Bram Bakker: ‘What Possesses These Women with Vindictiveness?’

American media don’t seem to have any reservations when it comes to publishing gossip and slander about the private lives of their politicians. But what possesses all these women with vindictiveness? Have they forgotten that the ex they try to slaughter was once their lover? That is what psychiatrist Bram Bakker wonders.

Last Thursday, Marianne Gingrich tried to make her ex-husband Newt Gingrich’s chances of becoming Obama’s Republican challenger considerably smaller. In a carefully timed interview on television, right before the important primaries in South Carolina, she called out behavior that greatly conflicts with that of a right-minded conservative.

Divorce

It was her first interview since their divorce in 1999, which says something about the feelings of hatred that drove her to this. At the end of the last century, Newt cheated with Callista, whom he later married. Callista is an important force behind his presidential campaign. Gingrich requested the divorce, according to Marianne, after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. If all of that were true, and it actually could be, it sheds a harsh light on the character of Newt Gingrich.

But whether this concerns exceptional behavior in those circles, is doubtful. Marianne Gingrich — intriguing that she still lets herself be called by his last name — was not the first one this happened to. And she will not be the last. By the way, revenge via the media is almost fashionable, according to a brief overview of such affairs the Volkskrant published last Saturday.

Ex-mistresses

American media don’t seem to have any reservations when it comes to publishing gossip and slander about the private lives of their politicians. Many politicians should contemplate this before rushing into the race for the White house, you would think. But right before this story on Gingrich turned up, another presidential candidate, Herman Cain, also tripped over the revelations of ex-mistresses.

That rich, powerful and famous men score above average on extramarital escapades has been known for centuries. How you could best explain this link is an intriguing question.

Just as exciting, and you hear little on this in the media, is the question of what possesses all those women with vindictiveness. The ex they try to slaughter was once their lover, after all. Have they forgotten about that? You would hope that Marianne Gingrich is first and foremost ashamed that she had ever shared a bed with this man. And that she wonders what came over her, how she could have been so wrong?

Increased chance

She was not the first Mrs. Gingrich either; Newt was divorced once before he married Marianne. And if she would have paid better attention, she surely could have discovered much earlier that she probably wouldn’t have been enough for him. Everyone is capable of cheating, but those who have already put that into practice run an increased risk of doing it again.

Marianne probably thought, just like all those other women who are attracted to this type of man, that she alone would succeed in making him happy. The frustration of that failure pushes someone to a sad act of revenge like such an interview. It says more about the ex-wife than about the man she attacks, no matter how wrong he is.

It serves her right

Gingrich has unexpectedly won big in South Carolina; therefore, the act of revenge may for now be considered a failure. It serves Marianne Gingrich right, I think.

By the way: The opposite of love is indifference, not hate.