More Proof that Newt Gingrich Lies When the Truth Would Work Better

Newt and Callista observing Greece’s financial crisis up close and personal.

By Gary P Jackson

I guess we could call this “Newt’s Great Big Greek Vacation Adventure”!

I actually have a couple of stories where Newt has obviously lied when the truth would work better, and I’m not even talking about Newt claiming he got $1.6 million from Freddie Mac for “history lessons

Here’s a little deal from Political Wire:

Newt Gingrich “claims that it was his first wife, not Gingrich himself, who wanted their divorce in 1980, but court documents obtained by CNN appear to show otherwise.”

“The Republican presidential candidate, now in his third marriage, has been peppered with attacks and questions about his divorce from Jackie Gingrich for the past three decades.”

“Newt Gingrich filed a divorce complaint on July 14, 1980, in Carroll County, saying that “the marriage of the parties is irretriebably (sic) broken. Jackie Battley Gingrich, the congressman’s wife and the mother of Jackie Gingrich Cushman, responded by asking the judge to reject her husband’s filing.”

Details here.

OK, what’s the big deal?

Seriously, what’s the big deal?

If Newt did indeed file for divorce, not the other way around, why would he feel the need to say his wife filed? What does it matter?

There’s a puff piece on Newt in the New York Times that talks about his campaign as a whole. When they get to his highly criticized trip to Greece, just as his campaign was getting started, this jewel popped up: [emphasis mine]

Gingrich says now, in what may be a characteristic bit of revisionist history, that it was clear early on that he needed to break free of his highly paid and conventional consultants, and that he and his wife, Callista, actually took their much-maligned Greek vacation last June — a pleasure trip in the middle of what was supposed to be his ramp-up as a candidate — in order to provoke a confrontation with the campaign’s leadership. (Gingrich later added that he really needed to see the Greek fiscal crisis up close.) If so, it worked, because the entire senior team quit en masse when he got back. Thus cast out into the campaign wilderness, Gingrich persevered through the summer and early fall, despite the mockery of those who considered it a sad final act. A few times, he now admits, he considered quitting.

One could go on all day long about the poor management and leadership qualities Newt exhibits here, but I think that’s pretty self evident. It looks like he’s throwing a hissy fit, sort of like when he learned he screwed the pooch getting on the Virginia ballot.

What got me, and you KNOW it’s unmitigated BS, is Newt felt he had to add that he wanted to see the Greek fiscal crisis close up. Seriously? This helps the story how?

Really, it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out what went wrong in Greece. You’d think the smartest guy on earth, according to some of his supporters anyway, would INSTINCTIVELY know what happened, and why.

I’ve written a lot about Newt, the con man, most particularly of his decades long support of mandated health care, and how he’s able to con folks with his slick talk. Lately though, now that I’m actually paying attention to this fraud, I’m noticing a much deeper issue.

Newt is the sort who continually lies when the truth would work better. Now these aren’t big lies, and most are inconsequential. Meaningless really. But it says something about Newt, the man. It goes to character. It speaks to why Newt can spend his entire political career supporting socialist ideas, standing with socialists like Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore, and many more. It’s how he can support their agenda, at the exact time Conservatives are trying to stop it, and then look you right in the eye and claim he just wanted to be part of the conversation.

In both cases, most especially in the case of the trip to Greece, this hurts his creditability. It’s almost as if he can’t help himself.

I dislike Newt Gingrich at a gut level. One can point out his flip-flops, his pallin’ around with socialists, his support for every left wing notion to come along, while spinning it into some sort of “conservative solution. But for me it goes deeper. I just don’t trust the guy. I don’t believe a word he says.

I also don’t trust him to keep his undisciplined mind in check. Newt has a lot of crazy “solutions” running around in his head. He has some good ones as well, but unfortunately, most always create more government, not less. I saw someone on Twitter today who summed up Newt perfectly. Newt is an inventor, not a leader. You never want an inventor running the company. Too scatter brained. Too many ideas, and many times, not enough discipline.

Look, we all embellish stories now and then. If you’re a hunter, fisherman, or racer, you know what I mean. The problem with Newt is he not sitting with his buddies swapping lies over a few beers. He’s running for president and trying to have us believe he’s taken in millions from big companies for “history lessons” and went on a vacation with his wife so he could observe a financial crisis first hand. Both are silly notions and hurt his cause, rather than help.

In case of the trip to Greece, why not just say everything was going to hell in a handbasket, he was frustrated, and needed time to think? No one would have thought less of him, and most can relate. The “ needing to see the Greek fiscal crisis up close” thing just sounds silly. It also destroys any credibility he might have left.

I’m no psychologist, but I see a deep character flaw in Newt that makes him particularly unfit to serve. And we’ve got enough liars in Washington now.

We need someone of character who can be trusted. Someone we won’t have to watch like a hawk watches chickens. I’m afraid babysitting a President Gingrich would be a 24/7 job.