Gingrich's message

Former House speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Bill Clinton over the Monica S. Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.

"The honest answer is 'Yes,' " Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson to be aired today, according to a transcript. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."

- AP

The problem here is that the message is weakened if the messenger talks the talk, but does not walk the walk.

It does not invalidate his message. I still believe in what Gingrich says. But it would help if he could get his personal life in order.

Why is it that brilliant people, and Gingrich certainly is one, almost always seem to have tragic character flaws?