WashPost Shows Dramatic Double Standard Rushing Into Newt 'Open Marriage' Story

January 19th, 2012 11:09 PM

On Thursday, the Washington Post website posted an article at about 1 pm from reporter James Grimaldi based on a Post interview with Newt Gingrich’s second wife Marianne making claims that Gingrich asked for an “open marriage.” The standard was wham, bam, print it, ma'am.

The Post had a very different standard for Bill Clinton. Paula Jones held a press conference at CPAC on February 11, 1994. Three days later, Jones came up only briefly about 25 paragraphs into the piece with Post reporter Lloyd Grove lamenting, “David Keene seemed delighted to let his confab be turned into a staging area for yet another ascension of Mount Bimbo.” Investigative reporter Michael Isikoff later was suspended for two weeks after the Post delayed and delayed on Jones:

Michael Isikoff was suspended from The Washington Post "for two weeks for insubordination after a heated confrontation with editors over the newspaper's handling of a story about sexual harassment accusations against President Clinton," according to Rod Dreher of The Washington Times. The March 25 WashTimes story reported: "Two sources at the paper said Mr. Isikoff was upset because he thinks the Post is burying his findings about sexual harassment charges leveled at Mr. Clinton by Paula Corbin Jones, an Arkansas state employee, at a Feb. 11 news conference."

They finally published Isikoff's story on May 4 -- about three months later. Get a load of what Post managing editor Robert Kaiser said, that these things take great care! "Our role in a case like this is to examine an allegation made by a private citizen against a public official with some care...We have an obligation to the Post's readers to do our best to establish the truth and not simply to print damaging accusations the moment they are made."

Grimaldi's story aimed to underline Marianne's claims of what Newt said with what was on the record about Newt the next day. (The Post didn't exactly rush to match a Paula Jones story with Clinton's declarations about sexual harassment.) The day after Gingrich asked for a divorce, Grimaldi emphasized:

The next day, Newt Gingrich gave a speech at a conference titled “The Demise of American Culture”  to the Republican Women Leaders Forum in Erie, Pa., extolling the virtues of the founding fathers and criticizing liberal politicians for supporting tax increases, which he said hurt families and children. In the speech, which was televised on C-SPAN, he spoke often of God, families and values...

Marianne Gingrich said she was surprised at the timing. “How could he ask me for a divorce on Monday and within 48 hours give a speech on family values and talk about how people treat people?” she said.

If the second Mrs. Gingrich is telling the truth, Newt is a tremendous hypocrite. That's certainly the image Grimaldi wanted to achieve. But why must the Post seem to excuse the Democrat hypocrites like Clinton?

Grimaldi really punched below the belt in suggesting that Newt's daughters (from marriage #1) came to their dad's defense not out of love or loyalty, but because he paid them!

For more than a decade, [Kathy]  Lubbers served as president and chief executive of Gingrich Communications, which promoted her father’s speeches and activities. It was disbanded last year when he decided to run for president. Her sister, Jackie Gingrich Cushman, has earned more than $56,000 working for her father’s campaign committees in the past two years, records show.