“A family is a little commonwealth”

10 May 2011

Matthew Yglesias points and jeers at an NYT article on how Newt Gingrich is trying to sell his third wife as an asset to his Presidential campaign. Gingrich, one of the leaders of the effort to impeach Bill Clinton for his marital misdeeds, negotiated the terms of his divorce with his first wife while she was recovering from uterine-cancer surgery. He broke up with his second wife after she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Callista Bisek, his third wife, had been Newt’s mistress during his second marriage, but she convinced him to become Roman Catholic, so I guess there won’t be a third divorce.

Gingrich’s marital adventures are a perfect metaphor for the Republican model of governance. If you are fit and attractive, then handsome and powerful Uncle Sam will be happy to let you decorate his arm; once you actually need his help, he will cut you loose.

• Later: Charity for crooks
• Earlier: Time for a settling of accounts