Caught on Twitter: Newt Gingrich Ruthlessly Exploits Somali Pirate Hostage Crisis

Newt Gingrich, among others on the right, have been callously making hay over President Obama's response to the hostage standoff with Somali pirates. I talked about this on Media Lizzy's show on Friday, explaining the most obvious thing in the world. With a US ship's captain still held captive, his life in peril, perhaps broadcasting our intentions to the world was not the brightest idea.

Really, picture this:

Q: Mr. President, what are you going to do about these pirates?!? Huh?!?

President Obama: Well, we've got a secret rescue mission planned for tomorrow...

Newt Gingrich knows this, or ought to, but that didn't keep him from trying to score some points with it. I guess someone pulled him aside and told him to quit being so reasonable. From Gingrich's Twitter feed, Saturday night:

President obama is making a major mistake in not forcefully oulining the rules of civilization for dealing with pirates We look weak12:55 PM Apr 11th from TwitterBerry

I'm not sure what "oulining" is, maybe some kind of french highlighter pen, but what is he talking about? Do people not know that piracy is illegal?

Now, the fact that the Captain has been rescued, in exactly the way I said he would, by a SEAL team, isn't what makes Newt wrong and the President right.
The President's response would have been correct, no matter the result. One of the reasons I'm friends with Captain Ed Morrissey is that he recognizes things like this. When you're in the middle of the action, you don't get on TV and blab about it. Anyone who's seen Die Hard knows this.

I just caught Gingrich's act on This Week, where he had been drooling to make more hay, and the rest of the panel just made him look stupid. This was prior to the rescue, and Gingrich was calling for some kind of all out war on pirates. The other panelists correctly pointed out that this is not a major issue, and that prevention is best handled by shipping companies.

Look, Gingrich's job is to oppose the President, but to claim that he's making us look weak, when Gingrich knows or ought to know that he can't speak yet without compromising an American life, is the very height of cowardice. It's like punching the guy in the kidney while he's busy fighting a real enemy.

This is becoming a pattern on the right. At the onset of the Blagojevich scandal, they openly speculated, without basis, that tapes implicating Rahm Emanuel were forthcoming. Where are they?

Newt said the President was making us look weak. He said there have to be consequences for pirates who attack Americans. 3 of the 4 were shot dead during the rescue, and the Captain was freed unharmed. I'll patiently await the former Speaker's apology, and anticipate his future silence.

Tommy on: Daily Dose:

• President Obama Shows Best Defense Against Pirates: Dead Pirates
• Stupid Effing AP Part Q...Who Can Keep Track?

Tommy on: Twitter