The Gander and the Goose

Or is it?

Well, Newt got his goose cooked with a post-election book deal after the 1994 contest saw Republicans take control of Congress for the first time in 40 years.

His multimillion-dollar advance, for a yet-to-be-penned book, from a Rupert Murdoch-owned publishing company drew immediate condemnation from the left.

"Selling his soul!" they shouted.

"A violation of ethics!" they cried.

"Conflict of interest!" they charged.

Thus began the delegitimizing and vilification of then Speaker-elect Newt Gingrich, and it didn’t let up for his entire four-year tenure as speaker of the House.

Compare his trashing with the near laudatory reaction from these very same leftists to news that Senator-elect (don’t call me Clinton) Hillary’s unprecedented $8 million advance from a Sumner Redstone-owned publishing company, for a book she has yet to write or even outline.

In fact, the star-struck media gushed that only the Pope himself had ever received a larger advance for a book deal.

But Gingrich was excoriated for his book deal because Murdoch, head of the media conglomerate News Corp., had been a contributor to Republican campaigns and also had a business interest in legislation pending before the Congress.

Lady Hillary’s book deal with Redstone, head of media conglomerate Viacom Inc. and a contributor to Democrat campaigns, has raised no similar outrage despite the fact that he also has business interest in legislation pending before the Congress.

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, has awoken from his long winter nap to suggest that Lady Hillary’s shady book deal might violate Senate ethics rules.

Will he have the courage to submit a formal request for an inquiry to the Senate Ethics Committee?

Don’t bet on it.

Remember this is the same "hero” who was AWOL during the Gore military absentee ballot massacre in Florida.

Nowhere was he seen or heard from at a time when his media-conferred status as a bulwark of campaign ethics and military heroism could have done some good.

Bob Dole had the guts and sense of honor to report for duty on the ground in the Sunshine State at a critical moment, and he single-handedly gave voice to the national outrage at the Gore effort to disenfranchise our military personnel.

In fact, the former senator from Kansas demonstrated the qualities of leadership that never quite seemed apparent in his unsuccessful bid for president in 1996.

So here we are with Lady Hillary cashing in on her status as senator-elect.

Will the left and its cheerleaders in the media rant and rave?

Will we hear the same eruption of condemnation they visited upon Newt?

Don’t bet on that either.

Is there a senator with backbone and courage who will actually stand up and submit this shady book deal to the Ethics Committee and not merely

No, it looks like the same crowd that gave hubby a pass on impeachment will also allow the Senate's new fowl to run afoul of the rules before she even takes office.

Which raises an interesting paradox:

It's one thing when Republicans face a double standard at the hands of the media, but it's quite another to get the short end of the stick when they do it to themselves in the Senate.

Go figure.

E-mail Dan:

Visit the

Dan Frisa represented New York in the United States Congress and served four terms in the New York State Assembly.