It took a U. of Penn student to ask Newt Gingrich what the vocational press avoids:
You adamantly oppose gay rights ... but you've also been married three times and admitted to having an affair with your current wife while you were still married to your second. As a successful politician who's considering running for president, who would set the bar for moral conduct and be the voice of the American people, how do you reconcile this hypocritical interpretation of the religious values that you so vigorously defend?
Answered Gingrich:
If the primary concern of the American people is my past, my candidacy would be irrelevant. If the primary concern of the American people is the future ... that's a debate I'll be happy to have with your candidate or any other candidate if I decide to run.
The student, poor thing, was confused. A Democratic candidate's past is of critical importance, worthy of endless examination and, if necessary, fictional creation. A Republican candidate's past is merely the past.
Are we as a nation still not straight on that?