NETWATCH . . . NEWT ON THE NET

While House Speaker-elect Newt Gingrich faces congressional scrutiny over a televised, right-leaning college course he teaches, the spread of Newtonian ideas apparently can't be stopped in cyberspace. In a few weeks, "Renewing American Civilization" -- Gingrich's amalgam of U.S. history, "Total Quality Management" and motivational speeches -- will appear on the Internet's user-friendly World Wide Web, courtesy of a non-profit group that now bankrolls distribution by audio and videotape. Meanwhile, House Minority Whip David Bonior (D-Mich.) this week called for an independent counsel to look into whether Gingrich misused his staff and abused tax laws in preparing the lectures. Staffers at the Washington-based Progress & Freedom Foundation, which sells the tapes and is building the Web site, are treading judiciously: "This Web page will have no connection to any other things that Newt might be doing," says project director John McDowell. "We're keeping the politics completely separate from the ideas. We're a foundation. We just don't do politics."