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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsInternet rips draft doger Gingrich for praising Japanese brilliance in Pearl Harbor attack
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich used the opportunity to honor Pearl Harbor Day by giving a shout-out to the Japanese.
On the 75th anniversary of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor that destroyed most the United States Pacific fleet and claimed the lives of 2,403 Americans, leaving 1,178 wounded, Gingrich tweeted out praise for the Japanese Empires achievement.
75 years ago the Japanese displayed professional brilliance and technological power launching surprises from Hawaii to the Philippines, the Trump adviser wrote.
You can guess how that went over on Twitter.
Newt Gingrich
✔
@newtgingrich
75 years ago the Japanese displayed professional brilliance and technological power launching surprises from Hawaii to the Philippines
2:04 PM - 7 Dec 2016
http://www.rawstory.com/2016/12/internet-rips-draft-dodging-coward-gingrich-for-praising-japanese-brilliance-in-pearl-harbor-attack/
msongs
(67,435 posts)about all this. there is a big parade this evening down the main drag with PH survivors. there is a banner for each ship damaged and survivors appear behind that banner riding (these days) hardly any left. brings tears to my eye
TwilightZone
(25,473 posts)so I wonder what his motivation was.
Warpy
(111,329 posts)or was shitfaced drunk. It's out of character.
Remember, he loves America. He just hates Americans.
TwilightZone
(25,473 posts)Yeah, that's pretty much perfect.
Wounded Bear
(58,698 posts)based on "if the South won the civil war."
Be not surprised at anything from The Gingrich who Stole Congress.
TwilightZone
(25,473 posts)This is kind of in the same vein. Except it's probably closer to the truth than his novels.
Wounded Bear
(58,698 posts)However, it depended on some questionable occurances to actually succeed in the bigger picture, one being the presence of the aircraft carriers, which were at sea at the time of the attack. If they had been there and destroyed, the outcome of the war would have been delayed many months. Perhaps the final outcome would not have changed, but the end date of the Pacific Campaign would have probably been delayed a year or more.
It was an enormous risk, of course, and in the long run it was maybe 50-75% successful, considering the importance-or lack thereof-of battleships in the actual fighting of the war.
They botched the notification of the US State Department by several hours, too. There was supposed to be a warning issued 30 minutes prior to the attack, but it was delayed by problems in the Japanese embassy.
TwilightZone
(25,473 posts)I'm aware of the history. Mom was a history teacher; Dad was a WW2 buff; I read tons of history stuff growing up and absorbed a lot from my environment.
I just felt a little odd a) kind of sort of generally agreeing with Newt Gingrich on something, and b) admitting that publicly, if anonymously. haha
It reminded me a bit of Bill Maher talking about how suicide bombers are brave in their own way and recalling the flak he took for that. It essentially cost him his job.
Bill Maher often annoys the hell out of me, but it's an accurate statement, and I'd feel like a bit of a hypocrite if I supported Maher and criticized Gingrich for similar sentiments.
HassleCat
(6,409 posts)There is no right or wrong, as long as you do it with style.
dhill926
(16,351 posts)walk up to him, and shove his cane down Newt's throat.
roamer65
(36,747 posts)Fuck him.
The dipshit is the kind of ilk you just want to punch in face, over and over and over...
Ilsa
(61,697 posts)There were some good ones, like, "...and Auschwitz reflected what great culinary artists the Nazis were..."
I hope he unplugs permanently.
sarisataka
(18,755 posts)Will be a reflection of the efficient German transportation system, moving millions of people to camps...
shadowmayor
(1,325 posts)Newt is what a stupid man thinks a smart man sounds like. He probably admires the winner of a battle, without acknowledging it was arguably the worst move the Imperial Japanese could have made. As Karen Hughes once said - "we don't do nuance". Not that this history is hard to unpack. Wonder why he couldn't get a tenure as a history professor???
His use of "professional" is pure propaganda - it's a term used by today's press to prop up our incompetent leadership in the DoD. And now they have jobs in the new administration.
75 years ago the Japanese displayed woeful hubris and over extension of their limited powers by launching surprise attacks across the Pacific. As Yamamoto knew - the Japanese had awakened a sleeping giant. And up to 3 million Japanese died thanks to this display of "brilliance" on December 7, 1941.
What I'm surprised about is the fact that President Obama ordered the flags down to half-mast today. The flags were flown high after the 50th anniversary per orders of then President daddy Bush. Any praise from our patriotic righties on this? Naw.
Newt Gingrich should choke on a dry turd.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)niyad
(113,527 posts)pukes and supporters spoiling his turf!
eleny
(46,166 posts)bdamomma
(63,918 posts)all those American soldiers who got killed on that day. Newt you filthy man
eppur_se_muova
(36,281 posts)Visions of Infamy is a full biography of Hector Charles Bywater, the leading naval journalist of the first part of the 20th century who Honan argues was the architect of Japan's naval war against the United States in the Second World War.[8] Bywater's 1925 book, The Great Pacific War, was a fictional account of how Japan might engage the United States in a theoretical future naval conflict and how the U.S. might respond. As Honan points out in Visions of Infamy, both Japan and the U.S. adopted strategies that were remarkably faithful to what Bywater promulgated in his fictionalized war game. Honan goes on to argue that this was much more than just a coincidence.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto familiarized himself with Bywater's works while serving two postings as Japanese naval attaché in Washington, D.C. As Honan demonstrates, Yamamoto adopted Bywater's broad strategy, which is most noticeable in Yamamoto's surprise attack against the U.S. fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Separately, U.S. naval strategists came to adopt Bywater's controversial idea of island hopping to reverse Japanese advances in the Pacific. As Bywater predicted, the U.S. strategy would ultimately bring overwhelming naval and aerial superiority to bear against the Japanese forces. This strategy, known as War Plan Orange, became the official joint policy of the United States Army and Navy in the years leading up to and during the Second World War. As Bywater predicted, this plan worked. One particularly notable example of the successful adoption of Bywater's strategy is the U.S. invasion of the Philippines in which U.S. commanders chose the very beaches to land forces on the archipelago that Bywater recommended. As Honan remarks, Bywater taught "two of the most powerful nations on Earth how to make war with each other."
Bywater was considered a relatively minor figure by military historians until Honan's book.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Honan#Visions_of_Infamy
Compare the two maps at the bottom ...
Wounded Bear
(58,698 posts)but IIRC the British modeled the attack a year or so before at Taranto, destroying much of the Italian fleet and basically gaining control of the Mediterranean surface, needing only to really account for air cover and submarines.
TexasProgresive
(12,157 posts)Bombing ships many of them obsolete may have been fun but the real targets that would've crippled the U.S. were the repair facilities and the fuel storage tank farms. If the Japanese had taken out the dry docks and destroyed the fuel which had been gathered for years the fleet would be unable to function for a long time.
There is a good analysis by Maj Patrick Donovan: "OIL LOGISTICS IN THE PACIFIC WAR: IN AND AFTER PEARL HARBOR"
Google it. I can't get a working link to post for it. It is a pdf. Here's a snip supporting my opinion:
Kusaka (Chief of Staff, RADM) recommended to Nagumo that the Fleet withdraw to Japan. Nagumo immediately concurred. A second strike on Pearl Harbor, that would have focused on the dockyards, fuel tanks, and remaining ships, was cancelled.19
Drydocks, repair shops, and oil storage areas spared
Nagumo did not realize the magnitude of his error by not completing the destruction of Pearl Harbor by attacking the base and fuel facilities. His pedantic and traditional view of naval strategy blinded him to the opportunity of a lifetime.20 Never again would the IJN be in a position to deliver such a mortal blow to the U.S. Fleet.21
Ironically, the Japanese missed their opportunity to strike at the drydocks during the initial attack. Torpedo bombers approaching from the west over Ford Island commenced their run on the battleship Pennsylvania. Once they came over the island, the Japanese pilots saw that she was moored in drydock no. 1. Seeing this, the torpedo bombers shifted their attack runs towards a cruiser, the U.S.S. Helena, and a destroyer (actually the minesweeper Oglala).22 They would have been better served by attacking the drydocks. Torpedo strikes upon the drydock gates would have rendered these essential repair facilities inoperable until those gates were repaired or replaced. It certainly was a fear of the U.S. Navy that the Japanese would return and do just that (see Figure 1). As can be seen in Figure 1, salvage operations were up and running almost immediately. The drydocks, along with the base support and repair facilities, were never specifically targeted. The only bombs that fell near these critical facilities were intended for ships on or near these facilities.23 Had Nagumo returned with a third wave, he could have leveled the Navy Yard's support facilities,24 thereby destroying the Navy's industrial capacity and setting back salvage operations.25 This oversight would come back to haunt Nagumo in a most personal fashion.