Consider the symptoms: Bouts of grandiosity-megalomania, irritability, impulsiveness, spending spree
On one legal pad, Gingrich scribbled out his own "primary Mission."
—Advocate of civilization
—definer of civilization
—Teacher of the rules of civilization
—arouser of those who form civilization
—Organizer of the pro-civilization activists
—leader (possibly) of the civilizing forces.
Nearly two decades on, Gingrich is still prone to lapse into this kind of egomaniacal spree. A few days ago, he told Sean Hannity, “I helped Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp develop supply-side economics. I helped lead the effort to defeat communism in the Congress.” In this self-regarding state, the new Republican front-runner benefits from immunity to contradiction—gliding effortlessly from advocate to opponent of health insurance mandates, amnesty for illegal immigrants, or action on climate change. Gingrich is every bit the flip-flopper Romney is, but so confident in his views at any given moment that he comes off as steadfast instead of malleable. Bullets-can’t-hurt-me Newt can depict his work for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as his warning that they would destroy the financial system. He can lobby without being a lobbyist, divorce multiple wives while advocating traditional values, and denounce political corruption while epitomizing it.
Is Newt bipolar or unipolar? Does he ever crash? In fact, he has described what sound like episodes of depression, though it’s hard to say for sure. Describing the dissolution of his first marriage, he told the Washington Post in 1989, "You talk about crying! The spring of 1988, I spent a fair length of time trying to come to grips with who I was and the habits I had, and what they did to people that I truly loved. I really spent a period of time where, I suspect, I cried three or four times a week.” Every so often he is glimpsed in full sulk, such as in 1995 when he blamed the government shutdown on his rage at being given a bad seat on Air Force One. Overthrown by his own caucus in 1998, he said he had no interest in presiding over a bunch of “cannibals.” The extra-marital affairs, the Tiffany bills, his disappearance at key moments—all are possible hints about Newt’s darker side.
the rest:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_big_idea/2011/12/is_newt_gingrich_nuts_consider_the_symptoms_.html
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