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'Mom, Dad—I Need $96K'
Isaac Brekken / AP Photo
John Ensign admitted this week that his parents paid off his mistress. The Daily Beast’s Kathleen Parker wonders how exactly the senator hit up his aging parents for money.
I keep going over it in my head. How exactly does a 51-year-old man approach his parents and ask them to pay his mistress $96,000 in—lacking a better term—hush money?
Senator John Ensign’s admission that his parents paid his ex-lover almost 100K over eight installments just because she and her husband—both former staff members of the U.S. senator—are such good friends, forces the question: What have we got against shame?
Ensign did have sex with that woman. Her husband did find out about it. And, well, what’s a few K among friends?
His handwritten letter to his former paramour, Cindy Hampton, apparently to confess his sin, is a staggering work of narcissistic indulgence that makes South Carolina Governor Mark Stanford look like John Keats.
One surmises, however, that Ensign, a Pentecostal Christian member of Promise Keepers, didn’t have enough dough and had to turn to dear ol’ dad, a casino executive, to bail him out. How would that little transaction have gone?
Dad, Mom, I’ve got a little problem. No, too sudden, scratch that.
Mom, Dad, you two are the most amazing parents in the world. I can’t believe you’re, what, almost 90 now? Wow. If I . . . No, no, not that. Too patronizing. Mom’ll see right through it.
Mother. Father. I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’ve just gotten some really bad news. Forgive me for telling you this way, but I just found out I have only three months to live and I need to get my affairs in order. Much as I hate to ask, I’m going to need a little financial help.
Kidding, kidding! Well, that last part was true. I’m not going to die, I hope, but, I do have a smallish complication.
Bailing out children is a time-honored tradition among parents, though not usually into said child’s 50s. We do what we can when Skipper loses her lunch money, pay for college if we can, help out with the first-day-at-work suit. But paying off a girlfriend well into middle-age?
Dad has to be at least 70 and probably much older, possibly in his 80s. The sort of groveling one imagines taking place is repulsive to consider. Then again, Ensign has no true shame and less dignity. His handwritten letter to his former paramour, Cindy Hampton, apparently to confess his sin, is a staggering work of narcissistic indulgence that makes South Carolina Governor Mark Stanford look like John Keats.
First he tells the woman that this is the most important letter “that I’ve ever written,” yet doesn’t trouble himself to insert a “Dear” before Cindy, followed by a comma. Just: Cindy
Then he states the obvious, that he was “completely self-centered” (and that’s changed?). But worse, worser and worst, he says, “I used you for my own pleasure.” Whereupon every woman between the shining seas gagged in unison: Achhhhh.
No wonder Cindy and husband, Doug Hampton, demanded money from this chump. First you insult the man by sleeping with his wife, then you insult them both by saying you only used her? At least Sanford lost his mind in head-over-heels LUV. Ensign didn’t have the decency to fake affection.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
The Passion of Mark Sanford
Kathleen Parker is a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group and author of Save the Males.
Sanford May Have to Take a Hike, After All
Kathleen Parker is a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group and author of Save the Males.
Runaway Governor: The Sequel
Kathleen Parker is a syndicated columnist with the Washington Post Writers Group and author of Save the Males.
The egoism, the narcissism, the hubris of Ensign beggar the imagination.
And what kind of man pimps out his wife for 96K?
And what kind of woman breaks her marriage for a measly 96K?
And what kind of 51-year old hits up his parents for the payoff?
Good gad.
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I may be crazy but under the guise of religion they paid off the mistress, which in then in effect turned her into prostitute. Then to add further insult the husband then accepted payments including one in the name of their child. Doesn't that make him her pimp. They all should go live in the same glass house since most of them are stone throwers.
yes, but this public official had this affair and his group is totally against this sort of thing, well, at least for other people, and then to add insult to injury, runs to mommy and daddy to bail him out. Even if it was a soap opera episode it would be a creepy, pimpled skin crawling story!
Not for nuthin' that was one of the best pieces I've read on here in a long time. Smart, withering and oh so right on. How much more do we have to take before we stand up and force these ridiculous people out of office.....
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The stilleto wit is well justified .Does anything oroduce quite the idiocy as fornication? Well, yes fornication and expecting God, never mind parents, to bail you out
I only have one question: what the hell is going on in that C Street house.
Ensign, Vitter, Sanford, Craig, Palin....LOSERS!
Apparently some hope of overthrowing the governments of the world. It is reported that C Street house is owned by a religious sect know as "The Family", "The Fellowship" or the "Christian Mafia who believes that the world, not just the U S, the world should be ruled by a few wealthy powerful chosen and that these chosen men are not confined by the rules that the rest of society are biblically commanded to follow. Hence, Sanford's reference to King David. Now if Exxon-Mobile owned a house withing eye sight of the capitol that housed members of congress at below the market rate, everyone would automatically assume that it was for the purpose of influencing legislation to benefit Exxon-Mobile.
So why would anyone assume that the congressmen living at C Street aren't obligated to vote in accord to the wishes of "The Family." I don't just want to rid government of Sanford and Ensign but all of these men who are imposing the will of a cult in the laws of this country. This is scary!
That is the best brief rundown on the C St bunch & the Family that I've seen.
I support your proposal in the 2d paragraph. The USA isn't a theocracy or a Christian nation. Out with the fundies.
Thanks for your comment. I have posted a link below to an explanation of this group known as "The Family".
This is what should be focused on. Not the adultery of Ensign and Sanford, but their connections to this "Christian Mafia".
There is a movement of powerful people whose agenda is certainly not to uphold our Constitution, and who do not believe in "Separation of Church and State".
People, don't be distracted by the "lust" of these stories....something much more important is going on "behind" these stories.
Correction to my own comment, not a soap opera, rather it is the Godfather: Christian style!
Gay Bath House.
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Have you noticed how often the word "narcissist" is being used about republicans lately? Palin, Sanford, Ensign. I expected a minor implosion when they lost the House, Senate and White House, but this is ridiculous. They've become the party of complete wackos. One after another showing us just how totally nuts they are. I'm enjoying every minute.
Not only that but the Young Republicans are about to elect a "racist" as the leader of their group.....
I think the GOP has "jumped the shark".
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I'm sure God rests easier at night knowing he has Ms. Parker to defend his sanctity.
Ditto.
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Sanford is no better than Ensign. He's an unfeeling cad. The affection he shows his mistress that Ms. Parker so admires twists the knife in the hearts of his wife and children.
There was nothing wrong with Ensign's letter. It was HONEST...this wasn't love, this was lust, we didn't care about anyone but ourselves, I used you, it's over. The mistress, a married woman knew what she was getting into, if her feelings are hurt too bad.
The payoff is disgusting...for everyone who keeps talking about his parents paying the bill, hellooooo, it's his money but he's just using his parents as a cover obviously.
Uh, let's set a couple of things right, Roots -
-Ms. Parker isn't responsible for the hearts of Ms. Sanford or her children; Luv Gov Sanford is responsible - but way to blame the messenger. Ms. Parker has simply written that it seems that Sanford was truly in love with his Argentine paramour and has acted like a love-sick puppy with his homecoming dance crush.
-Ensign rejoined his afair with Cindy right after he sent the letter - and continued the afair for about 4-5 months, even after reconciling with his wife. His letter might have been honest, but his actions and return to adultry right after his 'C' Street Family set him straight bespeaks of his actions as an even worse cheater. He followed the advice and counseling of his friends & mentors and still banged his employee for his own selfish needs, disregarding the Christian values he claimed to represent and sullying his membership in PromiseKeepers.
-I hope the payoff was taken from any funds that the parents had set aside for Ensign. However, the whole gift thing is specious on it's face - tax free gifts are given without strings and without the promise of any future service (like keeping quiet) as per IRS regulations. If his parents get investigated, then he used his parents in the pursuit of his lust and that's pretty damn low.
based on the Rachel Maddow segment on C Street it isn't clear to me that Promise Keepers is an appropriate name for the group. The only promise it seems that they are obligated to keep is to not rat on each other. Other than that there is no obligation. Check out this youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dox4jdW4UyQ for Rachel's interview with someone who went undercover in C Street and wrote a book about it.
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The problem with Ensign's letter is that it reported was written under duress imposed by "The Family" and he was accompanied by the sect leaders to Fed Ex it overnight. He then slipped out to a pay phone to call his lover to tell her to ignore the letter per today's report.
For years Sanford's son's will be ridiculed by peers for his incoherent, weepy rants. Children are cruel. Children always bear the scars of marital conflict, but this is more than the average child of divorce has to cope with.
It is alleged that Sanford's mistress is connected to organized crime in Argentina and has a history of trysts with married politicians around the globe.
So, Sanford's tragic love affair could have been a set up for something more sinister.
The money supposedly given by the parents were paid out as gifts of $12,000 each to avert taxes. Looks like this is a matter for the IRS.
And AGAIN.....I say:
Republicans....Thy name is hypocrisy!
I think we can begin to call the GOP the GHP=Generally Hypocritical Party
Very sad state of affairs then and us! It is annoying that we don't have a choice of parties as there is no way that these hypos can run anything right now!
Sanford, Ensign, Vetter, etc. all have expressed remorse at having "betrayed" their values and beliefs. I have wondered, why this epidemic of "betrayal"? Does it have anything to do with pandering for years and decades about "freedom", "God", "patriotism", "tax cuts" etc. without much consideration for what these concepts really mean down on the ground where we mortals live? Have these men been so comfortable in their unexamined lives and their ways of thought that they are now able to do little more than to stare at their own reflections? Where's a good platitude when a guy really needs one.
It is because no matter what most people say about themselves or the group they belong to they are always willing to make exceptions for themselves. They always can make up some excuse as to why they wavered and why they should be forgiven and after sinning then asking for forgiveness. They of course redeemed since they are soooo special and they start the game all over. It is mostly about getting caught.
The great thing about "God" is that these self-righteous Republicans know they can invoke his name to justify whatever actions they want, and their lemur constituents will buy whatever garbage they feed them. I'll give a few examples of what COULD have been said but wasn't.
Vitter: "People of LA, please forgive me, for I have sinned. God at first encouraged me to witness to that prostitute, but while I was attempting to show her the goodness of God's grace, he spoke to me and said 'My son, the best way to bear witness is to lie down and enjoy the fruits of my bounty'. After all, God created this woman, and I felt in my heart God's hand guiding mine. Well, it turns out God changed his mind. And now God wants you to forgive me, just as he has."
Ensign: "God has called on me to persecute others by condemning them for not honoring the sanctity of marriage. While I may have stumbled, through God's grace he will allow me to once more sanctimoniously judge those who do not live up to the values espoused by the Promise Keepers. After all, I may have cheated on my own wife with the wife of a family friend, but it's not like I was soliciting gay sex like that homo Larry Craig. Do as I say, not as I do. After all, God has ordained ME to be spread his word."
Amen!.....lol!
No kidding...
To Spread whose word?
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What really, really needs to be investigated is "The Family" the group behind the "C Street" residence in Washington where Ensign and several other GOP's reside. This residence is considered a "church" and is tax exempt...and pretty shady!
Here's more on this "C Street" residence:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908#31857408
More investigative stuff on C Street and The Family:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/7/11/752404/-Ensign-House-Owned-By-Gr oup-Proposing-Christian-World-Control-Plot
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Forgiveness is all well and good, but where is the accountability? It would be so refreshing to see one of these lions of faith have the *ethical* fortitude to resign.
Dump the 535. The 535 Must Go
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If this wasn't reality... I'd think it was Baaaaaaad fiction.
Does anyone else feel like the only sane person left in the nation? What is wrong with these people?
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I personally wouldn't borrow money from my parents for anything, let alone something like this.
Maybe his parents are just like him though...just older! ?
This story and the Sanford saga are bringing to light a, heretofore, shadowy and deeply disturbing fundementalist group that has been active in American politics since 1935. It is known as 'The Family' and owns the C Street house where Ensign and several other male members of Congress live while in DC, paying rent that is far below maket rate.
Perhaps, in addition to getting these creeps out of office, this scandal will prove beneficial in shining a much-deserved spotlight on this frightening group, which purports to take Hitler, Stalin, Lenin and Mao as role models of strong, effective leadership.
For a quick orientation on 'The Family', go to: Rachel Maddow & The Republican's "C Street House" on YouTube.
For more in-depth information go to:
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/08/06/24.php
The reporting on this group almost smacks of conspiracy
theory, which I like to think is the exclusive province of wingnuts. But, unlike the 'Birther' conspiracy, this appears to be factual. These are the folks that sponsor the annual Washington Prayer Breakfast, which unlike several previous presidents, I believe President Obama declined to attend this past Spring.
Check this out and then get the word out!! It's no wonder Sanford and Ensign got into trouble if they were mentored by these sociopaths to be believe they were chosen by God to lead and rule and, therefore, were above and beyond the rules and laws of Man.
This story and the Sanford saga are bringing to light a, heretofore, shadowy and deeply disturbing fundementalist group that has been active in American politics since 1935. It is known as 'The Family' and owns the C Street house where Ensign and several other male members of Congress live while in DC, paying rent that is far below maket rate.
Perhaps, in addition to getting these creeps out of office, this scandal will prove beneficial in shining a much-deserved spotlight on this frightening group, which purports to take Hitler, Stalin, Lenin and Mao as role models of strong, effective leadership.
For a quick orientation on 'The Family', go to: Rachel Maddow & The Republican's "C Street House" on YouTube.
For more in-depth information go to:
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/08/06/24.php
The reporting on this group almost smacks of conspiracy
theory, which I like to think is the exclusive province of wingnuts. But, unlike the 'Birther' conspiracy, this appears to be factual. These are the folks that sponsor the annual Washington Prayer Breakfast, which, unlike several previous presidents, President Obama declined to attend this past Spring.
Check this out and then get the word out!! It's no wonder Sanford and Ensign got into trouble if they were mentored by these sociopaths to believe they were chosen by God to lead and rule and, therefore, were above and beyond the rules and laws of Man.
Also, a great article with the author Jeff Scarlet about a year ago, when his book first came out. It is now in paperback. "The Family"
http://www.alternet.org/rights/87665/?page=1
The Family was founded 70 years ago by Abraham Vereide, a Norwegian immigrant evangelist based in Seattle. In 1935, Vereide said, God appeared to him in a vision and revealed where Christianity had gone wrong: preoccupation with the poor, the weak and the suffering.
Nice huh....Christians were too preoccupied with the poor, the weak, and the suffering....Boy, that does NOT sound like the Sunday school lessons I got.
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I believe I have figured out the odd amount of $96,000.
The U.S. Gift Tax law states that any person can give any other person up to $12,000 in one calendar year without consequence of paying gift tax.
John Ensign's father could give $12,000 to Cindy Hampton, Cindy's husband, and each of her two children ($48,000).
John Ensign's mother could give $12,000 to Cindy Hampton, Cindy's husband, and each of her two children ($48,000).
Thus, $96,000 given without any tax consequences to anyone - not income to the receiver, not taxable to the giver.
This concept may NOT hold up in the end, however, if it can be shown that these were not, in fact, LEGAL gifts, but were something else such as payoffs for silence.
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People we really need to look back at Mr.sanford's affair .Do we really know if Mr.Sanfords mistress is a "SPY".Because he had Top-Secret clearence to classified information people.He may have put us in harms way .We need to dig deeper into Mr.Sanfords Affair
Ms. Parker,
It's "bated schadenfreude," not "baited schadenfraude."
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Ms. Parker compared the Luv Guv to Pasternak's Zhivago in a good light. Maybe because she knows the Luv Guv personally, as she lives in S.C. and she herself is a Republican shining star.
I never bought the "romantic" line because a romantic behaves like one, throws caution to the wind and immediately resigns. A romantic will run to his love unabashedly, publicly, remorselessly, unabatadly, in the flames of love's swirling fires.
Ms. Parker did not catch the apologetic Sanford droning on about hiking trails, adventures, whatever. The guy was covering his ass for statements said to a lone waiting reporter at Atlanta's airport.
In short, there is nothing romantic in a lecherous creep, invoking King David as example of a sinning ruler that did "God's" labors to the very last day of his "fiduciary responsibility".
Sanford's a fool along with Ensign, along Client #9, along Ted Haggard and the rest of mankind's philandering, cheating frauds.
It is the cuckolded wive's club Ms. Parker should comment on their behalf. These elected idiots are getting their just desserts as the butt of universal scorn. The wreckage these fools leave behind, the destructive wake these impossibly stupid jerks befall their families is the silent tragedy untold.
This payoff was a financial advisor's heaven.
Senator Ensign's legacy from his parents is reduced by the amount given to his lover and his family. To date, the amount is $96,000.
The gift tax laws of the U.S. permit any person to give to any other person up to $12,000 in any calendar year.
Senator Ensign's father gives Cindy Hampton $12,000, then $12,000 to Cindy's husband, then $12,000 to each of her two children. Total here is $48,000.
Senator Ensign's mother gives Cindy Hampton $12,000, then $12,000 to Cindy's husband, then $12,000 to each of her two children. Total here is $48,000. Grand Total is $96,000. That appears to be for calendar year 2009. That routine can be repeated again in 2010 and beyond.
This $96,000 transfer is all tax free. No taxable income to the recipients, No gift tax payable by Senator Ensign's parents. And, if the parents are wealthy enough, no federal estate tax will apply to these tax free gifts.
See how the tax laws work for the rich? Get the idea? The adulterer's parents payoff the lover and the cuckold all in the legal realm in place to benefit the rich among us.
This group Ensign and Sanford, and many others belong to were started by a man who said "God talked to him". An interview with the author Jeff Scarlet (who spent a year inside this cult) wrote a book on "The Family".
For more on this "secretive" group....Here:
http://www.alternet.org/rights/87665/?page=1
From the article:
The Family was founded 70 years ago by Abraham Vereide, a Norwegian immigrant evangelist based in Seattle. In 1935, Vereide said, God appeared to him in a vision and revealed where Christianity had gone wrong: preoccupation with the poor, the weak and the suffering.
The Republicans "have jumped the shark"
The thing that I find most disturbing about these Re-Public Sinners is their public confession and the heaping of blame on family, friends and God. Truth is, they were just using the little head to think with - and that thought was that THEY could get away without getting caught.
But, when they are caught do they do the manly thing and deny, deny, deny, until the blue dress shows up? No, they throw their wives on the fire, pay off the mistresses as if they were just hookers to begin with, and say that thru it all, their faith sustains then because the KNOW God forgives them...
Please, at least Clinton denied everything for as long as possible - and even then, it depends on your definition of 'is'. I think that is why impeachment failed. Most of us were raised to never admit anything. No way! And then, if that totally failed, 'The Devil made me do it" was the fall-back position. God had nothing to do with any of it, because the last faint hope is that God didn't notice, or if he did, a couple of years in purgatory would do the trick.
Thank you.
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