Newt Gingrich Announces Presidential Run on Facebook,Twitter

CriticalBill wrote: Can you give some examples of high profile Republicans the have advertised their "self righteousness" in the last decade? Maybe there are some but I don't remember except in the 1990s.

I thought you'd never ask:

* Randy Hopper (R-WI) WI Repub lives outside district with mistress, says wife; Protesters who marched at the home of Wisconsin state senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) were met with something of a surprise on Saturday. Mrs. Hopper appeared at the door and informed them that Sen. Hopper was no longer in residence at this address, but now lives in Madison, WI with his 25-year-old mistress.

* Sen. Larry Craig, (R-ID) – Senator from Idaho, plead guilty to soliciting sex in a men’s restroom in an airport. (A longtime foe of GLBT rights in Idaho, Craig paid more than $500 in fines and fees related to the misdemeanor charge and was given one year of probation.)

* Rep. Mark Foley, (R-FL) – Former 6-term congressman; resigned after being exposed for soliciting sex with male pages in the Congress; (The uproar ultimate costs House Speaker Dennis Hastert his leadership post.)

* Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) – Acknowledged on 5/8/08 that he fathered a child from an extramarital affair from a relationship with Laura Fay, “with whom I have a 3-year-old daughter." Fossella, a Republican, who has three children with his wife in Staten Island, N.Y., was arrested in the suburbs of Washington. Police said his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit. He chose not run for re-election, and was convicted and sentenced to a mandatory five days in jail.

* Rep. Troy King (R-AL) - Notoriously anti-gay Republican Alabama Attorney General Troy King was supposedly caught in his marital bed, by his wife, sexing it up with a young, gay, male assistant!!! While in office, Troy's worked on outlawing homosexuality AND sex toys. Troy has supposedly been banished from his home by his wife. King was a potential GOP frontrunner for Governor in 2010 and an early endorser of presidential hopeful John McCain. We're assuming that the GOP will not be supporting their allegedly gay comrade. It's been speculated that King will be resigning from his AG position soon.

* Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) Sen. David Vitter, who publicly apologized after being linked to an alleged prostitution ring in Washington, was once a client of a high-priced New Orleans brothel, a former madam told a New Orleans television station Tuesday. A woman accused of running a Washington prostitution ring placed five phone calls to David Vitter while he was a House member, including two while roll call votes were under way, according to telephone and congressional records.

* Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada admitted, June 16, 2009, he had an extramarital affair with a member of his campaign staff. Ensign told The Associated Press in a statement, "I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions." Recently resigned from office.

* Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) Gov. Mark Sanford admitted, June 24, 2009, that he'd secretly flown to Argentina to visit a woman with whom he'd been having an affair. He apologized to his wife and four sons and said he will resign as head of the Republican Governors Association. Sanford is well-known for calling for resignations for others in Congress who had admitted similar affairs. He was also well-known for opposing any form of gay-rights, civil-unions, adoptions, while touting the “sacredness of marriage.”

* Former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich...previously mentioned.

That's just a few... I'm sure we could go on with preachers and family-values crusaders that have been caught in bed with everything but their wives... But I thought I'd keep the list short....

CinnamonGirl wrote: Okay, you bring up that Newt it is a cheater and that he is a hypocrite mostly because he is a rep. but we are not allowed to point out that Clinton was a hypocrite too and that it does not follow party lines. And for some weird reason Clinton lying and saying he didn't have sex is not the same. I am not making this up. You brought it up not me.

Like I just posted, you started this thread, now tell us what you think of the man without saying that Clinton did it too.

archer wrote: This thread was supposed to be about Gingrich....but as evidenced by the course this thread has followed it sorta proves what I was saying in the beginning, you cannot discuss Republicans who cheat without making it all about Clinton.

Seems to me that the slam the progressives have regarding Gingrich is not his policies, but his sexual behavior. Is it not natural to ask why the sexual transgressions of a progressive are not then held to the same standard? My problems with Clinton had little to do with his marital infidelity, they were policy based. I wasn't any fonder of Clinton's policies than I am of Obama's - mostly because they are so similar in so many areas. I am just as unlikely to vote for Obama as I was to vote for Clinton because of that. If the sole objection to Gingrich is his sexual escapades, then there really isn't much to object to from the progressive side of the aisle given that Clinton's sexual dalliance presented no similar barrier to his finding support among so many Democrats.

Go back and look at what I said. I only cared because LJ said blow jobs aren't cheating. Newt was because he stuck his d*** in her ***** instead of her mouth. I pointed out that was ridiculous. They are both jerks. That was my only point.

so PS....you too are saying don't condemn Gingrich because Clinton did it too....and if democrats supported Clinton then Republicans should have no problem supporting Gingrich. Got it.

My point was to point out the obvious problem with Newt Gingrich as a presidential candidate... Do you honestly believe that his marital transgressions won't be at the top of any opposition research and campaign ads? CLINTON ISN'T RUNNING... GINGRICH IS...

CinnamonGirl wrote: Go back and look at what I said. I only cared because LJ said blow jobs aren't cheating. Newt was because he stuck his d*** in her ***** instead of her mouth. I pointed out that was ridiculous. They are both jerks. That was my only point.

Are you saying then that you wouldn't support Gingrich for president?

This the dumbest thing I have ever argued about. Nevermind. Have fun!

I DO NOT support him for pres. I don't care. All I am saying is they are all hypocritical crazies and Blow jobs are the same as f******.

Okay. Done.

CinnamonGirl wrote: Okay, you bring up that Newt it is a cheater and that he is a hypocrite mostly because he is a rep. but we are not allowed to point out that Clinton was a hypocrite too and that it does not follow party lines. And for some weird reason Clinton lying and saying he didn't have sex is not the same. I am not making this up. You brought it up not me.

I don't think it's because he is a Republican, it's because he campaigned, along with the most of the Republicans, on moral and family values, while engaging in non-family values behavior. That's the hypocrisy.

Considering the field of candidates, Gingrich is probably better than average.

At least he's not a moron or a raving fundamentalist.

He has shown leadership capabilities in the past.

But I doubt his staying power.

He strikes me as one of those guys who can make a big stir but kind of gets bored of his own spiel when it's time to actually get to work and implement all those grandiose ideas.

I do think he has been hypocritical about campaigning for "family values" while his own personal life has been less than sterling in that regard. But he certainly isn't the first public figure who tried to hide his own peccadilloes in a cloak of righteousness. And any way, if we had to eliminate every person who has had a sexual indiscretion from high public office I'm not sure how many would be left. And as mentioned above...the field is pretty skimpy as it is.