I'm sure you've all heard the latest Repub sex scandal: Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is now under investigation for allegedly having an affair with one of his campaign aides. A married campaign aide. Whose husband worked in Ensign's Senate office. I say, "allegedly," but I'm not sure I have to - Ensign copped to the affair last week, amidst many crocodile tears. There's an ethics committee investigation going into whether either the aide or her husband, or both, were fired because of the affair; but that isn't what fried my tomatoes today.
The Associated Press report, printed in today's San Francisco Chronicle, has a section at the end describing Ensign's return to the Senate floor:
On the Senate floor during a vote on a tourism bill, several lawmakers took time to speak with Ensign.
Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., talked with Ensign for several minutes, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., gave him a quick embrace. Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama patted Ensign's hand. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, shook Ensign's hand, and the two stood side-by-side for about a minute in silence as the vote continued.
Isn't that touching? His friends surround him with hugs of support and murmured words of sympathy - the randy hypocrite! He should have a scarlet A embroidered on the lapel of every suit he owns. All these yoyos claim to stand up for Family Values, and the sanctity of the hearth, and all that jazz. And they wonder why their approval ratings are heading for Antarctica.
My personal opinion--for what it's worth--is that the private lives of our elected representatives are none of our business.
ReplyDeleteThe press ignored FDR's 30 year affair with the woman down in Georgia. The famous long train ride carrying his body from there to Washington, with well-wishers and mourners waving the train by...my, my, my.
The press similarly ignored JFK's philanderings--the famous day-bed couch in the White House etc.
Would it ever have mattered one iota to our nation's security or the integrity of its policies here or abroad if we HAD known about these things when they were going on?
Get real!
Het or Bi or swingin' wild. What the Hell do I care? Can these people govern--that's what I care about.
Oh, I agree with you, in general. However, for the last yumpty-ump years, the Republican Party has stood up on its soapbox and told the world that they are the party of Family Values, who will restore Decency to the Nation and get rid of all those immoral gays and unwed mothers.
ReplyDeleteIf they're going to insist on how holy they are, they have to expect a certain schadenfreude when one of them is caught out publicly in, um, non-family-values activities. It isn't the screwing around I object to - it's the hypocrisy, so strong you'd expect it to rot their teeth.
Sen. Ensign has just gotten a first-class publicity cover, too, with the South Carolina governor all over the front page about how he spent Father's Day in Argentina with his sweetie, "crying." (Hey, his choice.) In his case I think the people of South Carolina have a solid case for recall - he left the state with no one in charge for four days, while he ducked out of the country to have an extramarital affair.
Family Values, my ass.
Welcome to Val-U-Pac Discounters!
ReplyDeleteBargains down every aisle!