Washington, DC (TLS). Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich confessed to evangelical Christian leader James Dobson and his massive radio audience that he had an affair during the 1990s while he served in Congress. Gingrich stated that he had recognized his wrongdoing and had asked God to forgive him.
Newt is to be congratulated and affirmed for his honesty.
The reason why Newt's confession rings authentic and thus rises above that of most politicians is that in other cases such confessions come only after one is 'caught with their pants down.' Newt had nothing to gain and nothing to lose in making this public confession to a deed that has gone relatively unnoticed. It is not like someone in the media had caught the former Congressman in a compromising situation and was hounding him about the truth of the misdeeds. This confession came out of the blue, under no pressure from anyone to talk about it.
In addition, Newt's confession is further significant in that the affair took place during Bill Clinton's impeachment hearings--hearings of which Gingrich was a part. Being basically a deeply spiritual man at the core of his being, this fact more than likely haunted Newt for all these years. While castigating Bill Clinton's dalliances with Monica Lewinsky, he himself was engaged in an adulterous affair.
Thus, the confession was an exercise in the cleansing of the soul.
No doubt, most of James Dobson's listeners, and the Christian community in general, can be very forgiving when a wayward soul makes such a stark and honest confession. However, the problem is not with the evangelical Christian community but with hypocritical Democrats should Newt decide to seek the Republican nomination for President.
Democrats in Congress have already shown the populace time and again that they have no qualms at all about vilifying a Republican for doing what they defended a Democrat for doing. The Democrat mantra is, 'If we do it, it's ok, but if THEY do it, it's wrong.'
Look at how many Democrats sit in positions of leadership in Congress who have terrible legal and ethical stains on their records--Kennedy, Conyers, Reid, Leahy, Murtha, and about a dozen more. Yet they thought Scooter Libby should be in jail for 'outing' an operative who everyone in town already knew about and who was not even a covert operative to begin with.
Conyers on the other hand broke federal campaign laws.
Thus, in spite of the fact that the Democrats gave us Bill 'Cigars' Clinton, Gerry 'I Love Under-Age Boys' Studds, and the like, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will have a field-day with Newt's confession to an affair while he was presiding over impeachment hearings on Bill Clinton.
One can imagine all sorts of nightmarish, tasteless, and downright sleazy attack ads aimed at Newt. Christians forgive but Democrats need campaign fodder. No matter how vehemently they defended Bill Clinton and Gerry Studds, they will turn right around and attempt to make Newt into the Devil himself.
The Gingrich confession may well work to Newt's favor in the long-run. We shall see. But there are deep and treacherous waters here that will have to be navigated.
By the way, it is not totally coincidental that former Tennessee Senator and TV Star Fred Thompson announced Sunday he may seek the Republican nomination. Here is a man with solid conservative credentials, with instant name recognition, and with little excess baggage, who could well become the 'dark horse' candidate who rises to the top in a hurry.
Stay tuned. It's really getting interesting out there.
Monday, March 12, 2007
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2 comments:
Misbehavior is not a partisan issue, neither is hypocrisy. Both parties protect their own, and investigate the hell out of the other guys. That's why I am a fan of divided Government.
As for Clinton, I believe that a majority of the American people supported Bill Clinton during impeachment, not because they liked Clinton, but because they found Ken Starr's tactics and Newt Gingrich and Henry Hyde's hypocrisy even more distasteful than Clinton's extramarital activities. By misinterpreting disgust for Starr and the Republicans with support for Clinton, the Democrats dug themselves a hole that they were only able to get out of with considerable help from Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Mark Foley, and the Republican congress.
Whether you wish to see the truth or not, Bill Clinton was never as popular as Democrats and people like yourself make him out to be. Neither in 1992 nor in 1996 did he receive a majority of the vote. The highest percentage of the vote he ever received was in the 48-49% range...enough to win, but not a majority.
If you are referring to polling date that is easily manipulated to say whatever the reporters wish for them to say, I don't trust any of the polls that show Bill Clinton's popularity skyrocketing. As I laid out in minute detail right here on The Liberty Sphere when CBS News and Katie Couric tried to use a poll to claim that a majority of Americans are against funding the War in Iraq, by a mere slight-of-hand maneuver in figures manipulation, a clear minority can appear to be a majority to paired with an entirely different question in the poll.
The bottom line is Bill Clinton lied to a Grand Jury and to the American people--pointing right into the camera when he did so. He is the only President in U.S. history to be impeached since Andrew Johnson in the 1860s.
As for Mark Foley, at least his dalliances were with boys of legal age. WHAT ABOUT DEMOCRAT GERRY STUDDS WHO ADMITTED TO AFFAIRS WITH UNDERAGE BOYS? Yet the Demos came to his defense.
Ken Starr had plenty of reason to investigate the Clintons. They are dishonest, manipulative, and dangerous human beings. They also happen to have a massive political machine that neatly covers up a great deal of their misdoings.
Democrats are digging themselves a hole once again as we speak. With the leftist extremist legislation they are unleashing on the public, we should be able to oust them from control of Congress with relative ease in 2008.
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