How Newt Gingrich destroyed Rick Perry’s political career By Bernie Quigley For The Hill on 4/27/12 I'll be glad to see Gingrich go. He has never done anything to advance our American condition accept to inspire bile and national hostility and divisiveness. He sees all disagreement as war. His life in politics has been a shadow of Civil War regional hostility advanced to other strategies. To paraphrase Clausewitz: To Gingrich, politics is war by other means. He has brought a mini-dark age to conservatism. When Gingrich first brought his childish shut down stunt to Congress it brought new relevance to militias. Advancing Alabama Governor George Wallace’s initiative, Gingrich helped turn aspects of Christian religion into a hostile political movement (an abomination to the Christ). He has turned the Tea Party into a boorish hoot which has lost all perspective. But worst of all, he destroyed the political career of Texas Governor Rick Perry. The Gingrich war on everything was a naïve political fashion founded in the heady disco days of leisure suits and white patent leather belts and shoes. Today Mike Huckabee, a nicer and better man who should know better, announces in an email that the “abortion wars” are heating up. Part of Gingrich’s “culture wars” no doubt, or the “war on women.” Not surprisingly, these men have never been to war. Those with substantive contention like Ron Paul have a better way of expressing themselves. But unless Mitt Romney, who does know better, picks Rick Perry as vice president, Gingrich’s final legacy will be that he destroyed the political career of Rick Perry. Perry has some culpability in this. It almost seems that although he has no natural inclination to red neck posturing in religion or politics, he feels he should be acting that way to get on with the Gingrich geist. But following his career in a longer vein, which unfortunately the public outside of Texas was unable to do; it is clear that he is a more complex and mature individual and has no such instincts. But act he did. There were two new thinkers in the race: Paul and Gingrich. Paul’s ideas are original. Gingrich’s ideas are second-rate academia refried and anything he comes up with himself is ridiculous, like a colony (army base?) on the moon for the 51st state. But at one serendipitous moment it appeared to him that he would take the Republican nomination. Then an association with Perry made it seem quite possible and very likely that he would choose Rick Perry as his VP. Romney, on the other hand was paling around with Ron Paul; a family man, a man of honor, a better match. Gingrich should spend the rest of his life on a dog and pony show with Hillary Clinton, his dark doppelganger, like a Timothy Leary/G. Gordon Liddy fete on those Hunger Games- like talk shows where politics meet circus. Next to Romney, Perry was the only other one on stage deserving the post of President. But Perry’s poor judgment of association with Gingrich may have taken it from him. Recently, Perry gave a commentary at the 127th press event at white-tie Gridiron dinner and to the surprise of almost everyone he “stole the show.” It was a telling moment. Maybe for the first time the MSM learned that Perry was not a side kick, playing a folksy Pecos Bill to Newt Gingrich, but his own man and a good man. But now it may be too late.