Newt, Family Values, and the Relationship Question

Newt Gingrich has been accused by his ex-wife Marianne of having asked for an open relationship. What he did get was a divorce. James Grimaldi writes today in the Washington Post that:

Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich in 1999 asked his second wife for an “open marriage” or a divorce at the same time he was giving speeches around the country on family and religious values, his former wife, Marianne, said Thursday.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Marianne Gingrich said her former husband called her on May 10, 1999, as she was having dinner with her 84-year-old mother and said, “I want a divorce.”

Newt of course denies that he asked for an open relationship:

At the Republican presidential debate Thursday night, Gingrich responded directly to his ex-wife’s allegations for the first time, issuing a blanket denial. “The story is false,” he said.

After Gingrich’s comments at the debate, Marianne Gingrich declined to direcly respond to the denial, other than to say she was sticking by her story, which she said is “the truth.”

Earlier in the day at a campaign event in South Carolina, the former speaker of the House had called the interviews with his former wife “tawdry and inappropriate” and refused to answer questions about them. “I’m not going to say anything about Marianne,” he said with his third wife, Callista, standing a few paces behind him.

Gingrich has said on several occasions that he has made mistakes in his life and has asked God for forgiveness.

I've been critical of Newt Gingrich ever since I got involved in politics back in the mid-1980s. Beyond his politics, with which I disagree wholeheartedly, he has an awful history regarding relationships, there's no doubt of that. There's more than a tinge of hypocrisy when Newt talks about "family values". Yet, this story doesn't quite ring true for me.

What if Marianne had agreed to being in an open relationship? Would Newt have actually gone through with it? People can forgive past mistakes, even sins - for some it's a religion, yet those are sins in the past, they're not ongoing. As hubristic as Newt is, even he would surely have realized that such a set-up would have inevitably become known, the resulting publicity destroying his conservative credentials and torpedoing his career. It's a great story, salacious and titillating, and it reminds everyone of what a schmuck Gingrich is, but I have my doubts about it.

Verificati​on of Colorado's Initiative 30 ("Use and Regulation of Marijuana) to require line-by-li​ne review

A random sample of signatures selected by the state for verification determined that backers that backers submitted valid signatures equivalient to 103% of the total needed to qualify for ballot status, however according to the elections office a validity rate of more than 110% is required for an initiative to automatically be placed on the ballot. Validity rate of between 90-110% for a sample means that a line-by-line review of signatures will be performed.

The Colorado Secretary of State's office issued the following news release today:

http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/newsRoom/pressReleases/2012/PR20120119Initiative30.html

STATE OF COLORADO
Department of State
1700 Broadway
Suite 250
Denver, CO 80290

Scott Gessler
Secretary of State

William A. Hobbs
Deputy Secretary of State

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2012

MEDIA CONTACTS: Rich Coolidge
richard.coolidge@sos.state.co.us
Andrew Cole
andrew.cole@sos.state.co.us
(303) 860-6903

Verification of Initiative 30 to require line-by-line review

Denver, Colorado - Today Secretary of State Scott Gessler announced that the proposed ballot measure concerning “Use and Regulation of Marijuana” will require a line-by-line review of signatures.
Petitions for proposed initiative #30 were submitted to the Secretary of State’s office on January 4. The office immediately began verifying a random sample of the signatures as set forth in state statute. Section 1-40-116(4), C.R.S., requires the verification of each signature filed if the random sample shows the number of valid signatures falls between 90 percent and 110 percent of the signatures needed.

Random Sample Summary:
•Total number of qualified signatures submitted: 163,598
•5% of qualified signatures submitted (random sample): 8,180
•Total number of entries accepted (valid) from random sample: 4,436
•Total number of entries rejected (invalid) from random sample: 3,744
•Number of projected valid signatures from random sample: 88,719
•Total number of accepted entries necessary for placement on ballot: 86,105
•Percentage of presumed valid signatures: 103.04%

Because the 103 percent projection falls between the 90 and 110 percent described in statute, the Secretary of State’s office has notified the proponents the petition will require a line-by-line review. The office has until February 3 to complete the review.

For more information, visit our Initiative Information page.

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This Bit of Sports Diplomacy is Smart Politics

Sports diplomacy is nothing new - the story of pingpong and the opening of US-China relations is famous (check out this excellent article from Smithsonian Mag). This year, the Russian Federation is using its Olympic sports team to score political points in an another way, simply to burnish its image internationally.

BBC News journalist Christine Jeavans reported Jan. 13, 2012 (BBC News: London 2012: Team Russia plans alcohol-free royal base) that

The Royal Household wants to rent out a field next to Kensington Palace Russia's public base for London 2012 will be a "family friendly" alcohol-free space on royal land, officials have announced.

The proposed site for Team Russia Park, which would be open to the public for the duration of the Olympic Games, is Perks Field, next to Kensington Palace.

The land is currently used for football matches, archery and school events and has a helicopter landing pad.

Russia plans to turn it into a space where people can support the team.

At a Russian Embassy launch on Thursday evening, officials said they aimed to create "a little piece of Russia in the heart of London," with folk music, traditional food and "true Russian hospitality" - but no vodka.

"If people want to drink they will have to go to the big screens in Hyde Park," said Edward Cowell of event management company Eventica.

The focus for the park, which will also have fashion shows, a sports area and screens for Olympic action, is a healthy participation in sport, he said.

Russian athletes past and present will offer masterclasses and families can enjoy a kids zone.

"We would like to increase the number of people who participate in sport and engage in a healthy lifestyle," said Akhmed Bilalov, Vice President of the Russian Olympic Committee.

For more here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16543167

Gov. Gary Johnson Interviewed by Joe Schrank of The Fix

This November 2011 article and video interview with presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson is from The Fix, "a daily website about alcoholism, addiction, recovery and the drug war." It is well worth checking out. Here are the closing paragraphs:

Johnson's willingness to break step with the vast majority of US politicians on prohibition is brave, although a trailblazer is often doomed to forge a path that others later follow with more success. His views on marijuana aren't at odds with US voters. But the powerful TV networks and party establishment are proving slower to follow public opinion, which leaves him starved of publicity.

And that's a shame. Without the full participation of a dissenting voice like Johnson's, drug and addiction issues are set to receive little airtime in the 2012 presidential campaign. The Fix has asked several other candidates for an interview or statement on their drug policy and received no response—except from a spokeswoman from the Michele Bachmann campaign, who simply replied, "What drug policy?" Whatever your views on prohibition, this lack of political scrutiny of a vital policy area—directly affecting many millions of Americans and others around the world, and perceived by many to be failing—is anything but healthy.

http://www.thefix.com/content/video-gop-candidate-gary-johnson-visits-fix9245