The Weirdest Things You Never Knew About Newt Gingrich
The Weirdest Things You Never Knew About Newt Gingrich
You don't spend a career in politics, speaking in front of cameras every single day, without spouting a few weird ideas.
And Newt Gingrich might've had a few ideas weirder than most.
Click through this special Weird Politics report to see some of the strangest ideas he's ever had.
Newt Gingrich: Let's Make the Moon the 51st State
What do you think the 51st state will be?
Some people think it'll eventually be Puerto Rico. Others believe Washington D.C. will be the next to join.
My vote is for American Samoa -- but Newt Gingrich picks "none of the above."
Gingrich not only wants to send Americans back to the moon... not only wants to establish a base there... not only wants to colonize it... but wants it to eventually become our next state.
"At one point early in my career I introduced the northwest ordinance for space and I said when we got -- I think the number is 13,000 -- when we have 13,000 Americans living on the moon they can petition to become a state," Gingrich said, according to NBC News. "And I will as president encourage the introduction of the northwest ordinance for space to put a marker down that we want Americans to think boldly about the future."
Gingrich said this is one of his grand ideas -- and that his grand ideas are on par with those of Abraham Lincoln, the Wright Brothers and John F. Kennedy.
At the very least, Gingrich's ideas are bound to be popular on the Space Coast of Florida, which has been hurting since the end of the Space Shuttle program.
Newt Gingrich Wanted to Send Citizens to Space via Lottery
The moon wasn't the only place Newt Gingrich's ideas might be considered "far out."
Back in his 1984 book, "Window of Opportunity: A Blueprint for the Future," he suggested a national lottery to send a random citizen into space on the Space Shuttle.
He also seemed to like an proposal made at a NASA symposium to light the country's highways and even parts of cities with a system of giant space mirrors.
For more, check out the full story on Politifact.com.
Newt Gingrich Married His High School Geometry Teacher
Everyone knows the famous story about how Newt Gingrich asked for a divorce from his first wife, in some versions as she was battling cancer.
But not everyone knows how the pair got together in the first place.
Jackie Battley Gingrich was Gingrich's high school geometry teacher.
The two met when he was 17... and were married by the time he was 19.
She was 26 at the time, hardly an outrageous age difference.
But definitely some pretty unusual circumstances... one that reminds me of this special gallery I put together not long ago.
It also reminds me of a Van Halen song, and it's not "Dance the Night Away."
For more on this unusual romance, check out this story at the National Memo.
Gingrich, of course, went on to marry twice more and admit to affairs during his marriages.
He's seen here with his current wife, Callista.
New Gingrich: Put Children to Work!
Republicans have been accused of being anti-union. But Newt Gingrich's most recent union-busting proposal could be the strangest of all time: He proposed getting rid of unionized school janitors... and replacing them with schoolchildren.
In New Hampshire, where school janitors start out making $28,324 a year and reach a maximum of $42,688, he said custodians make "an absurd amount of money" and that poor children could work for less, according to the Huffington Post."You could take one janitor and hire 30-some kids to work in the school for the price of one janitor," Gingrich said in South Carolina.
"And those 30 kids would be a lot less likely to drop out. They would actually have money in their pocket."
At least one person thinks Newt Gingrich is as black as Barack Obama: Harlem's controversial "birther" pastor, James David Manning.
"I have got some inside information about Newt Gingrich, and I have a strange suspicion, the reason why Newt is so erratic and unpredictable is that, I believe that Newt Gingrich’s father was a liberal, educated black man. I do," Manning said on a video making the rounds online.
"Because Newt’s real name is Newton Leroy Mcpherson… Nobody on the planet names their children Leroy except black people. Just like nobody on the planet names their sons Hector except Hispanic people.”
Ummm... OK.
For the record, Manning also believe Mitt Romney has a black father.
Who can forget when Sarah Palin claimed Barack Obama "pals around" with terrorists?
Newt Gingrich has his own secret past: He palled around with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Video evidence is on the Guyism Web sit.
At least he hasn't been seen with Barney the Purple Dinosaur.
You don't spend a career in politics, speaking in front of cameras every single day, without spouting a few weird ideas.
And Newt Gingrich might've had a few ideas weirder than most.
Click through this special Weird Politics report to see some of the strangest ideas he's ever had.
Newt Gingrich: Let's Make the Moon the 51st State
What do you think the 51st state will be?
Some people think it'll eventually be Puerto Rico. Others believe Washington D.C. will be the next to join.
My vote is for American Samoa -- but Newt Gingrich picks "none of the above."
Gingrich not only wants to send Americans back to the moon... not only wants to establish a base there... not only wants to colonize it... but wants it to eventually become our next state.
"At one point early in my career I introduced the northwest ordinance for space and I said when we got -- I think the number is 13,000 -- when we have 13,000 Americans living on the moon they can petition to become a state," Gingrich said, according to NBC News. "And I will as president encourage the introduction of the northwest ordinance for space to put a marker down that we want Americans to think boldly about the future."
Gingrich said this is one of his grand ideas -- and that his grand ideas are on par with those of Abraham Lincoln, the Wright Brothers and John F. Kennedy.
At the very least, Gingrich's ideas are bound to be popular on the Space Coast of Florida, which has been hurting since the end of the Space Shuttle program.
Newt Gingrich Wanted to Send Citizens to Space via Lottery
The moon wasn't the only place Newt Gingrich's ideas might be considered "far out."
Back in his 1984 book, "Window of Opportunity: A Blueprint for the Future," he suggested a national lottery to send a random citizen into space on the Space Shuttle.
He also seemed to like an proposal made at a NASA symposium to light the country's highways and even parts of cities with a system of giant space mirrors.
For more, check out the full story on Politifact.com.
Newt Gingrich Married His High School Geometry Teacher
Everyone knows the famous story about how Newt Gingrich asked for a divorce from his first wife, in some versions as she was battling cancer.
But not everyone knows how the pair got together in the first place.
Jackie Battley Gingrich was Gingrich's high school geometry teacher.
The two met when he was 17... and were married by the time he was 19.
She was 26 at the time, hardly an outrageous age difference.
But definitely some pretty unusual circumstances... one that reminds me of this special gallery I put together not long ago.
It also reminds me of a Van Halen song, and it's not "Dance the Night Away."
For more on this unusual romance, check out this story at the National Memo.
Gingrich, of course, went on to marry twice more and admit to affairs during his marriages.
He's seen here with his current wife, Callista.
New Gingrich: Put Children to Work!
Republicans have been accused of being anti-union. But Newt Gingrich's most recent union-busting proposal could be the strangest of all time: He proposed getting rid of unionized school janitors... and replacing them with schoolchildren.
In New Hampshire, where school janitors start out making $28,324 a year and reach a maximum of $42,688, he said custodians make "an absurd amount of money" and that poor children could work for less, according to the Huffington Post."You could take one janitor and hire 30-some kids to work in the school for the price of one janitor," Gingrich said in South Carolina.
"And those 30 kids would be a lot less likely to drop out. They would actually have money in their pocket."
At least one person thinks Newt Gingrich is as black as Barack Obama: Harlem's controversial "birther" pastor, James David Manning.
"I have got some inside information about Newt Gingrich, and I have a strange suspicion, the reason why Newt is so erratic and unpredictable is that, I believe that Newt Gingrich’s father was a liberal, educated black man. I do," Manning said on a video making the rounds online.
"Because Newt’s real name is Newton Leroy Mcpherson… Nobody on the planet names their children Leroy except black people. Just like nobody on the planet names their sons Hector except Hispanic people.”
Ummm... OK.
For the record, Manning also believe Mitt Romney has a black father.
Who can forget when Sarah Palin claimed Barack Obama "pals around" with terrorists?
Newt Gingrich has his own secret past: He palled around with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Video evidence is on the Guyism Web sit.
At least he hasn't been seen with Barney the Purple Dinosaur.
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