Newt Gingrich is supposed to be one of the right’s intellectual lights.   What does it tell you about the right’s standards when Gingrich says something like this: "There should be no mosque near Ground Zero as long as there are no churches or synagogues in Saudi Arabia.  The time for double standards that allow Islamists to behave aggressively toward us while they demand our weakness and submission is over."

There’s so much wrong with this — it’s hard to know where to start.  Does Gingrich think the government of Saudi Arabia (an ally of ours) "demand[s] our weakness and submission"?  Does he believe the U.S. can set its standards for religious liberty according to Saudi Arabia’s example?  If we are justified in denying religious liberty because Saudi Arabia denies it, are we also justified in holding gruesome public beheadings and crucifixions because Saudi Arabia does so? Should we follow Saudi Arabia’s lead when it comes to equal rights for women?

Human Rights Watch reported last year that "Saudi officials continue to require women to obtain permission from male guardians to conduct their most basic affairs, like traveling or receiving medical care…"  In March 2009, a Saudi woman was arrested simply for driving.   Are we justified in following suit?  Would that show the "Islamists" we’re not a bunch of wimps?  (Gingrich ended his bizarre blog post by declaring "No surrender."  Surrender to who, exactly?  Does Gingrich think we’re at war with Saudi Arabia?)

Gingrich, who is often talked up as a Republican presidential contender in 2012, seems to think he’s in a Rambo movie.  There is one reasonable thread to be extracted from his loony tapestry–we should certainly express outrage over Saudi Arabia’s terrible human rights record.  But the way to do this isn’t, as Steve Benen observes, by lowering our own standards.  On Gingrich’s logic, the U.S. could have argued it was justified in continuing de jure race segregation as long as the apartheid regime reigned in South Africa.

As Benen aptly puts it, we’re supposed to be better than this.  We ought to lead by example when it comes to religious liberty and other fundamental rights.  We should certainly push other countries, especially allies like Saudi Arabia, to meet high standards.  But the way to do this isn’t by lowering our own.