Early this morning I scanned an article covering details of the ABC interview with Newt Gingrich’s ex-wife, Marianne.  In the referenced video clip as well as accompanying quotes in a Washington Post article, the former Mrs. Gingrich reports among other things that:

• Gingrich asked for an “open marriage” arrangement,
• that he had been involved in a long-term affair with his legislative aid at that point,
• and that soon after this conversation he moved forward with divorce proceedings even though she had just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and the doctor had warned about stress-inducing situations.

I was in a bit of a hurry and wanted to scan a few other sources, but right before I signed off I quickly noticed a quote that weighed heavily on my mind.  Returning to review it again this evening, I now can only find one source for this quote which is interestingly the “Daily Mail” out of the United Kingdom.  Here’s the sentence:

Last year, she said in an interview: ‘He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don’t have to be connected.’

At first I wondered about the credibility of the quote because it appears it was pulled from the original article I saw this morning.  I looked through eight other sources who reprinted most all the information from the Washington Post article and none of them had this particular quote line, nor anything along the “actions vs ideas” issue.  I can’t know if the journalism entities decided to only focus on the new interview information, if there is a problem with the credibility of the quote, or if it was pulled for general editing purposes.  But that sentence, I felt, is the core of the big question about Gingrich…and, about ourselves.

Does he believe what he says in public and how he lives have to be connected?  And, do we? Continue reading Of Marriage, Commitment, Politics and Presidents →