A reader writes:
Sorry Andrew, but I can not agree with your thoughts about Newt’s private sex life. IF it had been a one time thing, maybe, but he cheated on TWO wives, and I don’t think it a “bitter” thing for his second wife to come out on the campaign trail and tell the world the facts. The man is a lying, cheating hypocrite and certainly gets no sympathy from me. He sure showed no sympathy, charity or forgiveness to Clinton. I am a practicing Buddhist and it is what we call karma.
Another writes:
I know you don’t consider ABC’s piece a scoop because it was covered a while back by Esquire, and you are technically correct. That said, most people don’t read Esquire and have no idea Gingrich had been so cheeky as to ask for an open marriage. And nobody has actually seen Newt’s ex-wife tell all, an act that will have a very different emotional impact than reading an article in a magazine.
Another:
I’m a subscriber to Esquire magazine and even I missed the Gingrich profile. So, when you say, “We know this already,” I’m not sure to whom “we” applies? Is it the same “we” who knew that President Obama was born in the U.S. long before Donald Trump? Is it the same “we” who knew that Ron Paul published a newsletter that contained racist opinions before he was asked about them repeatedly last month?
Another is pissed:
I am so angry with you right now*. Did you really (really?) use the words “bitter” and “hell hath no fury…” to describe the ex-Mrs. Gingrich’s motives? You rightly decry when Newt uses dog-whistle signals about race, but then you fall prey to the same tactics in relation to gender? COME ON!
I would ask you: if you had been married to someone whose truest colors (the hypocrisy) hadn’t really been dissected, and years and years later your ex-husband was somewhat this close to becoming leader of the free world, would you stand by idly? Would you not feel a responsibility to shed some light on his…awfulness? I suspect you would. But because she’s a woman she’s bitter and furious? So very unfair, and surprising, from you. Stop it.
*My real life boyfriend (I’m female) calls you my “Internet boyfriend” because I am always pointing out to him how right you are about most issues. So I guess this is our first fight. He’s very happy right now.
Another:
If Marianne is “bitter”, which I doubt from my reading of the Esquire interview, then we need more of her type of patriotic bitterness. Her interview went far beyond the hypocritical adultery. She disclosed symptoms which look like sociopathy or mental health issues. She doesn’t believe Newt is fit for the presidency and I’m grateful she has the courage to come forward. Hopefully, ABC’s interview takes the right tone and puts the emphasis in the right place. Hopefully, the inevitable attacks against Marianne, the messenger, won’t dissuade the media from aggressively pursuing the very real possibility of Newt’s incompetence.
Another:
This isn’t about a ‘private consensual sex life’ at all. It’s about breach of contract. Gingrich didn’t just take a public, religious vow of sexual fidelity; he committed to an economic and emotional partnership, ‘for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.’ And twice he flagrantly violated that vow as soon as the “sickness” clause kicked in. He abandoned his first wife when she was diagnosed with cancer, and his second after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. That’s not about libido; he cheated on his wives for years before filing for divorce. The far greater betrayal is the selfish, narcissistic willingness to abandon a partner just when they stand most in need of support.
Another seems to agree with Palin, heard hovering above:
I don’t think Newt could ask for better fortune than ABC going forward with his ex-wife’s story tonight because if there’s one thing we know about the “conservative” electorate it’s that they will rush in to support any “conservative” that is perceived as being attacked by the mainstream media. Newt will quickly pivot this story into an unfair attack on him by the liberal media and gladly climb up onto the martyr’s pedestal. And if there’s one thing the Republican base relishes, it’s putting on the cloak of victimhood.
The Dish 