Gingrich's attack on media baseless, infidel powerplay

As always, Newt Gingrich continues to use his "I can do no wrong" aggressive arrogance to attack truth seekers instead of checking out the man in the mirror, instead of fessing up to deeds which many consider immoral breaches of trust.

In last night's Republican debate, when asked about possible infidelity and an "open marriage" request, Gingrich answered the question posed by veteran CNN journalist John King in this manner, "The destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media make it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office."

First of all, before taking a job in what Gingrich categorizes as the "elite" media, one has to sign a contract that demands professionalism, ethical behavior, and truthfulness. For instance, the Cox Media Group which owns the Atlanta Journal-Constitution requires reporters to sign a news staff policy agreement which includes, "Newspapers function as a watchdog on government and other institutions. This means we must adhere to a high ethical standard ourselves. We cannot hold others to a higher standard than our own. We must conduct ourselves and our business in a way that reflects favorably on us as professionals and the AJC as an institution devoted to the public good."

I'm sure John King had to sign a similar agreement. Political candidates, however, do not have to sign these types of agreements. When Gingrich was Speaker of the House, he took an oath to defend the Constitution. As required by Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution, "Members of Congress shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support the Constitution. Representatives, delegates, and the resident commissioner all take the oath of office on the first day of the new Congress."

Gingrich took the following oath, "I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

When he got married, he also took an oath: "I, Newt, take thee, Candance (1st wife)/ Marianne (2nd wife), to be my lawful wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth." He agreed to remain faithful to his wives two times before he married his present wife who was his mistress. He asked wife #2 for a divorce soon after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

And if Newt becomes President, will he also take his oath lightly? My guess is that he will fall back into being as faithless a leader as he was an infidel in the bedroom.

The best way to win a war is not to start one. Don't start no S, won't be no S!

Photo by Gage Skidmore. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

©2012 Tomi Johnson. All rights reserved.