Memo to Newt Gingrich: Aren't you dead yet?

I ran into this little doozie while surfin' the web. Most laughably, Gingrich won some First Amendment Award given by some... place. I guess Manchester, New Hampshire.

Um. Wouldn't protecting free speech and curtailing its use on the Internet be diametrically opposed goals? And yet, here, they're set together like peanutbutter and jelly. I really don't understand the theory behind this article. Newt Gingrich gets an award for Freedom of Speech, and in his acceptance speech, endorses reducing free speech?

Just an observation. Oh, and Gingrich - gouty, elderly white men like you typically die of a heart attack or colon cancer about now. So... you know. Just a thought.


MANCHESTER – Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich yesterday said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.

Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.

"We need to get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade," said Gingrich, a Republican who helped engineer the GOP's takeover of Congress in 1994.

Gingrich spoke to about 400 state and local power brokers last night at the annual Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment award dinner, which fetes people and organizations that stand up for freedom of speech.

Gingrich sharply criticized campaign finance laws he charged were reducing free speech and doing little to fight attack advertising. He also said court rulings over separation of church and state have hurt citizens' ability to express themselves and their faith.

Last night's event, held at the Radisson Hotel-Center of New Hampshire, honored a Lakes Region newspaper and a former speaker of the House for work in favor of free expression.

The Citizen of Laconia was given the Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment Award, which is named after the longtime President and Publisher of the Union Leader Corporation, owner of New Hampshire's statewide newspaper.