Is perjury as bad as lying to your wife?

Apparently, Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he was angling to impeach Bill Clinton for his dalliances with Monica Lewinsky. Of course, this is a familiar Republican pattern: Strom Thurmond's racism even as his pecker apparently is not capable of distinguishing color; and that Florida ex-Congressman Mark Foley who was writing legislation to protect children while writing pornographic instant messages to his own underage pages.

But Newt's justification for his peccadilloes is amazing: he claims that Clinton was guilty of "perjury," so deserved to be prosecuted while he was only lying to his wife. This is what he said when asked if he was having an affair at the same time:

Mr. Gingrich: The honest answer is yes. …. I drew a line in my mind that said, ‘Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept … perjury in your highest officials.

Ahh, I see, Mr. Gingrich. It is excusable to lie, but to get caught lying, now, that's a big no-no.