In January of 1997, I wrote about the abortive attempt to oust Newt Gingrich as Speaker of the House. A friend, Congressman Mike Forbes of Eastern Long Island, was one of a handful of Republicans who understood Gingrich's liabilities, and Mike became a target of his own Republican National Committee. "Republicans should get on with governance and forget about immature sniping at people who were on the other side of a losing vote" was my advice then and now.

In another part of that column, I asked, "What ever happened to the big tent?... Republicans are pretty good at shooting themselves in the foot."

The problem with Newt Gingrich is that he became the message and not just the messenger. After causing Speaker Jim Wright, a Democrat, to resign over ethics charges, Newt Gingrich was a target waiting to happen. Democrats in the House seized every opportunity to malign Gingrich and the mainstream media piled on. This is not to say that Gingrich was a choir boy. He aided and abetted the opposition through a multi-million dollar book deal and questionable campaign fund raising. It was easier for Democrats to declare war on Newt than attack popular Republican proposals.

I have said for some time, and continue to say, that Newt Gingrich may well be the most intelligent Speaker to hold office in this century. But, intelligence is not the only criterion to judge someone's qualifications. He lacked judgment when it came to sensing the spirit of the nation.

I like Speaker Gingrich and wish he had not taken $4 million and then backed out of a book deal. I wish he had not skirted the edges of the tax laws with his college course. And I wish he had not lapsed into questionable statements to the House Ethics Committee. But he did and Republicans cannot have ,nor should have, a double standard, particularly as the impeachment guns were aimed at President Clinton. Now Gingrich is in the past. Republican members should get on with the business of the House. The people expect it and the House Democrats will be relentless as they look to the year 2000 and the presidential elections.

With Newt Gingrich gone, Henry Hyde, chairman of the impeachment inquiry should move swiftly to some form of punishment for Bill Clinton short of impeachment. There is little doubt that President Clinton lied under oath in a civil litigation. There is also little doubt that Bill Clinton lied under oath before a grand jury. But the public does not want him removed from office. Since impeachment is a part of a political process, some compromise has to be reached. By doing so the nation and the public process will both become stronger. And the Republicans can get this chapter behind them.