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villalobos · Mar 9, 2007, 06:35 AM

Gingrich's Affair During Clinton Probe -- TIME

'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."

Yeah I know, I should have some kind of opinion or something. I just added him to the apparently non-finite list of hypocritical and egoistical political figures.

vmarks · Mar 9, 2007, 06:42 AM

But honest. Least he owned up to the truth.

The better example was Bob Livingston.

I met him in 1996. By 1998 I had fallen out of contact with him. In 1998, as he was next in line to be Speaker of the House, as he was speaking from the floor asking Clinton to resign, Democrats booed him and yelled at him 'You resign!' - and he did. Then and there.

subego · Mar 9, 2007, 06:47 AM

Originally Posted by vmarks

But honest. Least he owned up to the truth.

10 years later about something that wasn't a particularly well kept secret.

IIRC he got busted getting a hummer in the Congressional parking lot. I've known about this for a long time.

Tiresias · Mar 9, 2007, 06:48 AM

Originally Posted by subego

10 years later about something that wasn't a particularly well kept secret.

IIRC he got busted getting a hummer in the Congressional parking lot. I've known about this for a long time.

You can't have it both ways.

subego · Mar 9, 2007, 06:56 AM

And, of course, I highly doubt this is an example of Newt's dedication to the notion of honesty, and everything about trying to defuse this early in his soon to be failed presidential bid.

finboy · Mar 9, 2007, 10:00 AM

Newt admitted it because it was going to be used against him at some point. He has a pretty good political instinct that way.

Dakar² · Mar 9, 2007, 10:11 AM

Originally Posted by finboy

Newt admitted it because it was going to be used against him at some point. He has a pretty good political instinct that way.

I believe that's called common sense. But I guess that is a rare skill for a politician to have.

Tiresias · Mar 9, 2007, 10:16 AM

Originally Posted by Dakar²

I believe that's called common sense. But I guess that is a rare skill for a politician to have.

My father is a politician. Or was. He was crushed to death by a falling billboard.

Thanks for slandering my dead father's memory.

Insensitive creep.

Dakar² · Mar 9, 2007, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by Tiresias

Thanks for slandering my dead father's memory.

Insensitive creep.

Hmmm... I may have a future in politics.

OldManMac · Mar 9, 2007, 07:29 PM

Originally Posted by vmarks

But honest. Least he owned up to the truth.

He owned up to the truth because he's testing the water to see if he wants to run. This had nothing to do with his conscience, as he's been asked about his infidelity before, and has always ducked the question. This is just a good way to start testing the political waters, so he can now see what the reaction is and hope it dies down by the time he decides if he wants to run, which I believe he will. He's looking for early forgiveness, so he can start preaching his "family values" BS as it gets closer to election time.

It's quite interesting that, of the four top names (Guiliani, McCain, Gingrich, and Romney), there are a total of nine former and current wives, with Romney being the only one who's still married to his first wife. In their typical hypocritical fashion, "family values" only applies to people underneath them.

Railroader · Mar 9, 2007, 07:45 PM

Isn't this almost 10 year old news?

subego · Mar 10, 2007, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Isn't this almost 10 year old news?

I know. I was going to timeline the OP, when I read the article and realized what was new was Newt finally admitting it.

Railroader · Mar 10, 2007, 03:13 PM

No, I mean didn't Newt come clean 10 years+ ago when he resigned? I thought that was THE reason he gave for his resignation.

subego · Mar 10, 2007, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by Railroader

No, I mean didn't Newt come clean 10 years+ ago when he resigned? I thought that was THE reason he gave for his resignation.

I'd venture to say no. His actions now don't seem to indicate that.

mac128k-1984 · Mar 10, 2007, 03:49 PM

This should put an end to any talk of him running for pres. He never said he wanted to but others in his party had hoped jumped into the frey.

I forget the details/timming but I believe he came down hard on clinton for his indiscrestions and its unfortunate that he was being aa hypercrite. I liked newt and I think he helped the GOP a great deal, and its too bad he had stepped away from politics but people who live in glass houses shouldn't toss stones.

OldManMac · Mar 10, 2007, 03:59 PM

This is the start of his plan to run for president. He's hoping that this will blow over by later this year, and he's hoping for "forgiveness" from many on the far right (although he, like most, doesn't understand there's only one who can forgive). He's hoping that Americans have a short memory, which they do, and that, coupled with this blowing over and being spun to death by his political machine, will get him the nomination. He's an ambituous man, and very shrewd. He was disgraced ten years ago, and it's taken him some time, but now he's considered by many in the conservative movement to be a statesman for their cause. It won't get him in the White House, but that doesn't mean he's not going to try.

Sherman Homan · Mar 10, 2007, 04:57 PM

As has been said, the one person with only one wife is the Mormon...!

Railroader · Mar 10, 2007, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by subego

I'd venture to say no. His actions now don't seem to indicate that.

EDIT: I was not the reason he resigned, but 7 years ago this news was released through his attorneys.

Originally Posted by from OP's link

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.

ironknee · Mar 10, 2007, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by Railroader

Isn't this almost 10 year old news?

yes and so was clinton's blowjob. but people keep bringing it up.

kobi · Mar 11, 2007, 12:11 AM

There goes his chance at President.

I was hoping he would run..........I would have loved to have seen him get crushed by anybody we (Democrats) will nominate.

It would have been like shooting fish in a barrel <---- That's the simple terms for all you GOP folks since your slow and all.

Atomic Rooster · 01:11 AM

Originally Posted by Railroader

EDIT: I was not the reason he resigned, but 7 years ago this news was released through his attorneys.

Hmmmmm? Is he gay?

kobi · Mar 11, 2007, 12:44 AM

Originally Posted by Atomic Rooster

Hmmmmm? Is he gay?

If he was gay the GOP would welcome him with open arms.........wait they already did that.

Yep he's gay.

Gossamer · Mar 11, 2007, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by kobi

It would have been like shooting fish in a barrel <---- That's the simple terms for all you GOP folks since your slow and all.

That wasn't very nice of you.

OldManMac · Mar 11, 2007, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by kobi

There goes his chance at President.

I was hoping he would run..........I would have loved to have seen him get crushed by anybody we (Democrats) will nominate.

It would have been like shooting fish in a barrel <---- That's the simple terms for all you GOP folks since your slow and all.

He has a good shot at getting the nomination; this is no way diminishes his chances. The rest of the field has just as much baggage, and, with the short attention span most Americans have, he'll be forgiven by the "right" people, and this will be just a blip on the radar. It won't be so for the Democrats, however, as they'll make good use of this news, which I think they should, as it points out the hypocrisy of people who claim to be so "pro family."

I'll go out on a limb and say he's going to get the nomination. I may be wrong, but I think he's still working on it.

As to your analogy of shooting fish in a barrel; I don't think it will be quite that simple, but if he is nominated, he will lose the election. He's simply too far right.

Calling GOP folks "slow" is unnecessary and does nothing to further any discussion, and it shows how you're incapable of seeing anything but your point of view.

vmarks · Mar 11, 2007, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by KarlG

Calling GOP folks "slow" is unnecessary and does nothing to further any discussion, and it shows how you're incapable of seeing anything but your point of view.

Thank you for having written this.