Off the Shelf
By Pete
Creighton
Newt
Gingrich, Winning the Future, Regnery Pub., 2005, $27.95 (Amazon.com, $18.45).
OK, liberals and conservatives and in-between, IÕve got a good
read for you — and donÕt pre-judge.
ItÕs by Newt Gingrich! Maybe heÕs trying to make a return to
Washington, but heÕs gota House member and Speaker and is a recognized
historian.
His title is ÒWinning the Future.Ó Maybe the first chapter is
meant to shock you into listening to the safer stuff. ItÕs called ÒWill We
Survive?Ó
Three threats are very real, he insists. They are: nuclear,
biological or chemical, and EMP — electromagnetic pulse. The latter, I
learned, is one where a nuclear explosion is used to short-circuit a large
areaÕs electrical system completely — and Òreduce our military technology
to zero.Ó
Says Newt: ÒWe cannot negotiate with al Qaeda. We have no common
ground with terroristsÉ. We are in a war of survival —and we could lose
that warÉ. Our vulnerability is neither exaggerated nor a paranoid fantasy.Ó
The Clinton Oval Office treated terrorist attacks as ÒcriminalÓ
matters, while Bush called 9/11 an Òact of war.Ó As expected, Gingrich offers
no criticism of Bush & Co. He does say Ògrave mistakes were made before and
after the quick military victory.Ó And he adds ÒIraq is a mess and is going to
remain a mess for a long time.Ó
The 200-page book continues with GingrichÕs solutions to several
problems. He is a former educator as well, and comes down hard on bureaucrats
and teacher unions — and especially curriculum consultants, ad infinitum! ÒWe should
eliminate 50 percent of educational bureaucracy,Ó he says.
Gingrich is proud of his past efforts to reduce welfare roles by
putting people to work. He now has a plan for kids in need: to take them out of
bad homes and put them in Boys Towns, etc. He has some new ideas to reduce
health costs by preventing disease, etc. He supports BushÕs plan on individual
Social Security accounts. I was more in agreement with his insistence that we
need to do much more to create a better intelligence force.
Gingrich has several other well-thought-out remedies. IÕm late in
giving the Gingrich central theme, a return to Christian faith. He says: ÒWe
must reinvigorate core values that made America an exceptional civilization É a
nation which accepts God as its Creator and inspiration.Ó
ÒWinning the FutureÓ is one of many worthy books that beg for
readers at the library, where computers and the Internet get most of the
attention.