The Irony of Newt Gingrich

One of the first interesting lessons I learned in college was that professors with Ph.Ds were neither omniscient nor omnipotent. It was a pleasant suprize that these people whom I had built up in my mind as perfect and beyond talking to mere mortals such as myself turned out to be fallible at times, approachable, usually more than happy to talk at length with me, and generally a lot like everyone else.
Therefore, I had the slightest tinge of sympathy for Newt. However, I have also spent the better part of a year researching ethics, morality, and the responsibility of intellectuals in public life. One thing the professors I know do not do is change their views contingent on their audience. It is the nature of tenure I suppose that one can stand by their beliefs with conviction. Politics, of course, is not like that. And this may explain the dearth of true intellectuals holding or even running for office.
Tenure and the confidence it endows a professor with should not be confused with the hypocrisy, self-centered arrogance, and general conviction of invincibility that oozes from people like Newt. Tenure is supposed to be a tool allowing intellectuals with little power the ability to pursue truth wherever it may lead, not the impunity to pursue personal aggrandizement. Human nature is by definition flawed, some people can rise above self-interest to pursue greater goals, others cannot.
The irony of a conservative movement that sees all protections for those with the wrong ideas as needing to be confronted and destroyed is that they will not see the danger in protections for people on their side who seek to harm them. Newt's career has really been an ultimate expression of irony for privilege and power in the hands of the worst people imaginable.
Then there is the irony of a "movement" that supposedly prizes freedom above all backing Newt. David Neiwert, whose book The Eliminationists is a great primer for getting a grip on the "para-fascist" tendencies in the extreme right in America, points the irony out of redefining freedom in such an obtuse way.
So, I used to have some respect for Newt because getting a Ph.D is not easy. Then I read this story about his work averse path to a doctorate, and well, throw that out the window as well. This is close to the most dispicable man alive. That anyone can enthusiastically support his candidacy for office is an incredibly sad commentary on the state of the republic.