Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, a potential Republican presidential candidate, is ramping up his rhetorical theme of calling President Obama a “secular socialist” oppressing America. In fact, at a speech yesterday at the late Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, Gingrich compared modern-day America to communist Poland.
The remarks came during a discussion of Gingrich’s documentary, “Nine Days that Changed the World,” about Pope John Paul II’s visit to his native Poland in 1979.
“The Soviet Polish dictatorship was repressive,” Gingrich said, according to prepared remarks given to us by Gingrich’s office. “Imagine a country where you could not pray in school — the government was constantly tearing down crosses — in classrooms and newsrooms it was easier to be an atheist than to be a Christian.
“Imagine a small secular political elite imposing its radical values on a massive majority of worshippers. You can see how strange Poland was — or maybe you can see how relevant this story is to America today.”
Gingrich also declared:
Measured by the standard of the Declaration of Independence it is clear that President Obama’s secular socialist philosophy is profoundly in conflict with the heart of the American system and is a repudiation of the core lessons of American history.
The secular socialist assault on historic America has been growing for more than two generations among our intellectual elites in schools and news rooms and the entertainment industry and increasingly among judges, bureaucrats, and now elected officials.
(Via CNN.)
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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