Gingrich

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich yesterday said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.

Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.

"We need to get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade," said Gingrich, a Republican who helped engineer the GOP's takeover of Congress in 1994.

I met Gingrich a few years ago when he came to speak at Trinity College. I was struck by how soft-spoken he was one-on-one, and how absolutely robotically impressive he was when it was time for the public interview. Do not underestimate this man – politics aside, he is extremely good at what he does.

I remember back then the quote was “the rules of civil society are not the same as the rules of terrorism” but it boils down to essentially the same thing – we will destroy those who hate freedom by destroying freedom itself.

Oh, and by the way Newt, we already did lose a major city – it’s called New Orleans. And your brand of party and class politics is the reason we bungled it before, during, and after. Own it!