Bashir: "Newt Gingrich is the modern incarnation of the late L Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology"

During his December 14 closing commentary, Martin Bashir made this comparison of Newt Gingrich to L Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology and well... he should know!*

Martin Bashir, MSNBC "Clear the Air"

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msnbc transcript: Bashir: Newt Gingrich most akin to L. Ron Hubbard

" It's time now to clear the air and ever since he shot to the top of the republican race for the white house, i've been trying to figure out which historical figure newt gingrich most resembles. from the first century one might be tempted to call him a modern day st. augustin. mr. gingrich would probably like the comparison, especially since augustin's best known work is his book of confessions. in terms of literature it's possible to see newt gingrich as shakespeare's king lehr, a man of immense wealth who descends into madness after succumbing to flattery and brings only tragedy to all that he touches. as one character says of lehr and might now be said of gingrich, the prince of darkness is a gentleman. but when you study newt gingrich's writings it quickly becomes apparent that he's a perfect combination of religiousocity and insanity. just recently he tried to stir up fears that islamic sharia law was about to be imposed on every corner of the world. sharia law, he says, is a mortal threat to the survival of freedom in the united states and the world as we know it. but at the same time as offering a pessimistic and foreboding view of our future on earth, he seems completely optimistic about what may be happening elsewhere in the universe. in his book to renew america, published in 1995, gingrich says honeymoons in space will be the vogue by 2020. you know, the more i think about newt gingrich, the less i believe he's like st. augustin or king leer. in fact, there's one only person that comes close to newt gingrich, a science fiction writer so grandiose that he created his own religion. newt gingrich, the peddler of myths and fantasies, is the modern incarnation of the late el ron hubbard, the founder of scientology. thanks"
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/msnbc-live-with-bashir/45673727#45673727

*Martin Bashir on Scientology 24th October 2009


Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHpFi_xH0Is
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkh2TPhoZgo
Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U11jvVP_yDE
Part 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hw_4NSX8x4