Thrice-married Newt Gingrich: Brave Champion of Proposition 8

Newt dumped cancer-stricken 1st wife. When his pastor criticized him for not supporting his two kids, he left the church. Newt dumped 2nd wife after cheating on her with the Congressional aide who is now his 3rd wife. The scandal sidelined Newt in 2008.

Until now.

My fellow Americans, meet a true defender of traditional marriage:



With Newt's YouTube plug for Prop 8 now airing over at the Yes on 8 blogs, maybe today's a good day to revisit Jeralyn's TalkLeft post from 2002 on the subject of Republican Sexual Hypocrisy.

Jeralyn supplies three sources (one for each marriage, I suppose):

I. Jackie

In 1981, Newt dumped his first wife, Jackie Battley, for Marianne, wife number 2, while Jackie was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment. Marianne and Newt divorced in December, 1999 after Marianne found out about Newt's long-running affair with Callista Bisek, his one-time congressional aide. Gingrich asked Marianne for the divorce by phoning her on Mother's Day, 1999. -- New York Post, July 18, 2000

II. Marianne

Gingrich's misbehavior goes back years. Fidelity was apparently never his strong point. After marrying his high school math teacher, Jacqueline Battley, even he admits: ''In the 1970s, things happened.''

As a congressional candidate, he conducted an affair in 1977, a year before enlisting Jackie to write a letter attacking his opponent for planning to leave her family in the district: ''When elected, Newt will keep his family together,'' declared one unintentionally hilarious campaign ad. Gingrich ended his 19-year marriage shortly after his victory.

He famously visited Jackie in the hospital where she was recovering from surgery for uterine cancer to discuss details of the divorce. He later resisted paying alimony and child support for his two daughters, causing a church to take up a collection. For all of his talk of religious faith and the importance of God, Gingrich left his congregation over the pastor's criticism of his divorce.

Soon thereafter, Gingrich married Marianne Ginther, whom he had previously met at a political fund-raiser. He called her ''the woman I love'' and ''my best friend and closest adviser'' in his first speech as House speaker, in January 1995... Yet, his relationship with Bisek, a House employee, apparently extended back to 1993 while he was talking of reforming the corrupt welfare state and promoting society's moral regeneration. Rumors of his relationship with Bisek, more than 20 years his junior, did not stop him from writing his political testament, in which he criticized sex outside of marriage, promoted traditional family life and opined that ''any male who doesn't support his children is a bum.''

In May 1999, however, Gingrich called Marianne at her mother's home. After wishing the 84-year-old matriarch happy birthday, he told Marianne that he wanted a divorce. -- Copely News Service, August 21, 2000

III. Callista

Gingrich's most recent ex-wife says he ditched her eight months after finding out she had multiple sclerosis. Marianne Gingrich, 48, shopping a book proposal "both personal and political" about how women are treated in D.C., says the ex-speaker of the House told her on Mother's Day 1999 that he wanted a divorce, after learning she had a neurological condition that could lead to MS. In 1981, the former congressman told his other ex-wife, Jackie Battley, that he was dumping her, after she had been hospitalized with cancer. Newt, 57, will wed ex-congressional aide Callista Bisek, 34 -- with whom he had an affair while still married to Marianne -- on Aug. 18. -- Akron Beacon Journal, July 25, 2000

In all fairness to the Yes on 8 camp, Newt was their Plan B.

They had been hoping to snag Rudy Giuliani.

That's all for now. I'm off to find Newt's sponsors:

If "Stand for Marriage California" is, in fact, a Proposition 8 Committee, why isn't it registered with the Secretary of State's office?

As far as I can tell, "Stand for Marriage, Inc." doesn't even exist.

Running a WHOIS lookup for Florida4Marriage.org provides this info:

Registrant Name: John Stemberger
Registrant Organization: Florida Family Policy Council
Registrant Email: stemberger@orlandolawyer.tv
Admin Email: MichelleM@FLFamily.org

Which gets us to the Florida Family Policy Council website, where we learn:

"Florida Family Policy Council is associated with Focus on the Family."

"We will endeavor in all that we do to be people of good faith and good will in making the case for Biblical family values in the public square."

I trust that your Biblical family values require that you provide complete and honest reporting of all contributions to the Proposition 8 campaign.

I'm still working on that "Stand for Marriage, Inc." entity ... any ideas?

UPDATE (h/t LijDavid over at Pam's House Blend):

Stand for Marriage is at 1 South 6th Street; Terre Haute, IN 47807. It is otherwise known as the James Madison Center for Free Speech - JMC. But more correctly known as the law offices of Bopp Coleson & Bostrom. James Bopp Jr is the name on many of the JMC. Officers of the JMC are:

CORPORATE OFFICERS

President - Wanda Franz, Ph.D., Morgantown, WV
Secretary - Darla St. Martin, Washington, D.C.
Treasurer - David N. O'Steen, Ph.D., Washington, D.C.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Darla St. Martin, Washington, D.C.
David N. O'Steen, Ph.D., Washington, D.C.
Wanda Franz, Ph.D., Morgantown, WV
Betsy DeVos, Grand Rapids, Michigan
David Norcross, Washington, D.C.

GENERAL COUNSEL - James Bopp, Jr.

James Bopp, Jr., is the general counsel for the James Madison Center for Free Speech. Legal services are provided to the Madison Center by the law firm of Bopp, Coleson & Bostrom in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Bopp is well known up here fighting against gay rights. He is also the General Counsel, National Right to Life Committee, Inc., 1978-Present, and Special Counsel, Focus on the Family, 2004-Present. He has also represented National Right to Life Committee, Focus on the Family, Christian Broadcasting Network, Traditional Values Coalition, Home School Legal Defense Association, Vision America, National Organization for Marriage, Common Sense America, Catholic Citizens Committee, Life Issues Institute, the Christian Coalition, Christian Life Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Concerned Women of America, Federation for American Immigration Reform, Republican Governors Association, the Libertarian Party, Republican National Committee, and the state Republican Parties of Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont.

Here's a link: www.jamesmadisoncenter.org

And special thanks to these great sites (h/t to CA Majority Report for the hilarious "Three Wives" movie poster):

The California Majority Report: Newt Gingrich, Adulterer Extraordinaire, Appears in Yes on Prop 8 Video

Calitics: Thrice-married Newt Gingrich: Brave Champion of Proposition 8

Pam's House Blend: Thrice-married Newt Gingrich: Brave Champion of Proposition 8

The California Majority Report: Were David Vitter and Larry Craig too Busy?

BayBigr: Prop. 8’s newest spokesman

To Form a More Perfect Union: Excerpted from Pam's House Blend

Joe.My.God.: Newt Gingrich, Defender Of His Three Adulterous Marriages

Queer Visalia: Spare my gay nerves!

digg (news): Brave New Defender of Traditional Marriage

digg (opinion): Thrice-married Newt Gingrich: Brave Champion of Prop. 8

reddit: Meet 3x-wife-dumper Newt Gingrich

PageOneQ: Newt Gingrich on Proposition 8: 'Protect marriage' from 'activist judges'

Straight Talk on Marriage: Thrice-married Newt Gingrich: Brave Champion of Anti-Gay Proposition 8

Wikio: Thrice-married Newt Gingrich: Brave Champion of Proposition 8

San Francisco Bay Guardian: Look who's pushing Prop. 8

laist: Newt Gingrich Joins Prop 8 Battle

daylife: Newt Gingrich, Adulterer Extraordinaire, Appears in Yes on Prop 8 Video

Gay News Blog: Newt Gingrich Falsely Claims Calif. Gay Marriage Judges Appointees

OnTop Mag: Newt Gingrich Falsely Claims Calif. Gay Marriage Judges Appointees

Y'all rock!