NEWTERED

Though politicians in general do seem to have trouble remembering their past missteps, when it comes to totally reinventing yourself, Newt Gingrich takes the cake. He is, of course, a former Speaker of the House, author of the political doctrine, “Contract With America,” which was instrumental in sweeping the Republicans into power, and the driving force behind the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal. Out of office for almost a decade, Gingrich has become, to the astonishment of some, an elder statesman of the conservative movement – his opinions are enthusiastically sought by a variety of political talk shows - and is poised to strike if no clear front-runner emerges for the Republican presidential nomination.

What strikes some people as astonishing is that not so long ago Mr. Gingrich was ridden out of town on a rail. Here’s what Wikipedia says about the former speaker, who eventually faced eighty-four separate ethics charges:

“Gingrich admitted that he had violated House rules. (He) was sanctioned for $300,000 after the House Ethics Committee concluded that his use of tax-deductible money for political purposes and inaccurate information supplied to investigators represented an "intentional or . . . reckless" disregard of House rules. Special Counsel James M. Cole concluded that Gingrich violated federal tax law and had lied to the ethics panel in an effort to force the committee to dismiss the complaint against him.”

The icing on the re-invention cake is that Mr. Gingrich, who so publicly disparaged Bill Clinton for being an adulterer and then lying to Congress about it, has, himself, been married three times and had a number of well publicized, extra-marital affairs. To this Mr. G responds, “I have, on occasion, not lived up to my own standards.” That’s what I call chutzpah, with a capital CH.

a foot on either side