Don't you love it when Republicans start comparing sins? (My sin wasn't as bad as your sin

[journalist3072]

So this evening I heard a soundbite of Newt Gingrich and his I HAVE SINNED moment on James Dobson's show.

And he justified standing in judgement of President Clinton's relationship with Monica Lewinsky, WHILE he was having his own extracurricular activites, by saying that he may have had an affair, but he didn't lie about it under oath.

Oh, okay....I guess it's ok to cheat on your wife, as long as you don't have to testify about it in a court of law?

A few things stand out at me. One, you see Republicans like Gingrich trying to compare sins....Oh, I was bad, but this person was worse.

Secondly, you see them trying to say that the Clinton impeachment was not about sex, but about lying under oath. Make no mistake about it, the Clinton impeachment was all about sex and nothing but.

Just read the Starr report. See how many times the word cigar is mentioned, vs. the number of times Whitewater is mentioned. It's a 9 to 1 ratio.

[cyberpj]

1. Lately it's all been "my perjury isn't as bad as your perjury" so pardon me. nt

[SharonAnn]

2. He's one who encouraged the whole thing that led to the "perjury trap".

Newt is sick.

Newt is guilty.

Newt is out talking about the loss of civility in government. That "loss of civility" really got a good start from newt and his "talking points" about Democrats and Clinton. He's the one who led the charge and taught others how to do it. He's the one who was relentless in name-calling and insulting the Democrats and Clinton.

Newt is a hypocrite of the first order.

Newt is a HUGE hypocrite.

Newt is a loser.

[hedgehog]

4. But, but but, the republican apologist on the Diane Rehm show today

suggested that all politicians are hypocrites.

No Communist infiltrator ever did more to destroy confidence in our government than the current crop of Republicans!

[bumblebee1]

9. If hypocrisy were an Olympic sport,

Newt would win the gold medal hands down.

[Old and In the Way]

3. He didn't under lie oath because he wasn't put under oath.

Nice logical fallacy he's got going there.

Wouldn't matter, he's a Republican...he'd lie anyway.

[jwirr]

5. My grandmother and I were setting on the front porch one Sunday

morning when the Baptists emerged from their church service. They were screaming and yelling at each other because the fundie preacher had preached about the sheep and the goats/saints and sinners. They were doing exactly what you described. Almost came to physical blows. "Well, you drink." "And you smoke." It was indeed the moment that I decided never to belong to that church.

[TahitiNut]

6. It's the theory of being 'born again' ...

... and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again ...

:eyes:

[magellan]

7. Newt and the Repukes must think we all have faulty memories

They were investigating Clinton long before he testified under oath about not having sex with "that woman". Up till then it was only about throwing shit until it stuck, and his personal life was where they got him.

(And then Bush** campaigned on restoring "integrity" and "family values"! :rofl:)

Newt may think he's very clever coming out now with his confession of an affair while he was on Clinton's back for the same thing, but he'd be wise to remember that Clinton's support grew during the Lewinsky scandal, while the Repug Congress suffered in the polls. Admitting he's a hypocrite isn't impressing the majority of Americans...it's angering them.

[hfojvt]

8. I wish they would compare

Back in the 2004 campaign, the local media would take a huge lie of the Bush campaign and then find a tiny error made by the Kerry campaign, and then say 'neither side was telling the truth all the time'. As Krugman said, it was like comparing a mass murderer to a jaywalker and saying that 'both are criminals'.

[H2O Man]

10. Right.

Before I retired, I used to work a lot with people with addiction issues. One of my more experienced co-workers taught me early on that one sign that people were still active in their illness, and not really in recovery, was if they were prone to saying, approximately, "Yeah, my substance abuse isn't good, but it sure as heck isn't as bad as _______."

Your point about the republican comparisons (Newt's affair wasn't good, but it wasn't as bad as Clinton's; and Scooter's perjury wasn't good, but it wasn't as bad as Clinton's) would seem grand examples of illness in action.