Why on earth lead off with a question like that? Furthermore, who cares if he wants to swing, have an open marriage or a menage a trois. I could care less as long as he stays off other people’s values. There is the big IF. Looking back at famous Newt video footage, he is the paladin of marriage and values in his rhetoric.
More importantly, Newt has turned his rage on the politics of accountability. No one championed for truth, goodness and the American way during the Lewinsky affair more than Newt Gingrich. Yet at the time, he as well as many others were engaing in similar behaviors. Pot, meet kettle.
Rage is not becoming to Mr. Gingrich. He needs to take his punishment like a good boy. If it comes at an inconvenient time to him, perhaps he should have thought of timing when he asked both ex-wives for a divorce.
In many respects, King was being very fair to him. Marianne had given interviews to the Washington Post and to ABC. Newt was given a chance to speak to the issue which had to be fresh on everyone’s mind. He was asked if he cared to respond. There were no accusations. He was pretty much of a D—
There is a part of me that simply doesn’t care about Newt’s personal life. There is another part of me that really resents his public outrage. He has lost his right to be angry. At least he doesn’t have a penchant for hotties. MEOW.
Punishment like a good boy?
Is that the media’s job? To punish those that offend them? Kind of selective, aren’t they?
I didn’t see the media punishing him. I saw his ex-wife letting him have it. Any respect I had for him has been lost. The media reported it. His wife spoke to the media. It was an outlet.
Sorry, he has very successfully duped the values folks it sounds like. He pranced around with another woman for 6 freaking years…in public. Marianne is still mad. That’s her right.
Newt is acting like a middle schooler. He is pulling the old ‘you can just ask our friends…’ Why on earth would your friends know what you say to your wife about infidelity? Why are his daughters involved.
I am totally disgusted by him now. Contempt has turned to disgust–not because he is a philanderer but because of how he handled being one. HE is angry? I thought he got a fair chance to explain himself.
You know I changed my opinion…after hearing Marianne. John King was very fair to him and gave him a chance to kick it to the curb.
Cargo, it was a huge story. They are in the job to report. Blaming the media is about as lame as it gets. How about blaming Newt for not keeping his fly up and then asking everyone else to go along with it.
Now I have heard everything. Tell me, were you as outraged on behalf of Anthony Weiner when his bad behavior was the topic of conversation? I think not.
This is the man who pushed to – and did – release the Starr report TO THE PUBLIC, unexpurgated. There was no expectation that the report’s details would be public. Complete with footnotes of anal-oral contact, etc. Karma is a BBIITTCCHH Newt!!!!!
Go, Rick, go!!! You have said it all.
My point is….Gingrich was right. THAT was not the place to discuss HIS ex-wife’s statements.
That’s not to say HE was a choir boy. But….really? Marianne isn’t an angel in this either. I’m sure she would have been all for an open marriage when SHE was the other woman.
His daughters are involved because…a) they are his children and want to defend him. b) they work for his campaign.
There’s nothing to explain. None of this is news. We already know that he cheated on BOTH wives. We know that he’s a hypocrite. We know that he’s an opportunist. I don’t have a problem with the news reporting on the interview or even asking Newt about it in ANOTHER venue.
A Presidential debate is not the place for it. It was purely a “gotcha” moment. None of this is a defense of his actions in the past. This is a criticism of the press. I think that Marianne’s interview is perfectly fine. A little hypocritical…but…hey! That’s politics.
If it had been a gotcha it would have been a much more loaded question. He was asked if he wanted to say anything about it with very little framing of the question.
It had been all over the news for 2 days. It was as pertinent as Mitt have off shore money.
Its not pertinent that Mitt has offshore money, if its legal. APPLE has offshore money. They both have it in the Caymans for the same reason. These attacks on Mitt about his income and wealth by REPUBLICANS is idiotic. I mean, does Newt REALLY want to discuss where their respective money comes from? Hmmmm…..Bain Capital vs Fannie/Freddie…….. Mitt wins.
If its pertinent, I expect to see questions to Obama about his finances, college grades, financial aid details for college, associations, how he got his house in Chicago, etc in 3……2……. (crickets)
We know more about Herman Cain than we do about the current office holder. The press STILL hasn’t vetted him.
Actually the off shore money was a Republican fight. Why drag the democrats in it?
My point was…that off shore money was a big news item. Marianne Gingrich was a big news item. The sunken cruise ship was a big news item. Why turn any of it into the 800 pound gorilla in the room.
Nice attempt at deflection btw. Last I saw, the Republicans were duking it out with themselves…not the dems. There will be plenty of time for that once you all decide who is really running.
You will have plenty of time to re-vet Obama once you all get through primary season. Why do you care about his college grades? I could care less. Financial aid? Why on earth do you care if he got financial aid?
Cargo, if you all get a good enough candidate who appeals to many people, you won’t have to worry so much about Obama. So far though, you really haven’t shown signs of finding a good candidate.
So far we have been kept entertained.
@Moon-howler
I didn’t bring Democrats into except for the lack of inquiry about Obama’s past vs the intense scrutiny of Republicans.
@Cargo, apparently you have forgotten about White Water and Mrs. Clinton who was running last time. I mean what’s left to check on with the Clintons?
I feel like I know more about both families than I ever wanted to know.
I think you are suffering from paranoia. No one is checking in to Republicans a bit more than Democrats.
@Moon-howler
One cares about his financial aid because the program he was under was only for FORIEGN students. One cares about his grades because we want to see if the hype is true. I mean,….its all these Republicans like Bush that are supposed to be stupid and the Democrats so smart. So, lets put the cards on the table.
And Obama will not be vetted by the press. The press is working for his re-election.
I wasn’t attempting to deflect. I enlarging the picture on how the press covers politics. If something is pertinent to an election, like finances…then its pertinent to all the candidates.
@Steve,
You are probably right. I honestly don’t understand the paranoia about ‘msm.’ It falls into the realm of sometimes you are the bug, sometimes you are the windshield in my world.
I don’t trust ‘conservative news’ based on my dealings with Fox News. I understand point of view. The more neutral the better for me.
My only point about off shore was that it was a big story meaning it was being mentioned a lot. I could personally care less. In fact, if I could get by with off shore and not paying taxes I would do it so why would i criticize anyone else for doing it.
Every day I hear unprofessional journalism on the part of Fox News. I can’t keep up with ABC radio.
I am just disgusted with Newt’s outrage. Rick B said it best: Karma is a bitch. I expect Mrs. Gingrich 2 is still royally pissed because he took another woman in HER house to bed her. That is the cardinal sin in the world of affairs. That puts things on a whole other level. Marianne will probably hunt him down and kill him just over that alone.
I couldn;t believe he got a standing ovation for being angry. The world has turned upside down. He is the biggest hypocrite of all.
“In fact, if I could get by with off shore and not paying taxes I would do it so why would i criticize anyone else for doing it.”
And my point is Mitt Romney is paying taxes on his offshore money.
“Mrs. Gingrich 2 is still royally pissed because he took another woman in HER house to bed her.”
Looks like Karma paid her a big visit too. She took up with the first Mrs. Gingrich’s husband. She knew she’d married a cheat. She helped break up the home. If anyone has an axe to grind here, It’s Mrs Gingrich #1, and Newt’s kids. As a Christian, I don’t believe in Karma. But, there’s the whole “Reap what you sow” aspect, which is pretty darn close.
“I couldn;t believe he got a standing ovation for being angry. The world has turned upside down. He is the biggest hypocrite of all”
Really? You can’t believe it? Newt’s standing in a room full of the GOP faithful, throws it back at the MSM, and says “I’m tired of you protecting Barrack Obama”, and you can’t believe it? As my brothers-in-arm Cargo has been trying to express, The MSM IS biased against the GOP. They used to be subtle about it. During the last 10 or so years, they’ve thrown off any subtlety, and yet they cling to claims they are “neutral”. There’s a reason why Ruppert Murdoch and Roger Ailes launched FNC: They knew that the right was absolutely disgusted with the bias in the press, and they struck gold. Of course FNC has a right-wing bias. The “Fair and Balanced” is meant to market to right-of-center people. It IS “fair and balanced”, if you are sitting on the right, just as those on the left can’t see the left-wing bias of all the rest of the media. The right has FNC, talk radio, and a couple of newspapers. The left has all broadcast news, all the remaining cable news shows, most of the newspapers, plus Hollywood.
The reason Newt got a standing ovation was because of what he said, and the manner in which he said it, not because of who he is.
I don’t see the mainstream media bias myself. I see patches of it from either side., I grew up in a house where the Richmond Times Dispatch was the morning paper. I defy anyone to find a shred of liberal in that paper. The Daily Progress, or Regress as we called it as kids was the evening paper. When I came to NoVA there was the WaPo and the Washington Evening whatever. Each had its own blend.
Remember also that I have at one time or another been affliated with both parties. I believe what you are feeling is some push-back because the Republicans around here have moved so very far to the right. I had to leave in the late 80’s and it has gotten much further right since then.
As for people vilified by the press–LBJ, Carter, Clinton–those dudes weren’t GOP.
I simply do not believe Newt should have gotten a standing ovation. No one has claimed any of the Mrs. Gingriches have been saints. The first one had been his teacher so right there, she is removing her halo also. I am simply saying that Mrs. G 2 was pissed off and has every right to express herself.
I basically don’t care what any of them do until he gets on his high horse over the sanctity of marriage between one man and a woman. Then I care. He is a hypocrite and anyone who got up and cheered him who has ever voted for or espoused a marriage amendment is also a hypocrite.
@steve
I heard yesterday that Mitt paid taxes on his off shore money. That just isn’t something I care about one way or the other if he figured out a way to not do it legally I wouldnt care.
I am buying you a drink Rick Bentley, this was fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am sorry, Newt is so full of hypocrisy it makes me ill. Yes, Newt portends that gay marriage rights will bring about the demise of the sanctity of the heterosexual marriage.
I don’t like Gingrich because of the unending BS he created in Congress over every private allegation against Clinton. He wasted tax payer dollars and precious resources pursuing, almost like an obsessed man, impeaching Bill Clinton. He is a scumbag in my opinion and wife number three better pray she stays healthy.
Is it true he left his second wife after she was diagnosed with MS?
And his first wife as she was battling uterine cancer?
http://www.salon.com/2011/03/08/gingrich_divorce_hospital_cancer/
“He can say that we had been talking about [a divorce] for 10 years, but the truth is that it came as a complete surprise,” says Jackie Gingrich, in a telephone interview from Carrollton. “He’s a great wordsmith … He walked out in the spring of 1980 and I returned to Georgia. By September, I went into the hospital for my third surgery. The two girls came to see me, and said Daddy is downstairs and could he come up? When he got there, he wanted to discuss the terms of the divorce while I was recovering from the surgery … To say I gave up a lot for the marriage is the understatement of the year.”
In my opinion, what Newt needs to do is acknowledge that he was a hyporcrite during the clinton impeachment, that he needs to acknowledge that espousing the sanctity of marriage in relation to gay marriage is hyprocritical. He should be focused on the economy and what will move this country forward.
Newt Gingrich is not only a hypocrite when it comes to espousing “family values” but he’s also a crybaby when the smear tactics he relishes come back to bite him in the ass.
I’m not surprised by the audience’s reaction to King’s question. Remember this party fills audiences with people who boo gay veterans, see no problem with uninsured people dying, cheer Perry’s record on executions, and boo the golden rule and any attempt to find an equitable solution to immigration problems. It’s humorous that they probably decry the war on Christmas and how America is no longer their sanctuary that it was in the 50s & 60s. Ha ha . I don’t remember such a boatload of jackasses acting up in public meetings at that time period either. Maybe, just maybe, they’re are large part of what’s wrong with the current political climate.
@Censored:
Boatload of jackasses. bwaaahahahahahahaha
Do you mean the same 50’s and 60’s where kids had to dive under their desks during air raid drills? I figured I would be vaporized because we couldnt afford one of those fall out shelters. The same 50s and 60’s where girls got sent away and their new-born babies given away without the girls even getting to hold them? The same 50’s and 60’s where Elvis Presley’s hips weren’t allowed to be shown on TV because they were too salacious? I honestly don’t think those were the good old days. Censored I guess you and I might have seen more of those days than many folks on here. Did I leave off the 50s and 60’s where only white people could ride at the front of the bus? I never went to school with a black person.
There was a lot wrong with those days. Additionally, there was a lot REALLY wrong with those days…it all got brushed under the rug.
@Censored bybvbl
OOOORRRR…..
You’re just bitter.
Filled with audiences that boo gay veterans…entire audiences? Really? I listened to that….the booing was a few people. Furthermore, the booing was about the question.
Sees no problem with uninsured people dying….really? That’s not a slander? Please…tell me…what’s your solution for uninsured people getting health care, life saving health care…oh wait. They do. And if you think the gov’t health care won’t ration care…..you haven’t been paying attention to Britain.
Perry’s record on executions… Haven’t been paying attention. That’s about Texas. Please tell me the last time a President ordered an execu…oh. That’s right. OBAMA did so. On an American citizen and reserves the power to assassinate Americans on a secret list.
Equitable solution to immigration problems……define equitable. According to whom. Or we going to legalize and reward law breakers? Are we going to penalize the immigrants that have struggled for years to get here legally? Remember its the Republicans that were for liberalizing illegal alien requirements….Bush and Gingrich. Even Perry is for making it easier for them.
And I don’t remember such a boatload of jackasses at public meetings either. But those arrogant politicians insisted on coming to town and lecturing citizens that had actually READ the bill and some politicians imported union thugs to pack the meetings. Some of those thugs attacked the constituents of the politicians.
So, maybe, just maybe, its they’re part of what’s wrong with the current political climate.
@Cargo,
Censored isd not bitter at all. I thought she hit more than a few nails on the head actually. I don;t mind Perry’s executions though, but that’s just me. I am proud of Paul Ebert’s accomplishments along those lines too.
The booing was because the guy was gay if I recall. What was the question you think they boo’ed?
What Censored listed were examples of things some people who say they are Republicans did. What’s wrong with that? Is it equally offensive for me to say I like Perry’s executions?
We on this blog have defined what we feel is equitable immigration over and over again. Yes, some Republicans are for easying immigration rules. Perry was for a dream Act of sorts. McCain and Bush wanted to ease requirements. They acknowledged that the system wasn’t working. They were beaten back by members of their own party. That’s a shame. There is a drastic need for immigration refom. We need to make it easier on people doing the right thing and kick out those who are criminals and scumbags. Right now we just have a huge bottleneck.
I remember a huge boatload of jackasses at public meetings.
Censored is not bitter, just incredibly accurate.
@cargosqsuid
Bitter? No, just amused at the family values/past-worshipping segment of the Republican party that has such ingrained bitterness which they don’t hesitate to display publicly. Our mothers would have whispered “poor white trash” in private about such behavior.
IMO, the candidates should have squelched that booing by calling it inappropriate (a’ la McCain when he corrected the woman’s slander of Obama). And, yes, Perry’s record is important. He’s running for Prez not Guv. And I don’t agree with Obama’s tactic against American citizens labelled as “terrorists”.
When are the Repub candidates going to tell us the cost and exactly how they’re going to finance their fence to end illegal immigration? Will it straddle the Canadian border as well? How about the airports? OOOOH – I’m thinking there’s an element of xenophobia here. Why are Hispanics being targetted?
The Tea Party brought the clown show to town hall meetings. It’s one thing to ask a question and quite another to shout down the answer. I’ve seen this crap in action at a micro-local level and it isn’t pretty.
@Moon-howler
Yes, those good old days when you and I as Virginia residents could pay our state taxes but still be limited in which state colleges we could attend. (There were many of the same restrictions in Georgia.) The days when our residency was determined by our spouses’ residency. I was told that I , who have lived continuously in the state for five years, was no longer eligible for in-state tuition because my recently discharged veteran-spouse was not yet a resident.
My school was lily white until I was a Senior. Our churches were segregated as were our public facilities. Yeah. The good old days. Not. I suppose they were the good old days for white guys.
@censored
I did not realize that residency was determined by a husband. I am sitting here wondering if I lost any Virginia time being married to Yankee Maryland boy. I think he had lived in Virginia long enough not to harm me.
I am thinking of restrictions. Loving vs Virginia wasn’t until 1967. Griswold vs Connecticut 1965. Roe vs Wade 1973 Lawrence vs Texas 2003
I just read where Scalia, Thomas and Renhquist voted against it. Geeez. I find all of this amazing. I wonder how Thomas would have voted regarding Loving vs Virginia?
There is only one reason why corporations and hedge funds are domiciled in places like the Cayman Islands – that is tax avoidance. Sure, Mitt probably paid the taxes on the carried interest or capital gains that he has made, but the investment itself is legally structured to avoid taxes.
Newt – $3 Million in income (mostly not capital gains), and an effective tax rate of 31% – still lower than the advertised 35% tax rate.
Newt’s ex wife made his infidelity a topic of the day – all that CNN did was give him a platform to deny the allegation. They should have asked him before the debate if he wanted to have the time to make a statement to rebut the allegation.
Pat. I agree with you re CNN. I thought they were being decent to him. They gave him time to address the problem since he had more or less been blind-sided by his ex.
No good deed goes unpunished.
I hope Newt wins SC and the fight among the remaining four drags out all the way to summer! Go Newt go! Bwahaha!
@starry You are evil today. 👿
coffee is on me next time, you rock!
When are the Repub candidates going to tell us the cost and exactly how they’re going to finance their fence to end illegal immigration? Will it straddle the Canadian border as well? How about the airports? OOOOH – I’m thinking there’s an element of xenophobia here. Why are Hispanics being targetted?
How about when we have an actual plan to look over? Maybe they can put it in the next budget the Democrats put out….oh, that’s right. Democrats don’t write budgets. The fence is destined for the southern border because that is where the majority of illegal aliens cross into the country. Hispanics are “targeted” because they make up the majority of illegal immigrants. Simple.
How about all those 45% of immigrants who overstay their visas? Many of them are Asian. I guess a fence won’t do much good with them.
But restricting the flow from the southern border will free up the resources to track down those immigrants.
How do you plan on ‘tracking down those immigrants?’ Which immigrants? @Cargo
@cargosqsuid
Don’t whine about the Democrats and budgets. When are the Repubs going to offer theirs or their detailed alternative? As one of the speakers at our infamous BOCS Citizens Time hinted – the guys at the 7-11 are not responsible for 9-11. They’re just here to work.
We should spend our money on increased intelligence and not blaming those south of our border for all our present ills.
I agree with Starry that the clown show needs to continue for awhile. Florida is at least more representative of the nation at large – a mixture of ages, ethnicities, religions, rural and urban areas, Southern natives and Northern transplants. Even if Florida is a closed primary state, it’s Repub based is more likely more diverse than Iowa’s, New Hampshire’s, or South Carolina’s. The advantage at looking at the first three states though is that one has an inkling of how non-Repubs may vote. Who can be the most peeved holier-than-thou right-winger may not play as well in Florida.
Not sure how relevant this discussion is for this particular blog. With the exception of a few conservative contributors, it seems very unlikely that many of you would ever consider voting for a Republican. And if there were a Republican for whom you would consider voting, it is extremely unlikely that I could vote for that candidate.
@Kelly, I would say that this blog has more Republicans on it than anything else. Most of those who aren’t Republican are un-partied. That description fits both the owners. As for us, both of us voted Republican as late as last August and it wasn’t to throw the election either. I voted for Republican candidates as late as November. I can’t speak for Elena on that one though.
I tend to pay more attention to the person or the positions than the party.
Any more insults?
I just hope that a President Gingrich would treat America better than he does his (ex-)wives.
I wouldn’t count on it.
@marin
If I were Newt I would be very good to ex-wives considering his blind ambitions.
@Censored bybvbl
The House has already presented a budget in every year that they have been in control. The Senate has not taken it up nor has it presented on in return. Its been over 1000 days since the Senate has written a budget, required by the Constitution.
@Moon
Tracking immigrants? Which immigrants? The ILLEGAL immigrants. Who else? What are you trying to say? I’m sure that ICE has tools and procedures. We seem to track them now. We just don’t deport all of them that we find.
I don’t think we ‘track illegal immigrants’ unless they are in the system. How do they get into the system? Commit a crime.
Where on earth would we ever get the tools to track people who don’t enter the country on a visa and who keep their noses clean?
Those are the people living in the shadows. It’s really not a good thing.
I know how criminals are tracked. I don’t think that is who we are talking about, is it?
@cargosqsuid
So exactly how are they going to finance the fence? What’s the total cost? Are they looking at the cost to run a fence across the Canadian/US border as well?
@marinm
I’d worry more about Gingrich’s family history of bipolar disease than I would his number of wives although his personal relationships say a lot about his character.
@Censored
What about all the private property rights and environmental issues that are also along the border? How will a border that long be patrolled?
@Moon-howler
I don’t know if the fence advocates have given much consideration to those issues. I think “border fence” is just another sound bite to mollify the masses.
A person I used to post with a decade ago had a ranch in Arizona or New Mexico. His family had had property which straddled the border for nearly a century. I doubt they want some fence and troops on their property.
@Censored
That has been a problem from what I have read, getting property owners to consent to all that.
I guess it depends on how much trouble the traffic gives you. If youi have drug cartels driving over your land you might want the fence.
not much work has been done on the border fence during the past 12 years, R and D President, R and D Congress – I can only guess they are all in agreement.
cargo – can you point me to where in the Constitution, does it say that Congress must present a budget?
@cargosqsuid
As a matter of fact, Ron Paul opposses the border fence. He says it is meant to keep Americans from leaving.
@Pat Herve
The basis is from Constitution. But, I stand corrected…the word “budget” is not used.
However, the Democrats have not followed their own laws. The framework used by Congress to formulate the budget was established by the Budget and Accounting Act of 1921. The United States House Committee on the Budget and the United States Senate Committee on the Budget are responsible for drafting budget resolutions.
The Democrats have not done so since Obama’s inauguration.
Don’t you find it disturbing that the Senate refuses to even consider drafting a budget?
@Starryflights
I don’t worry too much about what Ron Paul says.