Saturday, 10 March 2007 06:55 pm
America, let's not sign this contract either
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deckardcanineAn LJ Friend of mine recently said that he thinks, and hopes, that Newt Gingrich can become the next President. I try to be open-minded about a lot of conservative things, but this is someone whose name I was taught to despise more than half my life ago. Good luck on that. My Republican freshman-year roommate even said that Gingrich was one of very few politicians he knew to be too far-right for him. Not that that's at all fatal for a presidential candidate.
I found some comfort when the former Speaker said that he would run only if he were the only viable option for his party. Then I realized that he might well be planning to go ahead with it regardless of who runs. If anyone questioned him, he could claim to have changed his mind (like Schwarzenegger, IIRC), when in fact he was subtly insulting the competition. But that's a concern for another time.
Right now, I'm concerned about the apparent paucity of coverage, in prime media and even in liberal blogs, of Gingrich's confession to having multiple affairs, including during the Clinton impeachment. Despite this confession, he denies hypocrisy on his part. After all, the President, by virtue of his higher position, must fulfill a much higher standard of ethics, right? And it's not like Gingrich lied under oath, right? Uh huh.
A little research told me that his infidelity has been suspected for a long time and was confirmed by sometime last year. (I hadn't heard about McCain or Giuliani, either. McCain doesn't worry me and Giuliani wasn't so close to the impeachment proceedings, but I may have to continue spreading the word on the latter later.) The fact that only one of my usual sources touched on it, and quite briefly, tells me that we have only pockets of awareness of the scandal. Either that or these media are far more conservative than my conservative friends give them credit.
Of course, we know what happens when a politician confesses and sounds at least partly penitent: he gets honored by like-minded people. I wonder, would he have gotten such praise if he hadn't done anything unethical in the first place? Unlike Reverend Falwell, I'm not satisfied. Even if the Lord has forgiven him, I think it's too important a blemish on his character to let go unnoticed while picking a nominee -- especially when he refuses to recognize publicly his sin of hypocrisy.
To all my readers who care, please get the word out. There is a veritable double standard in place, and I want no more of it. Tell others, especially ones who might vote for Gingrich or Giuliani. Oh, and McCain, too.
I found some comfort when the former Speaker said that he would run only if he were the only viable option for his party. Then I realized that he might well be planning to go ahead with it regardless of who runs. If anyone questioned him, he could claim to have changed his mind (like Schwarzenegger, IIRC), when in fact he was subtly insulting the competition. But that's a concern for another time.
Right now, I'm concerned about the apparent paucity of coverage, in prime media and even in liberal blogs, of Gingrich's confession to having multiple affairs, including during the Clinton impeachment. Despite this confession, he denies hypocrisy on his part. After all, the President, by virtue of his higher position, must fulfill a much higher standard of ethics, right? And it's not like Gingrich lied under oath, right? Uh huh.
A little research told me that his infidelity has been suspected for a long time and was confirmed by sometime last year. (I hadn't heard about McCain or Giuliani, either. McCain doesn't worry me and Giuliani wasn't so close to the impeachment proceedings, but I may have to continue spreading the word on the latter later.) The fact that only one of my usual sources touched on it, and quite briefly, tells me that we have only pockets of awareness of the scandal. Either that or these media are far more conservative than my conservative friends give them credit.
Of course, we know what happens when a politician confesses and sounds at least partly penitent: he gets honored by like-minded people. I wonder, would he have gotten such praise if he hadn't done anything unethical in the first place? Unlike Reverend Falwell, I'm not satisfied. Even if the Lord has forgiven him, I think it's too important a blemish on his character to let go unnoticed while picking a nominee -- especially when he refuses to recognize publicly his sin of hypocrisy.
To all my readers who care, please get the word out. There is a veritable double standard in place, and I want no more of it. Tell others, especially ones who might vote for Gingrich or Giuliani. Oh, and McCain, too.
