Althouse: "I think President Obama is beginning to figure out that his legacy is like one of those dolls that as the air comes out of it, it shrinks and shrinks and shrinks."

December 25, 2016

"I think President Obama is beginning to figure out that his legacy is like one of those dolls that as the air comes out of it, it shrinks and shrinks and shrinks."

Said Newt Gingrich on "Fox News Sunday" today.

We just looked at each other with the same "Oh, great, now I'm picturing Newt Gingrich with a blow-up doll" expression on our face.

ADDED: If my link — to the transcript — doesn't work for you — it works for me — you can see the quote here (along with video of the interview).

46 comments:

Michael K said...: Bad link.; 12/25/16, 2:55 PM
Lucien said...: I wonder if Obama would be in the position he is now if he'd had the huevos to act like the leader of his party and say there is no way Hillary Clinton should be the Dems 2016 candidate?; 12/25/16, 2:56 PM
Bill Peschel said...: The only good thing about Obama's long journey into night is that he'll see the damage his actions and inactions inflicted.

It may take years, granted.; 12/25/16, 2:58 PM
rehajm said...: Ew.; 12/25/16, 3:02 PM
Hagar said...: Gingrich has kind of suffered from foot-in-mouth disease lately, hasn't he?; 12/25/16, 3:11 PM
tcrosse said...: I wonder if Obama would be in the position he is now if he'd had the huevos to act like the leader of his party and say there is no way Hillary Clinton should be the Dems 2016 candidate?
Waking up one morning with a horse head in his bed probably persuaded him not to.; 12/25/16, 3:17 PM
Mark said...: Vanity of vanities. The man who would make himself a god built his empire on stilts made of sand. Some of the rumble will remain, perhaps to be used as rocks to throw at the world, but his monuments will come down.; 12/25/16, 3:24 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I'm reporting Newt to People for the Ethical Treatment of Blowup Dolls.; 12/25/16, 3:29 PM
n.n said...: According to the DNC establishment, Obama is like one of those puppets with strings, and Clinton was the ventriloquist that created an illusion of consciousness. Now, he is his own man, and he can look back on what was done in his name with sorrowful regret. The myth. The man.; 12/25/16, 3:30 PM
traditionalguy said...: Obama's Legacy will be destroyed as the truth comes out. In the mean time he appears as a strange figure determined to follow Saul Alynski, but flashing a shit eating smile.; 12/25/16, 3:38 PM
James Pawlak said...: TRAVEL HINTS FOR BO OBAMA AND HIS CO-ACTORS
Afghanistan, Algeria, Andorra, Angola, Armenia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, the Central
African Republic, Chad, Mainland China, Comoros, Congo (Kinshasa), Congo (Brazzaville), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Niger, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Samoa, São Tomé & Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican, Vietnam and Yemen.

They have no extradition treaties with the USA.; 12/25/16, 4:02 PM
FullMoon said...: Pretty certain Obama agrees with those who think he has done one hell of a job.; 12/25/16, 4:04 PM
MathMom said...: Nah. To me, the picture I had was an Obama inflatable (full of hot air) with with a fast leak, coming down to earth and going flat.

He'a already shrinking, as people start to notice the strong horse, in the words of Osama bin Laden. Even Putin has offered a "reset" to Trump, a day or two ago. Remember when Hillary's childish crew stole the hot tub button from the hotel they were staying in, and had an erroneous translation put on the button? They weren't even honest enough to go buy their "reset" button. I think Putin knows the proper word in Russian for "reset", and is hoping for that.

He's hoping he doesn't get nuked off the face of the earth. That is why the hostages were released before Ronnie Ray-Gun even finished his first inaugural address - the Iranian nutjobs were AFRAID of him. They saw a strong horse.

I like that people are afraid of Trump. It worked very well for Reagan.

And the Obama blow-up doll, which once seemed like those huge floats above the Macy's parade, is actually more like a childs' inflatable pool ring with a rubber ducky on it, and a hole in it.

But Obama still has his pen and phone, so there's that.; 12/25/16, 4:06 PM
David Begley said...: Below is how Obama finishes.

"So be careful how you end things, and devote more attention to a successful exit than to a highly applauded entrance. Fortunate people often have very favorable beginnings and very tragic endings. What matters isn't being applauded when you arrive - for that is common - but being missed when you leave. Rare are those who are still wanted." Baltasar Gracian, S.J.; 12/25/16, 4:23 PM
Michael K said...: Obama final message: "Don't call my bluff."

Does he even know what he says ?

He came in with a thin resume, like a sheet of paper, and he will go out having wrecked the middle east and made the world more dangerous.

The economy will recover as his regulations are repealed.

I don't know about the world and especially the Middle East.; 12/25/16, 4:31 PM
lemondog said...: Shrinking; 12/25/16, 4:58 PM
Achilles said...: Obama has destroyed the democrat party and now the UN. The UN better start packing it's bags or paying rent. Things will be different on January 20th.; 12/25/16, 4:58 PM
JRoberts said...: Obama's not done yet and I fear what he has in mind for the next few weeks.

I expect a lot more criminal pardons - as a start.

I expect more climate change executive actions.

I expect GITMO to be emptied, closed and turned over to Raoul Castro before 12:00 noon 1/20/2017.

I wouldn't be surprised if did a recess appointment to SCOTUS.

He's that big of a jerk.; 12/25/16, 5:01 PM
rcocean said...: Newt's problem is that he could never shut up. He loves being on TV, he loves to talk, he has an opinion on EVERYTHING.

You get the feeling after he left the TV studio, he buttonholes people in the street, and tells them what he thinks about Iranian-USA deal and 2016 NDAA law.

He reminds me of what someone said about Churchill: " Winston has 16 new ideas a day, 2 of them good".; 12/25/16, 5:03 PM
Wince said...: "Oh, great, now I'm picturing Newt Gingrich with a blow-up doll."; 12/25/16, 5:08 PM
lemondog said...: Gingrich is a smart cookie but he is plagued with diarrhea of the mouth.; 12/25/16, 5:20 PM
Fabi said...: I agree with JRoberts -- the man child is losing his spotlight and he'll do whatever it takes to keep his name ol above the fold for the next four weeks. ValJar has several more acts of executive vandalism on tap, you can count on that. It will be ugly.; 12/25/16, 5:32 PM
Michael K said...: "I wouldn't be surprised if did a recess appointment to SCOTUS."

A recess appointment is only valid until the end of the term. Now, if he did it after the new Congress is sworn in, it wouldn't be recess.\

His vindictiveness will be his legacy.; 12/25/16, 5:32 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: Michael K wrote:
"The economy will recover as his regulations are repealed."
Does anyone know if Obama took an econ 101 class as an undergrad? Has anyone even asked him if has taken an econ 101 class? You routinely read that Obama "saved us from the great depression" in 2009. How? What exactly, did he do, and how did he know that it was the correct thing to do?
The economy wants to grow. Everyone wants to spend $1.00 and get $1.03 back. Of course you want reasonable regulation -- you don't people to make that $0.03 profit by selling liquor to kiddies -- but the Dems have adopted the position that economic growth is bad. It increases income inequality, it harms the environment, and probably is racist. Economic growth, the salve that heals all wounds, is way, way down on their list of priorities.; 12/25/16, 5:42 PM
Pookie Number 2 said...: His vindictiveness will be his legacy.

Maybe. I suspect his domestic legacy will be that of an arrogant prize who couldn't be bothered to understand why people disagreed with him. That kept him from ever persuading anyone or anything, and is why his accomplishments will be so quickly unwound.

His international legacy is, of course, hundreds of thousands of deaths.; 12/25/16, 6:02 PM
Pookie Number 2 said...: *prize* s/b "prick"; 12/25/16, 6:02 PM
khesanh0802 said...: I agree with Newt. Obama knows that all the marginally illegal things he has done will be undone in Trump's first 100 days.I couple of weeks ago I asked if people here had looked closely at his latest pictures. Obama has looked like the guy who just lost the big game by fumbling the ball away. I hope Trump carries through on every promise to reverse Obama's policies. Presidents should not get away with the crap Obama has tried to.; 12/25/16, 7:22 PM
khesanh0802 said...: @Lucien I believe "cojones" is the word you were looking for.; 12/25/16, 7:23 PM
Joe said...: Am I the only one who never liked Newt? The man is an asshole with a deflated reputation. He gets on the talk shows because it is perceived that he will say something monumentally stupid, embarrassing those on the right. He repeatedly fulfills that expectation.; 12/25/16, 7:31 PM
Quaestor said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/25/16, 7:39 PM
Quaestor said...: I think President Obama is beginning to figure out that his legacy is like one of those dolls that as the air comes out of it, it shrinks and shrinks and shrinks.

The simile is remarkably apt. The whole Obama presidency was a monumental fraud when one contrasts the promise to the delivery.; 12/25/16, 7:40 PM
narciso said...: No its just you, walked right into that one.; 12/25/16, 7:58 PM
Original Mike said...: "The only good thing about Obama's long journey into night is that he'll see the damage his actions and inactions inflicted."

They'll be there but he won't see them.; 12/25/16, 8:05 PM
Rusty said...: Original Mike said...
"The only good thing about Obama's long journey into night is that he'll see the damage his actions and inactions inflicted."

They'll be there but he won't see them.

It would require introspection. His inner dialog is only staffed with sycophants.; 12/25/16, 8:36 PM
Fabi said...: Do you believe that Obama could even pass Economics 101? Do we even know his undergraduate degree major? It wasn't a B.S. -- of that I'm sure.; 12/25/16, 8:42 PM
Fabi said...: It was Political Science. Lulz; 12/25/16, 8:44 PM
Original Mike said...: "Do you believe that Obama could even pass Economics 101?"

Well, he demonstrated during his health care summit that he didn't understand how car insurance works.; 12/25/16, 9:03 PM
eric said...: Blow up dolls?

You two are showing your age.

Soon enough we'll have robots.; 12/25/16, 10:33 PM
Achilles said...: I also want to point out that generally anytime the female outweighs the male in a relationship things aren't quite right with that relationship. Usually this is a trailer park issue but for the last 8 years...; 12/26/16, 12:31 AM
walter said...: Blow up dolls have a smaller carbon footprint than robots...and less prone to hacking.; 12/26/16, 12:31 AM
walter said...: Achilles, Barack likes big butts..cannot lie...maybe.; 12/26/16, 12:33 AM
walter said...: In a few weeks, Mee shell will live out her mantra of "Let's move"; 12/26/16, 12:36 AM
Rusty said...: Fabi said...
'Do you believe that Obama could even pass Economics 101?'

Few democrats could,; 12/26/16, 11:04 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Does anyone know if Obama took an econ 101 class as an undergrad? Has anyone even asked him if has taken an econ 101 class? You routinely read that Obama "saved us from the great depression" in 2009. How? What exactly, did he do, and how did he know that it was the correct thing to do?

Don't put all of this on Obama. Pelosi and Reid were also heavily involved, and she, at least, seemed to have learned her economics in the 1960s, when Keynesian economics had not been debunked empirically. I remember her talking about the amazing fiscal multiplier (though she may not have used that terminology). The effect on the economy of spending dollars that we didn't have would be 3x, 4x, maybe even 5x the money spent. So, since it was so wonderful, might as well spend (squander?) the money on pet projects like Green Energy, friends, and family. Never mind that the actual empirical fiscal multiplier was determined to probably be < 1x, that even that was dependent upon spending the money productively, and that, thanks to Dem policies, there is no such thing any more of "shovel ready" projects (and any infrastructure projects we may do inevitably cost much more, and take much longer, than they did when Keynes was (somewhat) promulgating the theory that bears his name).; 12/26/16, 11:12 AM
Quaestor said...: Blow up dolls have a smaller carbon footprint than robots...and less prone to hacking.

How would a hacked sexbot behave?

[BEEP!] Is it suppose to be that soft?; 12/26/16, 2:59 PM
Sammy Finkelman said...: JRoberts said on 12/25/16, at 5:01 PM CST

...

I expect GITMO to be emptied, closed and turned over to Raoul Castro before 12:00 noon 1/20/2017.

I don't. I expect him to try to keep on reducing the nuber of prisoners, so that the cost per prisoner of keeping the prison open gets very high.; 12/26/16, 6:41 PM