Trivia vs substance

[takoma]

It looks like the big story about the debate tonight is not that Gingrich defended his claim that the Palestinians, who date back to the Philistines (Pelishtim) in the Bible, are an "invented" people, a remark sure to ignite Arab passions. It's that Romney tried to prove a point by offering Perry a $10,000 bet.

[Anonymous]

I'm Gingrich's his handlers said he had to get racist on someone because he's accused of being soft on Mexicans.

[Anonymous]

:22 Are you really that ignorant?

[takoma]

:25,

I thought :22's comment (aside from the typos) was a plausible explanation why an intelligent, experienced politician would say that the way to handle complex diplomacy is to blurt out the "truth".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote::22 Are you really that ignorant?

No, I'm not. I actually think that he got hammered by a segment of conservatives for being too soft on immigration. So he has to shore that up. One-upping the other candidates on Israel helps restore his credibility among that group.

If I thought that Gingrich was an idiot, I would give him the benefit of the doubt. But he's not, and he knows that chucking the entire peace process, including what Israel has already agreed to, is completely against our national interest. Even Israelis know this. Aside from the ultra-right fringe, Israelis accept the two state solution.