Citing tradition, Newt would prevent gays from marrying. Yet one of his ex-wives says he wanted anything but tradition for them. by Nita Wiggins
(liberal)
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Newt: 'Open marriage' ok, but not gay marriage. Can claims by ex-wife close door to White House?
by Nita Wiggins
(PARIS, France) Possible U.S. presidential nominee Newt Gingrich was sadly mistaken when he said asking about his ex-wife during the South Carolina debate was out-of-bounds. Despite his indignation, he fought the explosive ‘he-said, she-said’ accusation leveled by the woman who divorced him in 2000.
“She says you asked her, Sir, to enter into an open marriage. Would you like to take some time to respond to that?" queried moderator John King of CNN.
“No, but I will,” retorted Mr. Gingrich, drawing squeals from audience members in conservative North Charleston, S.C.
"I am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that … To take comments of an ex-wife two days before a primary is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine,” said the candidate.
The “destructive, vicious, negative, nature of the news media” -- his words-- is partly his Frankenstein.
How and why?
“I do believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I do believe we have a right to defend a 3,000-year-old, clear record that that's what marriage is," said Mr. Gingrich, during an AFR Talk interview last year. (Source youtube.com)
In that same vein, he supports the Defense of Marriage Act, with its one-man, one-woman definition of marriage. It is; therefore, inherently anti-gay marriage.
If Newt’s wife from 1981-2000 is to be believed, Newt would stand on the DOMA definition and limit the rights of gay couples, yet he proposed something else for his household.
Why limit himself? she charged in interviews before the crucial swing through the southern U.S.
“He was asking me to have an open marriage. He wanted me to accept the fact that he had someone else in his life,” 53-year-old Marianne Gingrich told ABC News.
Mr. Gingrich, 68, had met Callista Bisek, 45, who would become his third wife. They married four months after he and Marianne divorced. (Source FoxNewsInsider.com)
To be fair, what happens in a marriage is undoubtedly slanted and painful. The ugliness of divorce can ruin anybody’s good character in the way that simple political missteps never could. Ronald Reagan remains the only divorced person to have ever hurdled that part of his past to reach the White House.
Newt's own actions make it necessary for him to suffer the questions now. The Republicans, under his House chairmanship (1995-1999), paraded themselves as moral standard-bearers.
They weren't saints, but talked a good game of it. In reality, adulterous affairs, including Newt's, were rampant among the ranks of the family values politicians.
He personally decried Bill Clinton over Monica-gate. But, it was the same Mr. Gingrich who authorized the multimillion dollar campaign of attack ads focused on the presidential sex scandal in 1998.
Ironically, the spouse of the chief executive usually appears as a silent partner in constant support of her husband.
However, if Marianne Gingrich’s words linger in the ears of conservative voters throughout the primary season, she could become the ex-spouse who most affected presidential politics.
Nita is an American journalist and educator who is following the U.S. 2012 election from Paris, France. Follow her @EducatingMsNita
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