Forgive and forget! That’s what Newt Gingrich wants, when it comes to his personal sexual life and marital infidelities. Okay, fair enough; but, is that the approach he used with Bill Clinton, at the time that Bill’s infidelities were exposed. Certainly not! What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Is it not?
Mr. Gingrich has a double standard and it goes something like this: If your political enemy, such as a Bill Clinton, is caught in an infidelity, throw the book at him, use the media to call him a good-for-nothing-scoundrel, worse than dirt, publicly denounce, condemn, and try to ostracize and banish him as unworthy of holding public office. BUT, if Mr. Gingrich himself is caught with his pants down: Media, don’t you dare ask questions! Don’t you dare scrutinize me or hold me accountable or otherwise bring attention to my personal sexual life. How dare you even think it!
Is this not double-standard hypocrisy? And if it is, why did Mr. Gingrich’s defensive (almost holier-than-thou) reaction to the question of his marital infidelities get such popular applause? Politics is not about ethics or morality, or righteousness and justice, or even truth. That’s why.
For example, when a candidate is sure that he has no moral failure threatening to expose him, he freely uses such terms as family values and moral character and respect for tradition. But the same candidate will then speak of conversion and forgiveness, and a right to privacy, lambasting the media for indecency and lack of respect if they dare ask about skeletons in the closet that are exposed.
As a Pastor and preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I am the first to encourage and support grace, mercy, forgiveness, and respect for a person in dealing with his or her short comings, failings, and sins. Christ came to save and redeem not to condemn and destroy (John 3:17). But to claim these truths and principles for one’s self while disregarding these same truths and principles for one’s political opponent is the height of duplicity and hypocrisy. In short, if Mr. Gingrich is to claim grace, mercy, and forgiveness for himself regarding his marital mishaps, than he should have also done the same for Bill Clinton back when.
But this is politics. And in politics vociferous sentiments of faith and avowed claims to devout sanctity is fast and cheap. Every politician would love to have total control of his public image—please see me as I present myself, not as I really am. The fact is that no politician wants his personal life overly scrutinized, for no one lives a perfect life without blemish or fault. That’s fine. But then please be consistent and don’t use one standard for yourself and another one for your political opponent. If you’re going to go after your opponent’s personal life (sex, marriage, wayward children, whatever), then don’t claim foul when your own personal life is also exposed and scrutinized.
This attitude should be held by we-the-people at large. If we are going to overlook the personal discrepancies of our favorite candidate, then prepare to do the same for the opposing candidate. It’s only just, fair, and right. And that’s what we want, isn’t it, what’s right, fair, just? Not going to happen! No, what we seem to really want is for our candidate to win—at any cost—even if morality, ethics, goodness, righteousness, and truth must be trashed.
In the political arena politicians and voters alike, are like kids in the backyard with a water hose and plenty of dirt, soon enough they’re covered with mud. And we love it. So let’s not blame the Media. The Media is an instrument used by all sides, left, right, and center. When the Media-spotlight favors our candidate, we say, “Now that’s good reporting.” When the Media-spotlight reveals blemishes on our favored candidate, we call it “Yellow Journalism! Distasteful, unfair, slanted.” It seems that we voters are as bad as the politicians themselves. The political truth is that politics is a dirty business. And that’s the one thing we can all agree on.
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