Newt Gingrich says his passion for his country contributed to his marital infidelity

[sabra]

Source: Chicago Trib/AP

ATLANTA (AP) — Newt Gingrich says his passion for his country contributed to his marital infidelity. In an interview posted Wednesday by The Christian Broadcasting Network, Gingrich — who recently converted to Catholicism — said he had sought God's forgiveness for mistakes in his past.

"There's no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate," Gingrich said.

"What I can tell you is that when I did things that were wrong, I wasn't trapped in situation ethics, I was doing things that were wrong, and yet, I was doing them," he said. "I found that I felt compelled to seek God's forgiveness. Not God's understanding, but God's forgiveness."

Gingrich went on to say that he and his third wife, Callista, now have a great marriage.

"Forget about all this political stuff. As a person, I've had the opportunity to have a wonderful life, to find myself now, truly enjoying the depths of my life in ways that I never dreamed it was possible to have a life that was that nice," he said.


Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-ap-us-newt-gingrich-2012,0,624356.story

[Unvanguard]

1. I don't know if I'd suggest that specific passion as an explanation. n/t

[Demeter]

2. Loving One's Country Doesn't Mean F***king It.

[rfranklin]

3. Wrap her in the flag and fuck her for your country...

what could be more patriotic?

[Moonwalk]

8. Brilliant! Genius! Great!

;rofl: That is it exactly!

[babylonsister]

4. He also blames the fact he worked to hard? Gimme a break. nt

[SpiralHawk]

5. His so-called 'passion' also led him to dodge military service to America

Republicon chickenhawks are such freaking hypocrites...Limbaugh, Cheney, Hannity, Beck, O'Reilly, Lott -- the list of Republicon chickenhawks who wrap themselves in the flag, rattle the sabers, and then hide tremulously behind the couch, goes on and on and on...

Gingrich proves once again that he is devoid of honor.

[Yupster]

6. Kind of makes you cry, doesn't it

what that man gives up for all of us.

[MilesColtrane]

7. Yes, Gingrich is merely following in the footsteps of that other great patriot who said,...

"Give me Liberty, or give me a handjob".

[TlalocW]

9. Hmmmm... I'm kind of confused...

What a lot of people on DU don't understand is that republicans can pretty much sin as much as possible, and as long as they claim they've been forgiven by God, support their agenda, and throw out other code words, then fundy Christians pretty much HAVE TO accept him as a lost lamb who has found his way back to the flock and is thus as holy as the rest of them.

And when I talk about code words, I don't just mean obvious ones like Family Values but references like "many hills to climb," "seeing the valley below," etc. Stuff like this slip by the rest of us as just phrases for hard work and seeing a reward, but fundies would recognize these as a promise that a politician would help Israel control the Holy Land (W. used these phrases in debates).

Anyway, it's surprising to me that someone like Newt who is a wordsmith, who is capable of talking on these multiple-levels (ordinary phrases/code words to fundies) and needs to get fundies in his camp, would change over to Catholicism, which is still looked at sideways by many fundamentalists. My only explanation is that Newt is egotistical enough that he thinks he can keep fundies in his pocket while at the same time telling Catholics, "Look, I'm one of you. Yay, Pope!"

TlalocW

[classof56]

10. Yep, it's that "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven" mantra.

Hard for those outside the faith to fathom that mindset, but there it is--when one is saved (accepts Christ), all sins past and present are forgiven. Unless that one is oh, say Bill Clinton, whose claim to be saved fell on deaf ears for the fundies who didn't much like him. The "judge not lest you be judged" mantra applies pretty selectively.

Plus, you are right on about how fundies feel about Catholics, known to many of them as "the whore of Babylon". Newt's gonna have to be really good at avoiding the slings and arrows headed his way by those who don't have much truck with Catholics. Will be interesting to watch all this unfold.

[ROFF]

11. If Gingrich

is not cheating on his current wife, I guess that means he doesn't love America anymore.