Every once in a while I see someone in politics “step in it” up to their necks, and just can’t resist the temptation to call them on it. Although no longer in public office, and in the public eye for reasons I fail to comprehend, Newt Gingrich, theoretically by merit of formerly holding the office of Speaker, now finds it necessary to demand the resignation of Speaker Pelosi. It would be a fair commentary, if it came from any former Speaker other than Gingrich, but his own spotted history immediately calls the statement into question.

But, to be fair, instead of dredging up his history, I’ll stick with that of the Bush Administration, since that is what the entire situation is about. Over the years, the amount of questionable and even illegal behavior the public is willing to allow from our leaders has grown exponentially - at least during my lifetime. As far as inappropriate acts by politicians concerning our military and intelligence organizations, the current flap pales in comparison to that of previous administration.

Gingrich asks if potential soldiers should bother putting on a uniform in the first place if they would fear being persecuted (or prosecuted) by Pelosi. I wonder whether or not they should have bothered under Bush, if they had known that they may have been ordered to commit crimes in the first place - that is assuming that Gingrich acknowledges that torture is indeed a crime (doubtful.) Who knew what and when is nothing more than Monday morning quarterbacking, and the GOP knows this. They also must know that it would have been political suicide for any Democrat, regardless of standing, to speak a word against the Bush Administration’s policies and procedures back in 2002.

As for the suggestions that the CIA may have misled Congress, I am still trying to figure out what the problem is here. As an American citizen, I would expect nothing less than that from an intelligence agency. Politicians don’t know how to keep their mouths shut. I don’t want the CIA to tell them “everything” because that in itself would compromise our security. Regardless, suggesting that the CIA was less than honest is nothing in comparison to what the Bush Administration did. Call me silly, but outing a CIA operative to the press doesn’t inspire faith in a government, and the CIA did suffer greatly for that. Or maybe I was mistaken when I read about seasoned operatives leaving the fold over the Plame issue. I guess in Gingrich’s world it’s alright to out an operative over the actions of her spouse, but it’s not alright to point out that the CIA might not be completely honest when dealing with politicians.

If Gingrich really wanted to talk about real threats to our national security, perhaps he should have mentioned wasteful spending on wire-taps on citizens whose only “crime” is disagreeing with him, or lax enforcement of existing gun laws. But that would assuming that Gingrich recognizes that the potential for home-grown terrorist attacks is greater than for ones from overseas.