Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan From the Associated Press: >>WASHINGTON - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged he was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group. "The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired Friday, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards." Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity. "The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials."<< Simply amazing where people decide to "draw the lines in their mind", isn't it? Unbelievable.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>I am not rendering judgment on another human being<< ROFL! I swear, I think Comedy Central writes everybody's lines in Washington at this point.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity." One of the most ridiculous things ever said by a public figure.
Originally Posted By friendofdd It's only sex. For a very smart man, he lacks wisdom and has a poor understanding of ethics.
Originally Posted By avromark Another reason why Newt is "popular" here. Popular for what I won't tell you, butt you may get the idea, kidding!
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>For a very smart man, he lacks wisdom and has a poor understanding of ethics.<< Truly. And he's a little fuzzy on the definition of the word hypocrisy as well.
Originally Posted By jonvn I am shocked that you people would use the word republican and hypocrisy together. Such a thing is not possible.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka I'm anxiously awaiting DouglasDubh's arrival to tell us what Newt really meant by what he said.
Originally Posted By DlandDug For what its worth, Newt did make the distinction that he pursued Clinton for perjury, not sex. But then, since he's a Republican, sex OR perjury is equally evil, eh? That said, I am not in the least bit surprised, considering Newt's rather tawdry back history with the women in his life. He did, after all, divorce wife number one while she was in the hospital recovering from cancer surgery. Wife number three (the current one) is a former House aide, with whom he had the affair, and who is 23 years younger than he is.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Who really believed that the outrage expressed by 'conservatives' over clinton's extramarital activities was real? At the time, they had precious little to complain about, but they still loathed clinton. So they set about looking for anything they could find to smear him. And they turned over every stone - whitewater, travelgate, vince foster - there was no depth they would not stoop to. The only thing they were able to come up with that would stick was the womanizing. But that meant cozying up to the likes of gennifer flowers and linda tripp. If you remember at that time, larry flynt (god bless him), disgusted by the hypocrisy being exhibited by the GOP, offered one million dollars as a 'reward' to the first floozy that would step up and declare that they were having an illicit affair with a republican politician. It worked. Too bad he wasn't able to catch a newt in his net at the time, but we can't blame him for trying.
Originally Posted By DlandDug The problem with Clinton is that he was such a poster boy for bad behavior. No one had to invent things with which to charge him. Same applies to Newt.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Here's what the non-judgemental Newt said about Mr. Clinton back in May of 1998, from cnn.com: >> Further escalating his recent war of words against President Bill Clinton, House Speaker Newt Gingrich accused Clinton of degrading the presidency, through his handling of the Monica Lewinsky investigation, to "a level of disrespect and decadence that should appall every American." The American presidency is viewed world wide as a "rough equivalent of the Jerry Springer show," Gingrich wrote in a commentary for the conservative weekly publication, Human Events.<< I'm sure glad he kept the focus clearly not on sex, but on perjury as he claims. What a hypocrit. What lies people will tell themselves to excuse their own hypocrisy. And he is considering making a run for the presidency. LOL! Sure, why not...
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder "But then, since he's a Republican, sex OR perjury is equally evil, eh?" Works for anyone, actually. Especially lying about sex with someone else to a spouse. Newt's a serial cheater. <a href="http://www.myfoxboston.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2616411&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.3.1" target="_blank">http://www.myfoxboston.com/myf ox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2616411&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.3.1</a> What's wrong with this passage? "Reports of extramarital affairs have dogged him for years as a result of two messy divorces, but he has refused to discuss them publicly. Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on family values issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide more than 20 years younger than he is. His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Although Gingrich has said he doesn't remember it, Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery. Gingrich married Marianne months after the divorce."
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>Here's what the non-judgemental Newt said about Mr. Clinton back in May of 1998...<< Even back then Newt's views were considered hypocritical, and rightly so. Here's a Salon piece from August, 1998: >>...it's not compassion that tempers the speaker's censure of Clinton's self-destructive sexual compulsions. It's self-protection. Gingrich, lest we forget, has a closet full of sexual misconduct... Like Clinton's, Gingrich's sexual history is old, tangled and furtive. Newt himself is the product of a weekend marriage. His 16-year-old mother, Kit, married hard-drinking, brawling Big Newt McPherson, whom she met at a roller rink.<< <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/1998/08/28news.html" target="_blank">http://www.salon.com/news/1998 /08/28news.html</a> Also from Salon, in 1999: >>The Daily News Web site polled readers: "Do you think Newt Gingrich is a hypocrite?" Short answer: Of course. This is a guy who gained the speakership of the House of Representatives by posing as a champion of family values. Remember how Gingrich repeatedly referred to liberals and Democrats as deviants and miscreants? And, later, how he gleefully tried to exploit Monicagate? Well, Gingrich, the advocate of families, informed his first wife he was divorcing her when she was ill with cancer. Now, he is divorcing his second wife, Marianne, and a tabloid will soon publish a picture of him holding hands with his much-younger girlfriend. As far as inveterate Newt-watchers are concerned, however, the Gingrich-Bisek story is old news. For years, word of this relationship was commonplace on the Hill. It was one of those "everybody-knows-it" stories that seem to float endlessly around Washington.<< <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/08/12/gingrich/print.html" target="_blank">http://www.salon.com/news/feat ure/1999/08/12/gingrich/print.html</a>
