From the day Newt announced his candidacy for President of the United States, I couldn’t help but be amazed that a man with the kind of baggage he has, would run for the highest office in the land.  But that is Newton Leroy Gingrich.

I’d write a  bunch about how many affairs he has had and how someone, in his position, couldn’t possibly be anything more than a massive hypocrite but I think that can has been kicked endlessly.  The facts are out there.  Draw your own conclusion.  My conclusion is he sure found religion at the most convenient of times.  He’s managed to string together a few years of marriage to his 2nd mistress(that we know of) and now he is a man of God.

Then there is the issue of how Newton was cheating on his wife at the same time he was pushing for the eventual Impeachment of President Clinton.  Just to put this in it’s proper perspective:

President Clinton, who I honestly have no love lost for (I will never forgive him for his cave on gays in the military and DADT, but that is another story) got a blowjob from an Intern.  Was it a good idea?  No.  Should he have faced some kind of censure?  Probably.  It was stupid and Bubba should have kept his dick in his pants.  And I know, Bubba wasn’t Impeached for the BJ, he was Impeached for lying about it……  Semantics.  But let’s measure Bubba’s transgressions up with the EXACT same time period in Newton’s life:

Clinton got a BJ and then lied about getting the BJ.  Eventually, he came clean and suffered the consequences.  And I am not even going to suggest that he might not have deserved being impeached.  But it was 1 BJ we know of and as far as history has told the story, there have been little to no other confirmed stories that I have read to suggest it was an ongoing pattern.  Is it possible that he was doing it, serially?  Sure.  But nothing else has come out to this day to confirm or deny that it was anything more than a one time affair.  So we take it on the available information we have all these years later.  While he was in office, he got a BJ from one intern.  Of course there were the other women “issues” before he became President…  But here’s the thing:

I never heard Bill Clinton, at anytime before/during or after being elected where he suggested that he had some kind of moral high ground.  In fact, in the end he made his best effort at being contrite and admitting to his shortcomings, admittedly a lot too late.

Then we come to Newton.  A man on his 3rd wife and one who while condemning Clinton for lewd/lascivious behavior, was at that very same time engaged in adultery.

The truth is, while I find it pretty detestable to cheat on one’s wife, I am not the religious nut type of person that will forever condemn a man or woman for such transgressions.  I would hope for better behavior from the President of the United States.  But at the same time I would hold the man who was second in line to the Presidency to an equal standard.  I would never run for President, because I have some history I wouldn’t want to be scrutinized by the general public.  Nothing terrible, but I have something Newton doesn’t, HUMILITY.

You see, when Newton decided that he wanted to run for President, he had to know that his marital shortcomings would make their way to the forefront.  But instead of developing an answer that was contrite and perhaps even reasonable, he developed a different strategy.  He decided that anyone bold enough to question his questionable morals/ethics wouldn’t receive an explanation of how he found it OK to indict President Clinton for 1 BJ at the same time he was carrying on a long-term relationship with his second mistress, he decided to blame the media for asking the very same questions he was asking of Clinton during the impeachment proceedings.

I am far from trying to excuse former President Clinton for his behavior.  As I mentioned above, I was not so much of a fan.  But come on!  The GOP love to claim  the higher moral ground and suggest that us “liberals” lack a moral compass that seems to be exclusive to the Republican party.

Watching Newton chastise John King for asking a question that speaks to the very heart of the narrative that the GOP are always trying to sell, “We are the morally superior party”, was laughable at best.  And then watching/listening as the South Carolina crowd cheered Newton for his non-answer answer would be funny if it wasn’t so hypocritical.

Don’t get me wrong, I have my very strong issues with President Obama over the last 3 or so years.  I understand that a lot of what he wanted, just wasn’t possible given the GOP’s obstructionism.  But in my heart of hearts, I believe he could have done more.

That being said, can I honestly say that a President McCain would have accomplished as much as Obama has?  Or any of the current crop of GOP Presidential contenders?  Not even a contest.  We had 8 years of GOP/GWB to prove a point.  And the point was made crystal clear:

Trickle down economics as a means to grow the middle class has not only failed, it’s failed on a MASSIVE scale that President Obama and at least the next couple of presidents after him will spend decades trying to fix.

But for Newton to pretend like the past is just prologue is a joke.  Here’s the way I see it in VERY practical terms:

President Clinton screwed up.  He did what he did with an intern.  I cannot and will not make excuses for him.  And I won’t even try to suggest that this was the only instance of his extra-circular activities.  That being said, it’s the only one we have actual proof of, during his presidency.

Newton, on the other hand, has been proven, by his own admission, to have been not only cheating on his first wife, but his second one too.  And while he was acting as “Chief of Ethics Officer of the Untied States of America” and  trying to evict Bill Clinton from the White House, he was doing the exact same thing at the same time(Well, to my mind, even worse.  He was carrying on a long-term affair and if we are to believe his 2nd wife, he wanted her permission to keep doing so).

I have more than my fair share of issues with the people running the party I am a part of.  But the one thing, more often than not, I can say is that on the whole, Democrats usually don’t seek to impose their morals or ethics on others.  As long as you have your way of life and keep your standards to yourself, then live and let live.  It’s people like Newton who have such selective morality that simply disgusts me.

Newton, make up your mind…..  Is it OK to call a candidate for office out for their moral/ethical shortcomings or not?  You sure didn’t seem to have a problem with calling out Clinton for your perceived lack of a moral compass.  But now that you are running for President, suddenly you think that same line of questioning, when applied to you is now off limits?

COWARD!!

I just couldn’t end this post without pointing out the striking similarity that Newton bares to the Stay Puft Marhmellow Man from Ghostbusters(the first one).