Whatever You Say, Newt

Unbelievable:

Newt Gingrich's walk back tour reached its zenith Tuesday night, as Gingrich personally apologized to Paul Ryan for dismissing his Medicare plan as "right wing social engineering." In an added twist, Gingrich claims that the merest mention of his extensive condemnation of Ryan's budget from Sunday's Meet The Press by Democrats is now out of bounds as a result.

"Any ad which quotes what I said on Sunday is a falsehood, because I have said publicly those words were inaccurate and unfortunate," he told FOX's Greta Van Susteren. ""When I make a mistake, and I'm going to on occasion, I'm going to share with the American people that was a mistake because that way we can have an honest conversation."

Democrats have been giddy -- and Republicans terrified -- at the prospect of new ads and messaging featuring Gingrich's attacks on the Ryan budget as "radical change from the right" and "too big a jump" for America. Newt's comments to FOX suggest that he's well aware of what's coming.

The "Ryan Plan" is causing big problems for the GOP. Just last week, 42 House Republicans signed a letter to Obama asking him to tell the Democrats to stop their attacks on GOP members who voted for the Ryan budget, which included a plan to privatize Medicare and cap spending on it. Newt probably thought he had political cover to say what he said on Meet The Press last Sunday given how fast House Republicans were running away from the Ryan Plan. He must not have gotten the memo stating that the GOP now intends to fully support Ryan and his goal to eliminate Medicare. I guess that letter to Obama didn't work.

What I find most amazing is that it was Newt Gingrich himself -- over two decades ago -- who told his fellow Republicans that they must be more nasty when it comes to dealing with Democrats. This is from a 1990 New York Times opinion piece:

"Sick." "Traitors." "Bizarre." "Self-serving." "Shallow." "Corrupt." "Pathetic." "Shame." The group that urged political candidates to use these epithets has since regretted suggesting the word ''traitors,'' in response to inquiries from the press. But the others were allowed to stand; they appear in a glossary that a conservative Republican group recently mailed to Republican state legislative candidates.

The group is Gopac, the G.O.P. Political Action Committee. Its general chairman is Representative Newt Gingrich. With the pamphlet, ''Language: A Key Mechanism of Control,'' comes a letter from Mr. Gingrich himself. Its message to candidates: Step up invective. Use words like these to describe opponents. These words work.

Mr. Gingrich's injunction represents the worst of American political discourse, which reached a low during the dispiriting Presidential campaign of 1988. Then, more than ever before, negative argument displaced reasoned discussion about how a nation might best be governed. ***

In other words, the guy who pretty much invented the modern-day negative campaign is now asking his political opponents to tone things down and to not attack him for statements that he himself made on National TV.

Good luck with that, Newt.