I’m not sure how Newt’s second wife can say anything about Newt that hasn’t been said before. And anyway all Newt has to say is that the librul media is out to get him.
Is there any chance there’s anything in the interview that makes much difference? If so, what? Feel free to speculate on that and whatever else.
Raven
More than a feelin. .
cervantes
Maybe he was into threesomes with Marv Albert?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
since Carrie Anne–which ear worm I had this morning– was originally written about Marianne Faithful, we could ask what’s her game, can anybody play?
Reading about this, I had the nagging feeling I had already heard this, wondering if it was my imagination. Nope, wasn’t even that long ago. I’ll be interested to see how this takes hold, if it isn’t real till I see it on the TeeVee.
Mike in NC
If Marianne breaks down in front of the camera and declares Newt to be the biggest scumbag on two feet, that just might be enough to put him over the top in SC, where he and Romneybot are in a 50/50 dead heat.
I’m pulling for the fat man. Go, Newt, go! Get those undecided yahoos off the fence.
Wiesman
I’m pretty sure Newt will respond to this the same way he responded to Pelosi’s threat to tell all about what she knows from the House investigation. “What an extraordinary gift,” he said, and meant it.
When ABC runs with the story, Newt will be able to say that the liberal media is out to get him. This is why the ABC execs were wringing their hands on whether to run the Marianne interview. They know what’s coming. The funny thing is, they still don’t get that Newt doesn’t mind one bit being able to point at ABC and call himself a victim.
The response of anyone who is predisposed to support Newt will be to rally around Newt. Saturday might be interesting.
The Moar You Know
Even the willing idiots over at RedState acknowledge that Newt has a history that would offend pretty much anyone’s sensibilities.
The storm will be over by Monday. Hopefully Newt will win SC and continue to swing the baton at Richie Rich’s kneecaps.
Villago Delenda Est
Ack, someone beat me to “It’s more than a feeling”.
Which applies to Noot. “It’s more than a feeling that this guy is slime.”
joeyess
Unless she produces pictures of Newt naked with young boys, the Crazyfication Caucus will just yawn and rally behind him as a victim of women, the media, his political rivals, and Barack Obama.
smintheus
Republican voters are so perverse that they might give Newt a bump just to stick it to libruls.
Saw a clip of interview on ABC, in which Marianne said that Newt wanted her to “share” him with Callista…iow he was asking for an open marriage.
Special Patrol Group
TPM says SC Repubs don’t care:
I think there’ll be a nice push-back plate of “that bitter bitch harpy had it coming” with a side of “what do you expect from the ultra-Liberal NotFox News anyway?”
Raven
Someone indeed. . .
Urza
ThinkProgress is reporting he asked her for an open marriage so he could have the mistress plus the wife before he divorced her. I’m hoping there’s proof because he’ll just say she’s lying.
http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/01/19/407002/despite-publicly-backing-one-man-one-woman-marriage-newt-asked-ex-wife-to-share-me-with-other-women/
Violet
It’s not so much that it’s new information. It’s more that people haven’t been forced to face this aspect of his character since he’s not been forced to deal with it yet in this race.
I’d say two points are important. One, many voters have conveniently pushed Gingrich’s philandering ways out of their mind. This interview will remind them of what he did. Two, we’ve never heard directly from Marianne. Depending on how the interview goes, if she plays the “I was a good Christian woman and I still am, and he embarrassed and degraded me” card, a lot of Christian wives and women in general are going to sympathize with her. If she sounds spiteful, then that changes the equation.
When Governor Hiking-the-Appalachian-Trail cheated on his wife, women sided with her. I suspect this interview could have a similar effect.
Raven
I’m sure he put it in writing.
dmsilev
About the only thing I can think of that would damage him would be “Newt threatened to leave me for another man”.
Villago Delenda Est
@Special Patrol Group:
Well, of course it’s not her place to judge his personal behavior.
He’s a Rethuglican.
Now, if his name were William Jefferson Clinton, none of this applies.
Special Patrol Group
Raise your hand if you would bet that Deeni Everly firmly believed that the Clenis should have been deported, back in the late 1990s.
I thought so.
…er…edited to note that I just saw the above comment…
smintheus
@Urza: When it posted that clip, ABC said that Gingrich’s response was he had no comment except to affirm that he wasn’t going to say anything negative about her.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
lets not over think it, we are talking about a story penetrating the regressive confines of the conservative hive mind.
marianne in the can may have said it before, may have been saying it for years, but much like the wrong pall newsletters, it take the right push, from the right people to penetrate conservative impermeability to things anyone who isn’t cloistered might think is common knowledge.
just feign surprise and enjoy the show.
jl
What I want to know is, did Perry drop out because Colbert threatened to beat him, just as Colbert threatened Huntsman?
From morning news, the headline takeaway form the Wife number 2 interview is that Newt asked for an open marriage. So far, that does not seem to be hurting him.
I can see why, the Xtianists and reactionaries have a soft spot for the randy man sinner. In a way, that is the foundation of goode olde timey patriarchy.
And, the interview showed Newt’s capacity for growth. The second time around he didn’t just dump his wife while she was in the middle of a dire health crisis. No, he understood that it was important to have dialogue with the wife. All the interview showed was the Newt was struggling, the best he could, towards salvation. The End.
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
@Violet:
I don’t know if that first strategy would work. I’m waiting to see which wingnut is the first to say that Marianne is just a hypocritical adulteress trying to deflect attention from her own sins.
Cheap Jim
Mind you this is only speculation, but Marianne may imply that Newt had relations with her before they were married.
Tom Q
Put me down for This won’t matter/it just shows how terrified the leftist media is of a Newt candidacy. Yeah, it might hurt a bit with women voters, but they mostly despise Newt already; his support is overwhelmingly male.
In the general, of course, it’s kryptonite, but, then, what about Newt isn’t?
smintheus
@Violet: Until recently (at least) Newt’s support among women was already much lower than among men.
The opposite has been the case with Perry btw, so Perry’s endorsement of Newt may not convince his female supporters to shift on over to the vile bucket of lard.
Raven
Slouching
Brachiator
Damn fine thread title
Also, too, the Mountains and Maryann are calling out to Newt. But all is not well.
Curt
@Violet: Exactly. And teevee’s a hotter medium than print, which is where this information first came out. The optics of the interview could have an impact. If nothing else, whether it matters or not is one more thing for rethugs to argue about amongst themselves, and that’s always a good thing.
wormtown
@Brachiator: Thanks for the Gordon Lightfoot.
Villago Delenda Est
@jl:
Again, if you’ve got a (D) behind your name, none of this applies. Oh, a few good ol’ boys might acknowledge that Bill Clinton was living their dream with all these women tossing themselves at him (Sharon Stone: if he were available, “I’d be on him like white on rice”), but that won’t stop them from seeking to make political hay, even if he was cheating on that lesbian bitch, Hillary.
Likewise with John Edwards and any other Dem who strays. In Rethuglicans, it’s just boys being boys. Those rascals! Those rapscallions!
David Koch
You guys are too sophisticated.
Most people don’t keep up with the news. Most people will be hearing details about Newt’s wacky affair for the first time.
Tonybrown74
I think Mitt backers are betting this will be Newt’s “Black Baby” moment in South Carolina. The question is will it work?
jl
If Newt can sell himself as the new Rahab, it’s all good. The sermon is a standard, and is already written and ready in churches across this great land.
ChrisNYC
I heard this morning that NG’s already way behind with women evangelicals so he doesn’t have far to fall.
In other crazies news, Erickson says that Ron Paul supporters are plotting convention hijinks. They have infiltrated local parties and are running to be Romney deles. If RP gets enough deles through the primaries, they can force a second ballot and, because delegates can change their candidate at that point, RP could win! I don’t trust Erickson because he is a grifter and shill but it would fun fun fun.
smintheus
This bit I think is going to destroy any remaining chance Newt might conceivably have had of ever attracting much support among women:
Raven
So long Marriane
Raven
http://www.songmeanings.net/m/song/74406/
Rathskeller
@David Koch:
very true. plus the multiple affairs.
on the other hand, he called the president a n***** in coded language, so he’s got that going for him.
Cat Lady
For now, I need your hidden love
I’m cold as a new razor blade
You left when I told you I was curious
Did I ever say that I was brave?
Raven
We met when we were almost young
deep in the green lilac park.
You held on to me like I was a crucifix,
as we went kneeling through the dark.
Oh so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began …
Your letters they all say that you’re beside me now.
Then why do I feel alone?
I’m standing on a ledge and your fine spider web
is fastening my ankle to a stone.
Now so long, Marianne, it’s time that we began …
comrade scott's agenda of rage
What gets me is ABC’s so-called agonizing over running this.
As mentioned above, if the politician’s name in this story was Bill Clinton, Faux “News” would broadcast such an interview in a heartbeat.
Now, ABC probably doesn’t want to “stoop” to Faux’s level, or at least that’s what they’re telling themselves. No, they’re scared shitless that 3000 wingnuts will light up their phone lines saying that they’ll never watch another ABC teevee show ever again.
They really are that scared of the right.
Violet
@jl:
Just heard some wingnut talk show guy say that Newt is like Abraham and Moses and others in the Bible who were terrible sinners before the grace of God touched their lives. No I am not making that up.
Amit Joshi
I don’t see how this will matter. Romney’s still an awkward doofus, and his tax shenanigans will do him in eventually. Really, as a loud-and-proud Obot, I’d rather Romney be the Repub nominee. Gingrich will take all this shit thrown at him during the primaries, slap it all back, and emerge for the general election with all this behind him. He’s shameless, speaks confidently, and is not a black democrat–that’s enough for republicans to rally round! After all, remember that McCain/Palin still got over 45% of the vote in 2008!
Trinity
@ChrisNYC: There is not enough popcorn in the world if this happens.
Fun With Hydrangeas
Any word from Bobo regarding prurient intrusions?
mikeyes
@Violet:
It’s not even new information. Steve Benen points to the Esquire interview with her two years ago.
Brachiator
@Tom Q:
I don’t know. Mitt will peel off some moderates and Independents. Newt, on the other hand, would be the ideal candidate for Obama to run against.
Bill Clinton had a prickly side, but he could largely contain his rages in public. Newt thinks he’s a mastermind, but he is easily rattled.
It is also clear that Newt feels very comfortable in invoking the dogs of racism. I would love to see him try to pull this stuff directly in a campaign against Obama. Newt would be too smugly stupid to back down or reconsider his words. And Obama would clean his clock.
Raven
No fucking body reads Esquire.
Villago Delenda Est
@ChrisNYC:
The Paulistas are really big on fantasy.
slag
I don’t know DougJ. Maybe we need yet another thread on the subject to really get to the bottom of this vital issue.
Mark S.
Newt’s leading in the new Rassuman poll: 33-31. Shit, I thought this thing was over, but Newt Tebow is staging a comeback!
patrick the pedantic literalist
An abortion.
Violet
@mikeyes:
An Esquire interview? In South Carolina? You’re kidding, right? Might as well have been published in Zambia or Uzbeki-beki-stan-stan. It’ll be new information for most people in South Carolina.
eric k
Cheap Jim,
I think it is pretty much already known that Gingrich had relations with Wife #2 while still married to Wife #1 and Wife #3 while still married to Wife #2 (for like 6 years IIRC)
The comment above form some woman in SC is pretty much what they will all say. Bill Clinton cheats on his wife, worst thing ever, shows he is unworthy to be president, a republican does it, hey we believe in forgiveness…
The Moar You Know
@Special Patrol Group: Says a woman who will be voting for a Republican because she was told the alternative is Muslim, black, Communist, and Kenyan, when he is in fact only one of the four.
Love how the God Squad selectively enforces rules.
jhtrotter
It’s about free love! Valentine Michael Gingrich! Newt is a closet DFH! New spin on 1967, make love, AND war! Go Newt!
Or not, it’s all merely speculation.
geg6
This is completely OT, but I thought you’d enjoy it Doug, knowing you love it when one of our media overlords get taken down a peg or two. And the best part of this is that it’s fucking Ron Fournier, of all people on earth, who schools Andrea Mitchell in this clip. Immediately after which, Mitchell shuffles him off the screen as fast as she possibly can.
(Apologies for linking to a Joan Walsh column, but that’s where I saw this and just laughed and laughed)
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/19/watch_mr_one_percent_snap_at_a_99_percenter/
ChrisNYC
@Villago Delenda Est: I know! Doesn’t it sound so so so much like them, though. Building a secret Ron Paul army in Mitt Romney swag. They would LOVE that. I bet they bring walkie talkies.
Raven
Do you know what it is the “mainliner”?
Raven
Do you know what it is the “mainliner”?
Gin & Tonic
@smintheus: My almost entirely apolitical wife has pretty much no opinion on any of the candidates except for Newt, whom she despises with a passion I rarely see.
dedc79
A phenomenal song from a highly under-rated album. So many good lines. “I’ll pick you up late at night after work
I said lady, Step inside my Hyundai”
pseudonymous in nc
I’m surprised that the godbothering GOPpers of Lesser Carolina can reconcile gNoot’s “you gotta sin to be saved” attitude with his becoming a Papist in order to do so, given that Catholicism is generally considered a cult as culty as Mormonism in that part of the world.
Elizabelle
My mother (85 years old) has been quite the comic relief today.
Hanging out with her, MSNBC on in background, with Newt Gingrich proclaiming himself “humbled” by the Rick Perry endorsement.
Mom: “That man has never been humble in his life.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@geg6: Holy Mother of Meltdowns, Batman!
The Romneybot really does not like being contradicted by his underlings, and…
…It’s been a while since I’ve encountered Mrs Greenspan. I see my recollection of her as a halfwit was accurate.
trollhattan
@Raven:
This, and well, it involves reading. Also, too, when it was published Newton had no political life or future. He still doesn’t but he is running, so it will have a bit more resonance.
Then there’s the whole “bug/feature?” thing.
geg6
@dedc79:
Huh? Boston was singing about Hyundais in 1976, a full decade before Hyundai came to America?
I must be missing something here.
Violet
@geg6:
Ooh, I saw this! This is the clip where Andrea Mitchell calls Mittens “Reaganesque.” BWAHAHAHAHA! Fournier just takes her apart on that comment. Great stuff!
dmsilev
@geg6: Man, the Romneytronic 3000 doesn’t deal well with unexpected inputs, does it?
DonnaInMichigan
Wasn’t Marianne the first mistress, when Newt was married to his wife that was dying of cancer?
So she was shocked that he did the same thing to her, as he did with her?
Sorry, don’t have any sympathy with this one.
geg6
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Apparently, neither does Mrs. Greenspan. The look on her face when Fournier smacked her down and derailed her paen to Mittens’ Reaganesque bullying was just priceless. And Fournier was shuffled off so fast that his head is still spinning.
jl
@Violet: And I forgot about the story of Judah and the harlot by the side of the road.
Wife no. 2 can be cast as a harlot, since her feminine wiles broke up Newt’s first marriage.
Newt’s response, if any, will be found fitting for a patriarch operating under the grace of YHWH.
IIRC, there is a goat involved.
Anyway, as long as Newt wants poor (black) kids to work their way through school by cleaning the toilets of rich kids, then any and every thing will be rationalized away.
For, God works in mysterious ways beyond the ken of mere humans.
Soon, we will here that only a stiff necked and rebellious people would question the goodness of Newt.
geg6
@geg6:
Ah, the Beck clip is what I was missing. Meh. Not much of a fan. Not a fan of Boston either, but it does take me back to my misspent youth.
dedc79
@geg6: admittedly it sounds better on the album (Midnite Vultures). Beck can’t quite croon, but I thought it was brave of him to try.
Special Patrol Group
Newt suggests that it might be OK to speak to non-white, non-straight, non-Christians in public.
lamh35
I Just don’t think that Newts ex-wife’s interview will hurt newt much in the primary. It’s too convient that she interviews now. Plus how much moral high ground does this woman really have when she the woman he was working on when his first wife was dying.
Also, I can so see the scenario where this just really pisses newt off even more and cause newt to just blow the whole process up just to get back at the GOP establishment of which he WAS leader of once and Romney
daize
@Raven: @Cat Lady: Beautiful, thanks.
David Koch
@Mark S.:
The MSM will never acknowledge it, but Colbert’s “Mitt the Ripper” ad was devastatingly effective.
Svensker
@jl:
I was told by a wingnut acquaintance the other day that “li’l kids having lemonade stands is All-American Capitalism At It’s Finest so shut up about Newt and the working kid thing, frigging Commie.” Apparently I don’t unnerstan this free-dumb thing too well.
gaz
@geg6: God I love beck, but his songs are very umm. I have to be in the right mood, but when he’s good – he’s stellar.
IMO:
A lot of his most popular stuff is meh – but he’s put out a lot of songs.
He did a sort of reinterpretation of Hey Mickey – different words though – similar overall rythym and melody but etc but reinterpreted – it’s called Timebomb.
Soldier Jane is a good song, as is I Think I’m in Love, Ramshackle, Beercan, Black Tamborine, Rental Car (heh)
Hell Yes, We dance alone, MTV Makes me wanna smoke crack (imo, the lounge version)
The trick with him is almost have to listen to his music with tongue firmly planted in cheek – like you would Zappa, I guess.
The guy has some real musical talent though, and a lot of material, but in order to appreciate him, you have to listen to the stuff they don’t play on the radio – and the other trouble with him, is like bowie, everyone is gonna love 2 songs and hate the rest of the album – but for everyone those 2 songs are different ;)
/end beck fanboy spiel
Amusing Alias
These guys always speak in code. The code here is that Marianne was sick (MS) and couldn’t perform her wifely duties (sex with Newt [shudder]). So Newt asked her to agree to a surrogate (Callista). Marianne said no, she wanted Newt to remain celibate because of her illness (yeah, ok, “sickness and in health”, blah, blah, blah). At that point Newt divorced Marianne, married Callista, and now Marianne is bitter.
It may or may not be true, but that is the story Newt “You-Can’t-Expect-Me-To-Forgo-Sex” Gingrich is trying to sell with a wink and innuendo.
Wordsmith
My apologies; I’ve yet to read any speculation here. Yesterday afternoon (MST) I heard a story on PRI or NPR in which a woman (evangelical christian) uprooted her family in Texas(?), on to Iowa and were now in S. Carolina. Her children accompanied her around towns stumping for Newt. Her reasoning: Newt had asked G*d or at least THEIR god – for forgiveness and he has been forgiven. Thus, everything is now hunky-dory.
See – the logic to me, someone who grew up surrounded by all kinds of idiots like this woman, and eventually getting degrees in religious studies and theology – is it’s simple. The tale of the woman at the well is often told to demonstrate forgiveness. However often ignored is the lesson: ‘Go and sin no more.’ We talked about character defects in my AA mtg at noon today – specifically Steps 6 & 7.
What this illustrates for me is the total lack of depth in both Newt and those whose Christianity appears stunted. They are surface Christians because being as totally immersed in their Christianity as they claim requires true, thorough, and complete renovation. It’s just like Maya Angelou retort to someone who apparently boldly revealed to her they were a Christian, “Already?” she asked/replied.
David Koch
PPP confirms Newt now leading S.C.!
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/main/2012/01/gingrich-leads-romney-on-1st-night-of-tracking.html#more
Popcorn and butter futures just soared.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@David Koch: I really think just replaying Mitt saying over and over again “Corporations are people, my friend!” is going to be enormously effective over the next few months, especially given the way he keeps digging.
I mean, running for President with money in the Cayman Island? How much is he really saving, as a percentage of his net worth, a quarter of a percent? half of a percent?
Svensker
@Wordsmith:
I love that.
WereBear (itouch)
What the hey? Isn’t that ALL they’ve been wanting to do for years now?
jl
@Wordsmith: sin, repent, forgiven, backslide, sin, repent, forgiven, backslide…
That is a popular theme in some quarters.
Gives a certain type of Christian a bad name.
Several friends of mine who were born and raised as Buddhists in Buddhist countries cite this type of thinking when the call Christianity a religion of hypocrites.
geg6
@WereBear (itouch):
Seriously, WTF? These are the same assholes who spent a lot of time and effort over the last 30 or so years judging every fucking thing about me. My gender’s ability to function in the working world, my ability to make medical decisions for myself, my atheism, my love life and living situation, and my chosen career.
Fuck this bitch. Fuck all of them.
Sledge Hammer
And anyway all Newt has to say is that the librul media is out to get him.
We all know that Newt carried on multiple affairs while testing out wives til he found one “good looking enough to be the wife of a president”. And while spearheading the blow-job impeachment drive. The Villagers know it and don’t care. The GOP Evangelical Base knows it and forgives him because he’s been washed in the blood of the lamb or born-again-again or something. But I don’t think that the majority of Americans knows it.
So I’m hoping it makes Newt grist for late-night comedy AND raises his ‘Ewwww’ factor w/the average, uninformed voter AND causes the GOP base to close ranks around one of their own against the librul media. Win-win-win!
geg6
@gaz:
Well, I’m not a Zappa fan either.
*sits and waits for incoming from the Zappa fanbois. (Ever notice there aren’t any female Zappa fans? They may exist but I’ve never run into one in 53 years. Kinda like Rush in that way, and no, I don’t mean Limbaugh though it’s true of him, too.)
Paris
Marianne will reveal that Newt is hung like weeble.
...now I try to be amused
@geg6:
My wife has remarked that Zappa is a guy’s musician.
Rome Again
Another possible bombshell:
Newt Gingrich was under FBI investigation for bribery
hamletta
@Sledge Hammer:
From your lips to God’s ears.
Remember how some wag said George HW Bush reminded women of their first husband? And he was just kinda dorky.
Nutella
@Sledge Hammer:
Yeah, this interview won’t make much of a splash but it does make Newt’s marriages news again, not just gossip, so reporters can ask Newt and Callista about any specific allegation Marianne makes. I’d love to see the video of Newt answering something like “Is it true, as Mrs G #2 said on ABC, that you called her to say you loved her while naked in HER bed with Callista?” Or when they ask Callista to confirm if that actually happened.
And it may make Newt even crankier to be challenged about this kind of thing so he makes even nastier remarks about Romney than he already does.
satby
@Special Patrol Group: @10, and did TPM follow up this “I’m a Christian, it’s not my place to judge” twaddle with a question on where this woman stood on choice or gay rights? Bet there’s some judging goin’ on there.
WereBear (itouch)
@geg6: Well, there’s me. AND one if my favorites is Weasels Rip My Flesh.
One if the reasons Republicans are determined to go back to feudal times is that is what their current overlords want. Back when, it was people like Eisenhower and Dewey and the Rockefellers. Now it’s the psycho Koch Brothers running the whole show.
Rafer Janders
In the end, this may be just the thing to push Newt to leave the GOP and run for the candidacy of a younger, hotter, healthier political party….
WaterGirl
@geg6: I have been thinking about you guys. Is today the day?
Svensker
@geg6:
This, this and this.
jl
@hamletta: So, Newt will remind them of their first adulterous affair with a total arrogant jerk who went to seed right before their eyes?
Shalimar
@Special Patrol Group:
But Robert Byrd was in the KKK so Democrats are the real racists.
Odie Hugh Manatee
The Noot is a true visionary! He knew that he would be in this position long ago, thus his asking his ex to “share” him with Callista. He was working on getting the “swing” votes!
What a genius!
gaz
@geg6: LOL.
Not until you mentioned it, but I think you are on to something?
JC
Isn’t it the case the only thing that will disabuse the party faithful, for a guy who has been feeding them red meat for years, and is ONE OF THE TRIBE, is Newt caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy?
Paul in KY
@geg6: Not too keen on Zappa (the music. Liked the guy). Don’t much care for Beck either.
Edit: Do like Rush (the band) though.