If elected President Newt Gingrich will incourage teenage sex and marriages..

[grantcart]

Given Gingrich's projection that President's are captive to the personal history of their parents you would have to conclude that Newt has his own agenda that he wants pursue as a legacy from his parents:

Newt Gingrich was born Newton Leroy McPherson, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to nineteen-year-old Newton Searles McPherson and sixteen-year-old Kathleen Daugherty, who were married in September 1942.<3><4> His mother raised him by herself until she married Robert Gingrich, who then adopted Newt. Gingrich has a younger half-sister,

There's that ole saying about glass houses Newt. Of all the people who shouldn't be talking about parentage or about maintaining sexual fidelity in marriage you would be at the top of the list, especially when it appears that your parents were involved with what most jurisdictions would classify as statutory rape.

So Newt should we now engage in a detailed discussion about your parents?

[mediaman007]

1. I don't know about promoting teenage marriage,

but it does give some insight into how he treated his former wives.

[grantcart]

2. Obviously the weird logic of 'Parental Determinism' is Newt's, not mine.

[tanyev]

3. Maybe even teenage sex and marriage with their high school teachers

As a high school student -- precocious, lonely, overweight -- Newt secretly romanced his geometry teacher, a buxom, matronly woman named Jackie Battley. The furtive romance with his 24-year-old teacher included nighttime sessions in the back of a car in remote areas of Fort Benning, Ga.

Once, Newt and Jackie were so worked up, they got their car caught in a tank trap on the military base and had to call his best friend to rescue them before a daylight exposé, according to the friend's widow, Linda Tilton. Defying his stepfather, a stern Army colonel, Newt pursued Jackie, married her and promptly had two children.

http://www.salon.com/news/1998/08/28news.html

[happyslug]

4. Not in Pennsylvania, that was NOT rape, his mother was 16 at that time

A case in the late 1990s made it clear, a Twelve year old had the ability to entered into a Valid Common law Marriage and thus sex between that Twelve year old and her 20 something husband/teacher was NOT rape for it was consensual sex within the marriage union. Furthermore all you needed to have a valid Common Law Marriage was for the couple to announce to each other that they were Husband and Wife (and NOT be married to anyone else). Parental permission was NOT needed, even through if you wanted a Ceremonial Marriage you had to have your Parent's permission if under age 21 at that time (we are discussing 1942).

Furthermore, At that time the age of Consent for Sex was 16 AND the State followed the Common Law Rule that you turn of age on the day BEFORE your 16th birthday (This comes up in regards to drinking age, Pennsylvania has a law on the book that for Drinking the Common Law Rule does NOT apply i.e. you are 21 on the day you turn 21 NOT the day before). in simple terms, since his mother was 16 when she had sex, that was NOT statutory rape in Pennsylvania and in most states which had similar laws.

This is from the 1970 edition of the Penal Code of 1939, which was replaced in 1972. I have an old copy of the old Penal Code I use for reference when needed (Rarely needed, but found it useful in regards to Landlords since the Act of 1382 which made it illegal for Landlords to to force or the threat of force to evict a Tenant had been part of the Penal Code of 1939, but was substantively changed when the Crimes Code of 1972 was enacted which "Transferred" such Crimes to the Trespass section of the Crimes Code of 1939 instead of restating in verbatim as had the Penal Code of 1939).

Furthermore, even today, when a Child is the product of sex with a person below the age of consent, the courts want the child supported and that means leaving the parents out of jail so they can find and do work. Thus it is rare to see such charges being filed except in cases where the perpetrator has a long history of such actions (i.e. never teenagers who has sex with each other).

Police knew of this problem and tended to leave such cases alone. I hate to say it the Common Law Rule that the cut off was age 12 was and is easier to enforce. We can hate the Common Law Rule but if you look at how higher age limits are enforced, 12 seems to still be the de facto (Latin for "in fact") cut off even through ALL states have higher de jure (Latin for "by Law") age cut offs to this day.

[grantcart]

5. Well that means Newt can argue for legalized teenage sex, pregnancy and marriage!!