For once, just once, Newt Gingrich may have caught somebody
else in a lie. No surprise then that he's
shifted his high-dudgeon gear into overdrive. He says that if television stations in Georgia don't stop running an ad about him that his lawyers call “fundamentally NOT TRUE, or as PolitiFACT.org put it—a 'Pants on Fire' lie," he'll sue.
Relying on PolitiFACT to make the case for what's ablaze is always risky. Statements called false there today could be on the honor roll before the weekend is half over. In this case, however, the group probably got it right.
At issue is an ad by the SuperPAC Restore Our Future saying Gingrich “co-sponsored a bill with Nancy Pelosi that would have given $60 million a year to a U.N. program supporting China’s brutal one-child policy.” Various fact-checkers found that the 1989 legislation specifically excluded any funding for involuntary sterilizations, abortions or programs that forced anyone to accept family planning. Any station that runs the ad risks a defamation suit, Gingrich's lawyers state.
Upon hearing the news of the threatened lawsuit, hubris must have stepped off stage to give way to Gingrich with whom it can no longer compete. If a lawsuit were brought against the Newt every time he lied, it would tie up the civil judiciary east of the Mississippi for a decade.
After all, this is the guy who claimed 800 babies were tossed into dumpsters in Washington, D.C. (It was four.) Who said only people who made more than a million dollars a year were subject to the income tax when it was initiated. (The rate was 1 percent for earners up to $20,000.) Who claimed people could spend their food stamps to go to Hawai'i. (No, they can't.) Who said it's illegal to pray in school. (No, it's not.) Who said up to 25 percent of the White House staff under Clinton were drug users. (Example #231,309 proving that 87.4 percent of statistics are made up on the spot.) Who claimed the United States spend less in 2010 on national defense than at any time since Dec. 6, 1941. (In inflation-adjusted dollars it was higher when than at any time since 1971). Who said his first wife wanted their divorce. (Court documents say he did.) Who said Freddie Mac paid him $1.6 million for "history lessons." (I am not even going to bother with that one.) Who claimed he had never supported a mandated health-care coverage. (He had.) Who claimed he took a vacation to Greece with Callista to shake up his campaign staff and see the Greek financial crisis up close. (Hahahahaha.)
Lying is second first nature to Newt Gingrich. Whether it's revising American history or his personal history, he thrives on lies. Couldn't exist without them. If PolitiFACT were on the ball, the guy would have to wear asbestos underwear to get through the day.