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The Sex Scandal Hypocrite
Isaac Brekken / AP Photo
As Sen. John Ensign steps down from a top leadership post due to his adultery confession, his ruthless attacks on Bill Clinton and Larry Craig—and his strident defense of the “sanctity of marriage”—are coming back to haunt him, says Max Blumenthal.
Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada didn’t tap his foot in a bathroom stall like Larry Craig or spirit away to pricey bordellos like David Vitter, but like Newt Gingrich, he had an extramarital affair with a young staffer on his payroll.
Ensign admitted his affair Tuesday, declaring, “I deeply regret and am very sorry for my actions.” According to Politico, Ensign only revealed the affair when the husband of the woman involved demanded “a substantial sum of money” to keep quiet.
Ensign’s affair undermines his carefully cultivated image as a stalwart against the machinations of liberal judges, feminists, and homosexual activists.
Confessed just two weeks after a visit to the Republican presidential-primary state of Iowa, Ensign’s affair effectively ends his apparent presidential ambitions. It also undermines his carefully cultivated image as a stalwart against the machinations of liberal judges, feminists, and homosexual activists.
Beginning with his call from the House floor for President Bill Clinton to resign after having an affair—“He has no credibility left,” Ensign said—and continuing through his tenure in the Senate with a hard-right voting record that earned a 100 percent rating from the Christian Coalition, Ensign has earned a reputation as one of Congress’ most active and ardent social conservatives. In 2008, he was rewarded with the chairmanship of the Republican Policy Committee, making him the No. 4 Republican in the Senate, a rising star at age 51 in a party with few strong presidential prospects. The future looked bright.
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Before admitting his affair, Ensign last addressed the issue of marriage on July 13, 2004, during the congressional debate over amending the Constitution with a ban on same-sex marriage.
“Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded,” Ensign proclaimed from the Senate floor. “For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simply point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation. It predates the founding of our nation and even the landing at Plymouth Rock. Marriage, as a social institution, predates every other institution on which ordered society in America and the world as a whole, has relied, including even the church itself.”
Ensign concluded, “It is not right to mold marriage to fit the desires of a few, against the wishes of so many, and to ignore the important role of marriage.”
Unlike some of his colleagues, Ensign’s jeremiads against gay marriage reflected a sincere expression of his faith and personal sensibility. Indeed, Ensign is a Promise Keeper and the only Pentecostal in the Senate—former Missouri Senator and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft was the first—and a member of a congregation in Las Vegas affiliated with the ultra-conservative International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.
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Max Blumenthal is a senior writer for The Daily Beast, writing fellow at The Nation Institute and author of Republican Gomorrah (Basic/Nation Books). Contact him at maxblumenthal3000@yahoo.com.
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Max Blumenthal is a senior writer for The Daily Beast, writing fellow at The Nation Institute and author of Republican Gomorrah (Basic/Nation Books). Contact him at maxblumenthal3000@yahoo.com.
deegeezee
well, clearly his marriage was doomed by all the gays in Iowa getting married.
oh, wait -- his affair started before that? my bad.
is it too late to make adultery illegal again? that's "traditional," too.
piktor
deegeezee -- Sodomy and anything but the missionary position were lawless crimes to be prosecuted. Don't we we all miss the good ol' days.
I posted this in the Video page at TDB:
"In a speech "to defend the sanctity of marriage and urge passage of the Federal Marriage Amendment Act," on the Senate floor in 2004, Ensign said "marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded."-CBSNEWS
Dear Mr. Ensign,
Do we Have To Know about this matter? Why should the world know about your private shenanigans? Do we have to know you had difficulties in your marriage? If so, what else do you want us to know? You feel all better now, senator?
Does anyone know why this is relevant? Do your wife and children need the aggravation? Is this a GOP secret/public ritual initiation protocol? If you suffer a toothache, will you call a press conference? Should the world know all about Ensign? If so, tell us all there is to know about John Ensign, Mr. Senator. Now that you've started, let it all hang out.
You know what, senator, xMiss Cal Carrie Prejean said she was "here to save marriage". You would make such a nice let's-save-marriage poster kids for The Cause. Now the two of you go and mull it over. And no shenanigans this time, Mr. Senator.
Have I been helpful to you, Mr. Senator? The world wants to know.
jeffzekas
Ensign had to speak out, because he was being blackmailed by the husband of the woman he had an affair with.
SteveStephens
Ensign had to speak out, because the republicans consider this sort of thing a relevant public issue, even though it isn't. This isn't new.
piktor
SteveStephens -- Sorry I'm repeating myself but Ensign's relevant issue here is not what he does in his personal life. He is a senator, not a high priest of some sort. The Senate is not a seminary, the Senate is not the Vatican or the Church of England.
He outed himself because someone was gaining on him. He had to move fast, he had to look like an idiot with no sense of honor.
When a sitting senator makes that sort of spectacle of himself we have to question his judgement. He has to step down to regain his honor. He said he will not resign, so, what are we to make of that.
piktor
UPDATE: Read the letter from Mr. Hampton to FoxNews, just a few days before Mr. Senator went public:
http://tinyurl.com/mrm2wy
roooth
Yeah, isn't it traditional to stone adulterers?
In reality, isn't it modern tradition for Republicans to hypocritically posture themselves as moral champions while screwing anything that isn't tied down and quite a few things that are?
Today's Republican Party, where men are men - and women, kids, and farm animals exist only to service there needs.
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n--Y--charles116jeffzekas
Okay, everyone screws up... even gays! Just because a "straight" person (or a gay person) cheats on their partner, does not, ipso facto, mean that all arguments for (or against) traditional marriage are now invalidated. What if we discovered that Barack Obama cheated on his wife? Would that make him a "bad" leader? No. It would only mean that he is an imperfect human being.
lesherb
jeffzekas-it's the hypocrisy not the adultery. This man stood up and called for our president's head (Bill Clinton) on a platter. He also did his best to get Larry Craig to resign. Ensign held himself up as the champion of traditional values and then we find out he's an adulterer.
If Obama cheated on his wife, then we'd all be very sad about it. We just wouldn't call him a hypocrite. He isn't one to demand others live by the rules he makes and then break them himself behind closed doors.
dm10003
i think the meta-message is that when one treats us like non-humans that shouldn't allowed to put a foot wrong, while that same one wants the broadest human dimension of leeway and forgiveness, that's unacceptable.
piktor
jeffzekas -- Who cares what these guys do on their free time.
If Obama got caught and had to make it public, whatever hell he has to go through, he had it coming.
On the subject of "blackmail". It is a prosecutable felony. Ensign never mentioned anything about it.
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n--Y--charles116OHNOTAGAIN
Keep coming back more will be revealed!! It is time for all corruption to be brought to the light. Those who protest the most about others are falling victim to the same behavior. How could a man with integrity survive in Washington., ie., President Barack Obama. The White House should be considered the House of Corruption.
Brave1
Why do hypocrites like him even open their mouths? hmm, adultery, is that still punishable by stoning to death? I can't remember the appropriate biblical punishment for this guy, I want to get it right though, because it's the word of god don't ya know! I blame this on gays, he never would have had an affair if there were not gay people in the world...doh
roooth
In his interpretation of the Old Testament, Ensign would get off scot free and his mistress would be stoned to death.
Why do women let men like that in their pants? I don't get it.
exploora
Obviously it is either because power excites them, or they have their eyes closed.
spotted
Well, he's not exactly the zombie Republican we've been reading about.
Just another whitened sepulcher . . .
Spasticula
Ensign "Marriage is the cornerstone..."
...that I stood on, to look at other women I could sleep with.
scott1607
lawsuit alert -- you just made me choke on my morning bagel! I love a good chuckle in the morning!
Genni2002
What a joker and a liar. Ensign's comments are ironic to say the least: ..."admitted guilt. That is a big difference between being accused of something and actually admitting guilt... David Vitter never did that. Larry Craig did." Guess marriage is the "marriage is the cornerstone" when he decides marriage is the cornerstone.
Incidentally, when Clinton did this with his 'depends on what the meaning of the word is, is', that was not denial of guilt was not okay. AND, Clinton didn't have intercourse and neither did Larry Craig, after all, nor was the person a high priced prostitute. So it is no big deal to these Christians to solicit for sex when it is a female and probably even better, a female prostitute?
Christian Coalition a.k.a Hypocrite Coalition. Motto: We are the worst Christians ever! It is a fun group. You can malign, cut off, break down, heckle and demean anyone we don't like!! If you are a phony bible thumping hypocrite, join up today! Bible bullies welcome.
spinozareader
And as a prize, you can get an air-brushed vanity plate for the car that reads:
"I'm not perfect; just saved." (Insert retching here.)
Genni2002
Very cool! A bumper sticker perhaps?
"I'm not perfect; just better than you!" (Insert gagging sound here)
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army193
Was campaign funds paid to hush the affair?
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n--Y--charles116cuppajo
I care about my healthcare being rationed. I care about my taxes being raised. I care about taking care of my family. I don't care about a man who slept with a woman while he was separated from his wife. Don't we have other things we should be focusing on? Like the govt raiding your pocket book?
Carole65
Agree with you, but the helplessness people feel over this government spending spree is so palpable that going like lambs to the slaughter seems to be the only recourse. The liberals keep driving the reckless bus, and the conservatives and moderates don't have the gumption to stop it. The tea party people are ridiculed by the press, but they are the only ones speaking out while Congress submits to the destruction of this countries free market principles. No wonder they have affairs - that's what they do best.
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Carole65
optimus: I could ask the same of you, but it's a moot point. About common sense - you bet we do, and in my family, if you don't have it, you don't spend it. You cut the frills out of the spending, before you move on. Sometimes you do have to borrow money in order to fund a necessity, but you do that with the ability to pay it back. Right now, the government has only the backs of the American people to pay it back. And it's going to be massive 5 to 10 years down the road.
Ritarita
Carole-
And this from you
Just as I was starting to think
You were making more and more sense.
Now the Tea-baggers are right?
Lord have mercy
How many hundreds of times
Will you have to read that the 'reckless'
Spending is all about filling
The massive craters left in the economy
After it seized up?
Please try to get that.
It's so tiresome.
martykz
Faith-based fornicators and their retinue of true believers can hump with the best of us liberals but unlike us they do not understand the difference between spending and investing. For instance, the TARP money the administration supposedly spent is now coming back with a profit. It was an investment. The money we put in AIG and GM and will put into health care will come back with dividends. Don't let the Republiars prey on your ignorance. The business of America, it turns out, is actually business.
felixsama
The TPP (the" tea party people") were ridiculed for 2 reasons: their failure to realize that in modern slang 'teabagging' is to stick your balls into an unconscious friend's mouth AND because they didn't object to Bush's 9 trillion dollar deficit for WAR, but objected with their moronic moniker to trying to save schools, healthcare- basically the whole country, with a 'bailout' any patriot will be praying succeeds.
Now go have some tea and shut up.
And Rita- I believe if you note the numbers, it's Carol (e?) 42 who makes sense.
And,
must you do
this?
To us
all the time?
Sheesh.........
cbeenthere
ritarita
Carol being fair and reasonable, after you howled over the person who said Bush was a liberal? Oh, ok.
cbeenthere
Ritarita
Meant Carole 65 in my post since apparently another Carol 42 around. Anyhow in regard to my previous post--my turn to howl.
cbeenthere
felixama
You're right it is carol42 who is on the level.
Genni2002
This entire bank crisis sends my head into a spin. Don't get me wrong about that... HOWEVER, the worse thing (in my tiny head anyway) a person can be is a hypocrite. Hate them! Please, you can be an independent. That is great, but do not go off on some finger pointing to the point of dogging tangent when you intend to do the same (or worse) yourself. It is very galling indeed!
By the way, don't you also like Ritarita posts? They have this flow quality. Just try reading her postings w/o the judgment and see... short and to the point! (I know, I could learn from this!)
scott1607
I normally would agree with you. I don't one bit about my representative's personal lives, but in Ensign's case it is more than appropriate the he should be raked over the coals of public scrutiny. Karma karma karma... chameleon! (sorry I have Sirius on the 80's channel this morning)
connie47
I care about the character issue. I don't expect congressmen/women to be saints, but if they choose to make "family values" their issue, while ignoring it in their own lives, I want to know that.
Nobody forced him to go public on the sanctity of marriage, passing judgment on others, but cheating himself. He is infinitely scummier and less worthy of office than someone who did not set themselves up as the embodiment of the moral high ground.
Johnnyappleseed
You are absolutely correct, bigger fish to fry than infidelity, there are plenty of people in congress with problems of their moral characters, while our ship is sinking we need to deal with that.
xlntcat
When you self-righteously attempt to impose your values on to others without comprehending that you are violating their rights, then the backlash you receive is deserved. Hypocrisy isn't easily tolerated because it causes others not only to lose faith in you but also in their own judgement. When the self presentation proves to be false, others will not readily accept an alternate presentation. You weren't who you led others to believe that you were, so they don't know who you are and are reluctant to extend trust a second time. He is no different from all the evangelical preachers who railed against others for doing what they were,in fact, doing.
Genni2002
You have articulated the problem with him and folks like him.
Cforchange
The character issue is huge, this man is phony to the core so we trust with the country's cash. What about the damage to the GOP. While it has been apparent to me all along, the GOP leadership needs to act towards moderating its social rhetoric. This one single stand has drastically impaired the party's membership and candidate quality. Afterall who is perfect so only the flaming narcissist need apply.
My ideal leader would need only to provide me with lets say a 12 point plan and have a solid record of accountable pertinent experience and accomplishments and be able to communicate the plan too. For you Palin lovers, if we didn't vere into this turf we would know so little about the Wasilla clan which has proved how average(charismatic yes, brilliant no) they are. I'm sick and tired of average leadership.
piktor
Ritarita -- Here's a new crater in the making:
(This is a response to Carole65 on Ensign Video section at TDB)
Carole65 -- You are on to something here.
Wanna know who is promoting a $30 billion government, aka "The Feds", guarantee for Gov. Palin's GasLine pipe dream? Well, it's none other than Dem. senator from N.Dakota Byron "slacker" Dorgan:
"The provision would boost the loan guarantee for an Alaska pipeline from the current $18 billion US. The bill was introduced by Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, in April."-Calgary Herald
http://tinyurl.com/nxxrh7
You call blackmail a monetary compensation from a cuckolded former employee? I did not hear our dear senator call for an investigation into this most grave and felonious "blackmail".Let's just say the offended husband is rightly furious at the sanctimonious senator and wants monetary compensation for the pain and suffering.
Happens all the time. Even to sanctimonious philandering jerks.
roooth
You know you're using Republican spin-meister, Frank Luntz's, buzz phrases, don't you? I only ask because from what you wrote, it would seem that you are implying that the current administration is going to "ration" health care and raise your taxes. I hope you're not that confused.
Your health care is already being rationed, and if you haven't noticed that, its because you haven't been hit by a medical catastrophe. Your taxes were already raised by the last guy, along with every other governmental charge that could be raised - not to mention the gutting of the economy and the unprecedented raiding of all our pocketbooks.
So, were you trying to slam the current administration, while pretending the last 8 years didn''t happen? Just curious...
Ritarita
No.
It's Carole65 that I meant.
Lately she's been posting some
Pretty objective comments which
Differ from the hyper-partisan stuff she used to do.
Like:
Carole65
Think you're right and Obama's statement yesterday was spot on. I do think that if McCain were president today, he would probably be saying the same as Obama. Just the nature of politics........
| | |
(1)
9:26 am, Jun 16, 2009
John McCain on Obama and Iran video.
I didn't mean Carol42 at all.
But thanks you two.
And felix
I'm afraid I probably will always post
The way I post now.
It just comes out that way-
But you can just scroll by and we'll
Call it even.
Ritarita
Felixsama and cbeen-
This post is to you.
I put it in the wrong spot-
It should be part of the 'Caroles' thread
Above.
cbeenthere
Well, Ritarita
Saw it and have to admit I did comment on that spot on bit re Obama-- then comes the McCain comment. Have you had a lapse about bomb, bomb, bomb McCain. I don't buy back handed compliments. Sorry, as a matter of fact they set my hair on fire, in case you had not noticed.
cbeenthere
Oh, and wait a minute wasn't that a post in response to the video of McCain criticizing Obama's handling of Iran? I rest my case.
Ritarita
cbeen-
I'm so confused
About this thread that
I really don't care anymore.
ThisThatTheOther
Puh-lease. The financiers raided your pocketbook, the insurance companies are rationing health care, and if your taxes are being raised you make over $250,000 and so I don't feel sorry for you.
I care about a hypocrite in government talking about imposing values on others he doesn't possess.
piktor
ThisThatThe -- Sinnin' Ensign has a really really big problem. He does possess the values because he embraces said values in his Senate soapbox. His very big problem is he now has to act on those very Christian values he foisted upon B.Clinton and L.Craig. He HAS to resign his senate seat for his values to have any transcendent weight.
If he does not resign and honor those precious Christian values he has used in his political ascension, it is going to sound like a lotta hot air coming from another corrupt windbag in the U.S. Senate. And he is too mighty holy to allow that. Not on his watch, not holy Christian John Ensign will stand for that, right! Yeah, right.
That is Mr. Ensign's big problem. He will talk, he will not walk.
Josh-Narins
Mr. Blumenthal, I can't see why you think there might be some justice here. He's not going to step down, he's not going to lose power. I doubt he will get any serious criticism from Fox, or anything too bad from CNN. A few people, such as yourself, know he's a hypocrite. The corporate press has forgotten his earlier remarks already.
Carole65
And MSNBC will milk it for all it's worth. When the next Democrat is caught with his pants down, FOX will milk that story. What else is new here? They're all hypocrites and slackers.
Denjudge
Yeah, they all do it, which is sad. People in all walks of life do it, which, again, is sad.
However, the thing that is particularly egregious about Ensign is that he actively campaigned against the types of things he has done. That is a true hypocrite, and he needs to be called out on it. He can have his point of view about marriage, extramarital affairs, homosexuality, etc....and I can understand if he fails to his own standards...we all do. But please do not preach to me or anyone else about these things if you cannot adhere to them yourself!
cbeenthere
It doesn't take a story about a Dem with his pants down to have fox news milk a story about anything, much less a Dem, that is why a lot of people refer to it as Faux News,( faux is french for fake).
roooth
It's enough to keep him out of the WH. But you are right in the larger sense. Newt, who was a true toad; cheated on his wife with a Congressional staffer, who gave his wife a divorce notice while she was in the hospital with cancer, and who had bad enough etics violations that even Congress had to do something and threw him out, is now trying to position himself as some elder statesmen - and the media is playing right along.
ThisThatTheOther
Speaking of toads, check out the body on Newt! Eeeww! Who would have an affair with that?
KateTheGreat
Heh,,,Sorry, but Republicans are 10 times the worse hypocrites about sexual matters: they're the only ones to try to FORCE their missionary/bible "morality" on everyone else through legislation -- then they gleefully participate in the very acts they rail against day in, day out.
Of course this douche-bag is probably mostly against women having affairs (hence his ranting about how women need to stay in the home, and that women working leads to affairs and divorce as they earn their own money...ROFL), but it's OK for men...as long as it's not a homosexual affair.
roooth
You nailed it.
spinozareader
Kate
That poor, helpless man wouldn't have had an affair if that mean ol' vixen of a female staffer of his had stayed home and been a good wife. (Or, if she was single, just stayed home, I guess?!)
Men in every one of these literal/fundamentalist sects always manage to build into their belief system so way to blame and punish the women for the lion's share of all sins (goes back to that convenient Adam/Eve/apple story, where it's the nosy dame who's to blame for getting us evicted from Eden).
Genni2002
Isn't that the truth!
Also, it seems like (from history anyway) the more they rage on against recognizing contributions or giving rights / protections of any kind to homosexuals, the more I think they protest a weeee bit much!
overdue
piktor:
yes, we DO have to know, because if he hadn't spoken up, or paid up, the Other Guy would've squeeled. See that's how heroic the ol' senator was! ;-)
piktor
overdue -- That is exactly what infuriated me about Clinton. He admitted to his sin on the very day the FBI was to announce the stain on the Blue Dress had Bubba's DNA. All these philandering crooks are one and the same. And a lot of fun to watch.
d49nj00
Ensign would have never admitted to the affair if the husband of his mistress didn't decide to blackmail him. Ensign's lie and his phony preaching on the "sanctity of marriage" from the senate floor would have continued.
I wonder if Ensign would like an empathetic view from the public on this matter?
amapola101
PUke,70% of the people,dont know, about him,dont care about him,okay good.If he was being blackmailed, he went public. But all that sobbing and blabbering on tv.??He should have gone to the authorities. he must be planning to run for President.Please, can we all decide that people have affairs, and they have to work it out with their spouses, their families,and unless you sound genuine, please dont give a Jimmy Swaggart act on televison.It is interesting how people talk,and preach and judge, and throw stones, and are lying.!!
RICHARDOLVEDA
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!
amapola101
No he does not need to resign or atleast 50% of all the politicians,would have to resign. (That might be great.)(women and men,and it could be closer to 70%)But his wife should beat him up with the frying pan !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!It is not our concern, 70% do not even know who he is, and cannot care less. But if he was being blackmailed, he should have gone to the authorities, and his family. All these Jimmy Swaggart,Shows,"Father I have sinned" its blabeering, and slobbering and awfull to see in your morning news.But if he did it,and went ahead, with it,HE CAME OUT AS A HYPOCRITE>and a lier, and just talk.Awfull,and people have to pay their bills, and work,and take their kids to school,blah,blah,blah,This man must be getting ready to run for president. He is an attractive figure.looks like a James Brolin,interesting, until he opened his mouth.!!!
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