Yesterday, some Americans experienced the bizarre, almost out-of-body feeling of “Is Newt Gingrich actually saying something positive about black people?”

This bizarre feeling was caused by words coming out of Newt’s own mouth on Friday when he said that white Americans could never hope to understand what it is to be black.

Apparently quickly discovering what a happy error he had made, later Friday evening Gingrich walked back his statement, falling back on the old “All lives matter” tactic and blaming the Black Lives Matter movement for the issues he had earlier mentioned.

“My argument is the policies that have driven us apart, the policies that have trapped African-Americans in all too large numbers in poverty and in hopelessness [are] the ideological policies that say, “Black Lives Matter.”

Well, baloney! All American lives matter, of all backgrounds. And we ought to challenge the Hillary Clintons and the Bernie Sanderses to say that American lives matter — all American lives.

We’re in the eighth year of a president who could have brought us together, a president who could have worked in the African-American community to make people feel better about themselves, a president who could have offered visionary changes in the policies that have failed for the last 50 years. And he didn’t do any of that.”

Aw man! You were so close to earning a tiny grain of my respect, Newty! Guess it’s back to business as usual.

Sydney Robinson is a political writer for the Ring of Fire Network. She has also appeared in political news videos for Ring of Fire. Sydney has a degree in English Literature from the University of West Florida, and has an active interest in politics, social justice, and environmental issues. She would love to hear from you on Twitter @SydneyMkay or via email at srobinson@ringoffireradio.com