The 'outhouse' that Newt built

Newt Gingrich -- who clearly can't catch a break -- is now taking some flak about his home in leafy McLean, Va. It's a nice house. According to the New York Times, it's a "5,206-square-foot stone mansionette, built in 1987." It also contains an Ann Kenkel-designed master bathroom with enough wall-to-wall mirrors and chandeliers to make Marie Antoinette blush. Why the Times felt it important to highlight the bathroom decorum (and provide a link to a lavish photo of it) remains a mystery. Upon seeing the bathroom, I was reminded of that scene in Men in Black where Will Smith tries to convince a woman that her recently departed husband wasn't really an alien: "In fact, you know what - you kicked HIM out! And now that he's gone you're gonna go into town ... find some nice dresses, get yourself some shoes, you know, find somewhere, maybe you can get a facial. And, uh, oh - hire a decorator to come in here quick, 'cause... DAMN."