Anyone with a chronic illness is usually affected by the rigors of the illness. My late father suffered from a brain tumor. Of course it was not clear where it was headed in his brain but he did indeed suffer personality change.
Similarly, Multiple Sclerosis from which Marianne Gingrich, the second Mrs.Newt Gingrich, suffers is also a chronic disease. It also affects personality:
Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic illness that can affect people in many different ways. MS usually changes how a person feels and functions physically. It can also affect an individual’s personality.
Changes in Emotions, Behaviors, and Information Processing (Cognitive) abilities are often subtle and barely apparent to others. But for people with MS, these changes can be just as challenging – if not more so – than the physical symptoms of the disease.
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The first way that MS can affect Personality is by changing a person’s self-concept and sense of Emotional well-being.
MS often presents a very different physical and emotional experience that can be extremely difficult and painfully slow to integrate.
The second way MS can affect Personality is by altering Cognitive abilities and skills. Sometimes the disease impacts the ability to Organize, Integrate and Understand our experiences. [Source here]
Several sources on the internet have confirmed the above including an article in the New York Times.
To not research the viability of the source for information about the Gingrich marriage up to and including the second wife who has suffered from MS is reckless. It also does not contribute to her well-being. Her family would not want to her to go on national TV when she is no longer fully herself.
In consideration of the above, ABC’s airing of the interview with the second Mrs. Gingrich was medically and politically incorrect and inappropriate. It was manipulative and self-serving to a TV enterprise long lowest in the ratings of the three major commercial networks.
Anyone who takes the word of someone with a personality difficulty as the result of illness is not doing that person a favor nor anyone whose behavior his/her words may affect.
loopyloo305
January 20, 2012
I have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger award, but I wish you to know that I have changed the rules somewhat. I have listed the standard rules but included the fact that I do not feel anyone is obliged to follow them. I hope that you will accept this award even if you feel that you can not pass it on. This is an award because I appreciate you and do not feel that you are obliged to do anything.
Loopyloo305 at http://loopyloo305.wordpress.com
samhenry
January 22, 2012
LL, you are a true and treasured friend. I appreciate you and all that you are and do as well.
wdednh
January 20, 2012
Reblogged this on YOU DECIDE.
samhenry
January 22, 2012
Thank you for your thoughtfulness wdednh
Bob Mack
January 22, 2012
Stories like ABC’s is one reason why Newt is more popular than the media http://cnsnews.com/news/article/gingrich-beats-media-south-carolina-54-14:
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has defeated the national media in South Carolina by a margin of 54 percent to 14 percent, according to a survey conducted by a Democratic polling firm.
The poll, conducted by Raleigh, N.C.-based Public Policy Polling (PPP), interviewed 1,540 likely South Carolina Republican primary voters from Jan. 18 to Jan. 20. It showed that 54 percent of those voters said they had a favorable opinion of Gingrich while 37 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of him.
At the same time, only 14 percent said they had a favorable opinion of the media, while 77 percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of the media.
samhenry
January 22, 2012
Very well put and the truth. The media is out of control. But it is that handmaiden to corporate America that controls what we see, what we think we want and etc. ad nauseum. Thanks for the link, Bob.
DarcsFalcon
January 23, 2012
Well there you go! I learned something new from you today Sam! I didn’t know the former Mrs G had MS. You put forth a lot of good and useful information here.
samhenry
January 23, 2012
I had one comment from someone I could not publish since she did not have a blog. She said she did no have MS and that the other wife was NOT dying of cancer. Who knew. It is typical of the kind of thing that happens during elections.