better to oppose the Dems: He’s got that whole Toffler/globalist thang going for him, closer to Mittensism as opposed to Huckabeeism and Palinism–hats off to mert7878 (#8). And he’s a goof who will never win! Win-win!
November 12th, 2008 at 10:20 am
As we all learned from our industrious blog reading, there are actually two political axes – economic and cultural – ranging from liberal to conservative. This makes for four political groups epitomized by Hitler, Stalin, Roosevelt and Reagan. By “tri-partisan” Gingrich is obviously saying the other three groups should gang up on the economic and cultural liberals.
November 12th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Darn those independents and their relentless partisanship!
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