Newt Gingrich fired up the audience at last night’s debate when he turned a question about an interview with his ex-wife into a raging diatribe against the news media.  Attacking the media has been one of Newt’s key campaign strategies, so last night’s deflection should have come as no surprise. But it must be said:  Newt’s denunciation of the “destructive, vicious, negative” nature of the news media, and his complaint that it makes it "harder to run this county, harder to attract decent people to run for public office" is even more hypocritical than having an affair while giving speeches about family values. His entire political career has been based on destructive, vicious, negative attacks on his opponents. In the 1990s, his GOPAC produced "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control," an infamous list of words that Gingrich said Republicans should use to smear and denigrate their opponents. Among the suggested words was “destructive,” along with “traitors,” “sick,” and “betray.”  Gingrich perfected the kind of hyper-partisan politics of destruction that are currently making it harder to run the country, and harder to attract decent people to run for office. Obviously, decency hasn’t been a barrier for Newt’s own ambitions.