To Newt Gingrich haters (vanity)

Vanity | April 13, 2012 | CutePuppy

[CutePuppy]

I think you are missing something here. Newt would bring the ever Lurking Calista with him and she was the cause of divorce # 2. He was rubbing it in everybody's face that an old coot like him could get somebody like her. No matter how God awful she looked. He was delusional to think he could get the evangelicals with that approach. Newt is the one that shot himself in the foot not Hume. Hume is just another excuse for Newt in a long line of excuse's.

He was rubbing it in everybody's face that an old coot like him could get somebody like her. No matter how God awful she looked.

This doesn't make any sense. If Callista really looked "God awful," how would it be that "he was rubbing it in everybody's face"? And do you suggest he should not have appeared with his wife at the political events but rather should have left her behind? And for which particular reason - being "God awful" or being "too young and too beautiful"?

I think your statement is, at the very least, subjective, projective, unworthy and, by accounts of most people who know and have met Callista, simply untrue and offensive.

Newt would bring the ever Lurking Calista with him and she was the cause of divorce # 2.

Are you really so blinded by hate that you have no compunctions about repeating and even magnifying the thoroughly disproved, debunked, refuted old lies sprung by the vile liberal media and propagated by the sclerotic GOP establishment?

If you really want to educate yourself on the facts, let's separate them from hateful fiction.

First, Callista is no more "Lurking" near her husband at the events than any other candidate's wife, be it Ann Romney or Karen Santorum.

Second, Newt met Callista for the first time and started dating her in 1993, 6 years after he was legally separated in 1987 from his estranged runaway wife #2, Marianne Ginther Gingrich (who chose to keep that name after the divorce) so Callista could not possibly have been the reason or cause for their separation and eventual divorce. Gingrich has been with Callista for more than 18 years, and happily married to her since 1999, after he resigned from Congress and finalized the bitter drawn-out divorce from Marianne, which she wouldn't grant him in 1994 when he was busy executing the Second Republican Revolution / Gingrich Revolution working to take over the Congress and pushing through the Congress and the vetoes the Contract With America. Callista, not Marianne, was with him through the trials and tribulations of that exciting and turbulent time, and 18 years together with her (more than 12 years in marriage) is much longer and happier than so many marriages are today. For the sake of the family Newt later converted to life-long faith of Callista, Catholicism.

Details / Refs:
Gingrich: If it comes to a shutdown, the GOP should stick to its principles - FR post #104, 2012 February 12

Gingrich admits ABC claim was false - FR post #32 / WSJ, No-Fault Newt, by James Taranto, 2012 January 20

The Inner Quest of Newt Gingrich (1995: Marianne Promised To "Undermine Everything" For Newt) - FR post #143, 2012 January 18 / PBS/VF, by Gail Sheehy, 1995 September

Romney Must Get Personal Over Bain Capital Attacks - FR, posts #21, #36, #42, #3, 2012 January 12

• < snip > ..... Documents related to the divorce filed Friday in Cobb County Superior Court include a separation agreement signed by the couple and notarized in December 1987. ..... Browning said Marianne Gingrich called her husband on his birthday in June 1987 to tell him she was leaving him.

  Gingrich, he said, came back to Georgia to find his home emptied out. Browning said the pair maintained separate residences for six years ..... < snip >

Things happen in marriage, it doesn't always work out between two people, no matter how wonderful or horrible they might otherwise be. Rush Limbaugh is on his fourth marriage, to a much younger woman from a prominent Democratic family, he has no children, yet how many would question his conservative credentials, including being pro-life, pro-family and pro-marriage? Reagan was divorced and remarried when he became President, yet he's been one of the best pro-life and pro-family Presidents.

Newt has good relationship with his first wife Jackie (who wasn't dying from cancer and wasn't served divorce papers when she was in the hospital - another debunked liberal lie, picked up by Newt's detractors) and he and Callista have great relationship with his daughters and grandchildren. Instead of being bitter about this, we should be happy for them, just like we are for Karen Santorum who made her share of mistakes in her youth, but found a good path and good marriage.

Also notice that some of the most ardent supporters of Newt on FR are women. So much for the "gender gap" that many so-called "conservatives" keep warning us about Newt becoming a nominee... How is this "gender gap" working out for Mitt Romney so far in national polling? Never overestimate the "well-meaning warnings" as usually they are just a case of "reverse psychology" in action.

He was delusional to think he could get the evangelicals with that approach.

Also completely inaccurate.

In reality, the evangelical "leaders" have been very split about Newt and Rick, and then, as usual, chose poorly, in favor of "wear it on the sleeve" but poorly prepared, underfunded and unorganized candidate who had no chance to win but possibly get just enough support to either get "promoted" himself to VP slot or (if he becomes unviable as campaign unfolds) to push Romney to choose an evangelical "family values" candidate, à la Bush-Quayle ticket. Grassroots evangelical support can sometimes provide the margin of victory (slim, near miss Electoral College victories by George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004) but, in itself, is not enough to win national elections or elect a candidate that does not meet "GOPe Seal of Approval."

Bob Vander Plaats of Iowa, just like he did with Huckabee in 2008, endorsed Santorum, who was then polling at 2%, despite Newt providing Plaats' organization with $150K that were crucial to the successful ousting of three pro-gay-marriage Iowa Justices. And while Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer and James Dobson also endorsed Santorum, it took three rounds of voting to decide the "official endorsement" between Newt and Rick, with many other evangelical leaders either absent or openly individually endorsing Newt after this "consensus vote" at the Pressler Ranch near Houston, just before SC primary. Tim and Beverly LaHaye (Chair of Concerned Women of America), Jim Garlow, Don Wildmon and others also endorsed Newt, although they didn't actively campaign for him the way Dobson, Plaats, Perkins and Bauer did for Santorum.

From Gingrich: Christian Conservatives on My Side - RC, by Janie Lorber, 2012 January 17

< snip > ..... When presented with a choice between two candidates in the final round of voting, 85 of the participants voted for Santorum and 29 voted for Gingrich, a victory that Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Family Research Council, initially described as a "strong consensus." He walked back that characterization after a group of Gingrich supporters went public with concerns that it was not a consensus at all.

"We think it's unfortunate that, for whatever reason, that it got labeled an endorsement," former Rep. J.C. Watts (Okla.) said. "Those who went in supporting Newt Gingrich came out supporting him more strongly."

One Gingrich supporter at the meeting called the process a "hatchet job," and several attendees described scathing personal attacks, including references to the bad optics of a potential first lady — Callista Gingrich — who had once been the ex-Speaker's mistress. Others said several Gingrich supporters mistakenly left before the final round of voting. ..... < snip >

Look where Dobson, Perkins, Plaats and Bauer are now - they are reduced to going hat in hand to Romney camp / GOPe who will most likely treat them like Clinton did Sister Souldja.

The unprecedented amount of money and extraordinary lies and ruined "conservative" reputations, that it took to assault Gingrich in Florida, by entire GOPe, when they / Romney were on the verge of losing to the only representative Tea Party conservative remaining there showed that GOPe wants Tea Party to occupy the same place within the GOP structure that the social / "family values" conservatives do now - a reliable vote by a "minority" that "has nowhere else to go" - basically the same exact role that the blacks, Jews, GLBT, "women" and other "minorities" represent for the establishment of the Democrat party. It was a fight for survival for GOPe, against a small(er) government, Reagan conservatives Tea Party movement.

If we don't unite behind Newt, the Tea Party will be just like evangelicals - a few minority "local" groups that are only paid a lip service by GOPe on the national level. That may be just fine with some evangelical "leaders" - just like the blacks got the "first black President" Bill Clinton and now the first African-American (literally, Kenyan-American) President, the evangelicals might get another "compassionate conservative" like Bush-43. Where does it leave the country and the rest of us?

Evangelicals have simply been used by the GOPe to split the Tea Party vote, by providing them a "true conservative" alternative in the form of Santorum. For instance, there was never an attempt to intimidate or negotiate a cut off of Foster Friess' SuperPAC funds that provided just enough of a lifeline for Santorum's campaign, unlike pulling all stops to get Sheldon Adelson stop donations to SuperPAC for Gingrich, or planting various false stories about the funds cut just before the states' primaries (thus diverting votes of supposedly "strategic" voters from Gingrich to Romney or Santorum).

(BTW, as an aside, the reason for Adelson not favoring Rick has nothing to do with his religious or social views - Vegas is a union town, casinos and restaurants there have had problems with several unions for decades, so the record of historically cozy relations of Santorum with unions is anathema to Vegas businessmen. There are large patches of prime real estate off the Strip in Vegas that have been for sale for a long time that nobody wants to buy and develop, but Adelson's Las Vegas Sands and Sands Cotai Central is opening another $5B casino in Macau, and plans to spend $35B over 9 years to build casinos and resorts in Spain, Macau and elsewhere in Asia - sales and profits are substantially higher per square foot overseas than in the unionized and overregulated U.S. / Vegas casinos).

Unfortunately, the entire Santorum's / evangelicals campaign plan was based entirely on trying to get Newt's votes and Newt out of the race, even though everybody understood that he would be crushed by Romney immediately after, one on one, even as Gingrich kept nearly publicly saying (to no avail for mathematically challenged) that he sees this as a fight to deny Romney most delegates rather than just "winning" the states while ceding delegates to Romney because Santorum didn't even have the required delegates in several states:

From Santorum, Paul look past Nevada caucuses - WPVI-TV, 2012 February 04

MONTROSE, Colo. (AP) - February 4, 2012 (WPVI) -- Rick Santorum said Saturday he wants to "endanger" rival Newt Gingrich while presidential rival Ron Paul claimed to have "reason to be optimistic" heading into Tuesday's contests as both Republican hopefuls peered ahead past the Nevada caucuses that handed both defeat. ..... < snip >

..... Santorum's strategy has been to bloody Gingrich, outlast his one-time ally and then emerge as the eventual alternative to front-runner Romney. He also looked to have a strong showing Tuesday in Missouri, which is having a non-binding primary that lacks Gingrich's name on the ballot. Santorum said he hoped the head-to-head matchup with Romney would change the narrative of his sagging fortunes. ..... < snip >

From Santorum refuses to bow despite another loss - WPVI-TV, 2012 February 05

< snip > ..... Santorum has little money and virtually no momentum. He's trailing badly in national polls. He's had trouble getting on ballots in Virginia and Indiana. And he has essentially no staff in upcoming states - much less anything resembling the national operations his rivals are running.

He no longer has a national campaign headquarters; technically, he calls a post office box in Pennsylvania his base camp. His inner circle is seldom in the same location. His campaign manager is a New Hampshire consultant. His deputy campaign manager is Iowa-based and was only recently named to that role in an official capacity. His senior political adviser runs a firm in South Carolina and calls it home. ..... < snip >

Santorum is banking on Gingrich collapsing under Romney's withering criticism, leaving Santorum in the coveted and fluid role of the leading conservative alternative to Romney. ..... < snip >

Whoever thought that this may be a winning strategy against GOPe was nuts and had not learned the lessons of Huckabee 2008 run, when there wasn't even a fraction of money and the entire GOPe machine deployed against him like there was against Gingrich this year. Evangelicals played right into Romney / GOPe hands by insisting on "endorsing" and actively working for the "more perfect" single issue conservative as opposed to the supposedly "flawed" conservative.

To the delight of GOPe, it finally gave them an alternative to Newt - the race has turned from Anybody-But-Romney into Anybody-But-Gingrich. (Alinsky's rule #12 - "The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.")

"The best weapon against an enemy is another enemy" - Friedrich Nietzsche

All they had to do now was keep Santorum's campaign on "life support" and ignore Gingrich as if he didn't exist in the race, except for ratcheting up the pressure on Adelson to cut off the funds to SPAC and keeping to mock Gingrich within the media and only repeatedly asking him when he is going to drop out (Alinsky's Rule #13 - "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.") to shut down his message and antagonize the voters against him within the party, similar to what they've done to Newt ever since he became the Speaker and to Palin since she became a VP candidate.

Newt has always been pro-life, unlike Mitt Romney who has been [s]electively pro-choice or pro-life when it suited him politically, or even Rick Santorum who has been pro-choice earlier in his life, before he married and ran for Congress (apparently, some early mistakes in life but not the life circumstances of the others could be forgiven by some evangelical leaders).

Newt was also an adopted child, an Army brat, having to move from place to place often, not experiencing or knowing much about love in his youth, and marrying very young and having two children in his 19 years long first marriage, yet at that time he also accomplished getting Master and PhD degrees in history and becoming a college professor. Yet he never plays up his humble and difficult upbringing. In contrast, Rick Santorum's stump speech starts with his grandfather in the "Pennsylvania mining town" while he conveniently avoids mentioning that he was basically a child of relative privilege (his father was a chief of psychology department, mother a chief of nurses in the local Butler, PA, VA hospital) so getting him a good education (MBA and JD) was not such a burden for his family.

I am not trying to dump on Rick, who is a good family man, and whose family has seen their share of tragedy and disappointments. But many of the people who were voting for Santorum or Romney somehow allowed themselves to be taken in by lies about Newt and not question them, progressing to hating Newt with a passion. I am just trying to show that if, in their minds, Rick and his family are deserving of Christian or human forgiveness for their transgressions, then certainly, by all means, so does Newt and his family.

Nobody gave Newt anything in life, he had to work very hard for everything he achieved in life, and despite all the hardship, he has a record of conservative accomplishments that very few people can boast or even dream about, both in public life and post-public entrepreneurial life. That's why he is hated, envied and, just like Ronald Reagan, reviled by the lunatic left and the comfortable establishment right.

"If you have no enemies, you are not important enough to have made any" - Alexandre Dumas

"It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit" - Ronald Reagan

Hume is just another excuse for Newt in a long line of excuse's.

As far as the old and tired meme of "excuses" and "whining" by Gingrich goes, if you ask for and are given an explanation of certain facts, you can always label anything you don't like an "excuse" or "whine" to ignore and avoid dealing with the substance of an explanation. That, in itself, is a poor, childish excuse for attempting to "win" the argument the substance of which you are unable to refute but unwilling to accept.

[CutePuppy]

This (slightly edited, for typos and added emphasis) was originally a response to a particularly uninformed post about Newt Gingrich and his wife Callista.

The post dispels and provides links and references to the information that debunks some still lingering myths about Newt and some periods of his life, general ignorance about which are constantly being exploited by his political opponents and nemeses, both on the left and the right.

Some FReepers suggested that it be made into a vanity post, and while vanity is not my strong suit, it's an important and relevant subject, so here it is, vanity by "popular" demand.

Link to the original post: Fox Fires Back at Gingrich: 'Bitter' Newt is 'Auditioning for a windfall of a gig at CNN' - FR, post #77, 2012 April 13

Also, Cincinatus' Wife provided a link to a blogger post which I found to have a lot of parallel themes and some additional details, so it may be of interest to readers as well. Nice to see some of this info getting into the blogosphere, maybe - finally! - it will find a wider audience, maybe even wide and receptive enough to change the course of history... Thanks, CW!

http://www.politijim.com/2012/04/honest-talk-about-gingrichs-woman.html - by PolitiJim, 2012 April 12

[OSHA]

WOW! That almost makes Newt look like a conservative.

[Jeff Chandler]

So are you voting for Mitt?

[CutePuppy]

This is the “by popular demand” vanity post, slightly edited from the other thread.

Thank you all, kindly, for nice comments there. I do not have a lot of time to tend the fort on this thread, but I hope you will do a wonderful job of it if it’s needed.

Thanks again.

[dforest]

I don’t care about Newt’s infidelity and marriages. I care about the republican record of Newt. The 1994 wins were not a victory for conservatives, it was a GOP victory. Newt has not been a conservative until this year when he ran for President.

Tells me all I need to know. The fact he was at an NRA conference declaring that the whole world needs the right to bear arms and taking it to the UN is worrisome because it shows Newt sees the UN as influential. He is a CFR guy you know.

I only care about the US and our Constitutional right to keep and bear arms. What the rest of the world does is up to them.

I do not acknowledge the UN.

[Gay State Conservative]

I don't hate Newt.Not at all.I simply am not convinced that he can beat Osama in November.In fact,I sincerely *doubt* that he can.Osama will eat him alive with his billion dollar scorched earth campaign.That's not the way it *should* be but,I'll wager,that's the way it *would* be.

[freedomfiter2]

Things happen in marriage, it doesn’t always work out between two people, no matter how wonderful or horrible they might otherwise be.

God has a different take on that. Newt has bigger problems than his women but I’d still vote for him.

[Hot Tabasco]

This is the “by popular demand” vanity post

Who in the popular community demanded it?

I think you're just preaching to the choir at this point........

[STARWISE]

THANK YOU!

[Hot Tabasco]

The fact ...... worrisome because it shows Newt sees the UN as influential.

Oh God, give me a f'n break!

[Sans-Culotte]

This vanity reminds me of fans of a losing football team saying “the other team won; but we had the better team”.

[Salvation]

Some people have disagreed with Newt on the subject of remarriage. He could not have become a Catholic unless all that was ironed out through panels in the Catholic Church.

Newt has changed dramatically. Here are some FR links about his conversion.

Newt Gingrich, a “John Paul II Catholic”
Newt Brings Gaelic Fury To The GOP Race (some personal family history)
Newt Gingrich Attacks Fashionable Anti-Catholic Bigotry
Newt Gingrich: What Kind of Catholic Is He? [Born Lutheran, Turned Baptist, Now Catholic]
Newt Gingrich: America’s Next Catholic President?
Clemson Palmetto Poll finds Gingrich (38%) momentum growing, most S.C. GOP voters still uncommitted
Gingrich Threatens GOP's Chance to Nab Independents

The Evangelical Case for Newt Gingrich
Gingrich Represents New Political Era for Catholics
Gingrich Represents New Political Era for Catholics [ecumenical}
Newt Gingrich on Catholicism and JPII
Why Newt Gingrich Converted to Catholicism
Exclusive: Newt Gingrich Opens Up on Catholic Conversion and Embracing 'Overt Christianity'
Newt Gingrich on his conversion to Catholicism
Gingrich Keeps Quiet on Catholic Conversion (received into Church over the past weekend)
Exclusive: Newt Gingrich conversion details; plans release of JP2 documentary
Gingrich to Become Catholic During Easter Season
The Newt Evangelization: Gingrich to become Catholic

[CutePuppy]

So are you voting for Mitt?

This and the "Who are working for?" and "How much are you getting paid by XYZ to post this? " type of questions are designed to obfuscate, ignore and avoid the substance and/or change the subject / reference from the substance or opinion on the issue to the poster, i.e., it goes into the same category of irrelevant arguments as:

As far as the old and tired meme of "excuses" and "whining" by Gingrich goes, if you ask for and are given an explanation of certain facts, you can always label anything you don't like an "excuse" or "whine" to ignore and avoid dealing with the substance of an explanation. That, in itself, is a poor, childish excuse for attempting to "win" the argument the substance of which you are unable to refute but unwilling to accept.

[mosesdapoet]

Don’t “hate” Newt...but he doesn’t have the count needed for the job ahead
On April 24th
Vote for the man who fought it
Not for the guy who hrought it
Vote Rick Sanorum and his or Newts delegates
OBMACARE is a 1.76 Trillion $ Hydra
A 9 headed Serpent whose heads must be decapitated all at once with a Firebrand otherwise they grow back and devour everything in sight
by L.J .Keslin / http://www.theusmat.com

While the ex governor of the only state with mandatory state run health insurance (which is in trouble ) was busy buying up state primary elections Of the three GOP candidates remaining opposing him only one man, Sen Rick Santorum, had the courage to take on a what they call a third rail issue...Eugenics...one of the heads on that 9 headed snake called obamacare.. and Santorum had his character asassinated for it... Rick has been pummeled from both sides Called , a women hater ,, a religious nut, and ..a one trick pony. Santorum spends an hour discussing oil and the economy then 10 seconds comenting about pornography but guess what MSM and Santorum detractors will talk about... certainly not ,what’s really in the 1.76 trillion dolllar wonder called Obamacare ,,...!; Population control,.Death panels., Private presidential armys..US paying for birth control pills and abortions and all that goes in those 2400 pages of rules, laws,and regulations and with it. cost, 1.76 trillion and rising ..

[dforest]

Think as you please, this is who Newt is.

yuck

[SatinDoll]

I doesn’t matter a damn bit what you post; you hate Gingrich, period. Don’t go making excuses.

[Marguerite]

“This is the “by popular demand” vanity post”

THIS is an awesome thread.
Thanks for posting it as such.
Every FReeper should read it.
It is the most honest, complete research I ever read here.

[dforest]

It was not an excuse. And yes, I do not care for Newt, I would vote for Palin, I would vote for Santorum, Allen West or a few others. Not for Newt. What Newt says is always subject to change if he feels like it. Newt is establishment. Just because he is still hanging around doesn’t impress me.

Just the way it is.

[skinkinthegrass]

great picture of President Newton "I'm the ESTABLISHMENT's Worst Nightmare" Gingrich.

[MuttTheHoople]

You're right..I can't stand Newt. He did whatever it took to make it to the top..but when it came to nut-crunching time, Newt was exposed as a 1st class wuss in the 1995 budget battle. After that, he spent his time doing what he could to get in big with his K Street buddies, he dogged Conservatives whenever they showed up, and loved taking pictures with his good friend Nancy Pelosi.

After he found out his Washington Insider RINO K Street image wouldn't get him nominated as President, he invented his new "conservative" schtick.

Yes, I think he's scuzzy not only for caving to Monica Lewinsky's ex-boyfriend, but the fact he traded two women in on better models, AND attempts become a CATHOLIC,of all things (I'm not Catholic, but I always thought Orthodox Catholicism had a bit of a problem with divorce).

What would his schtick have been when he became President? After the first time the media criticized him for some milquetoast conservative thing he did, his next move would be the elimination of Take-Home Pay so he could make his Democrat buddies feel better.