It's a shame we can't afford to let up on the Republican Party because it's really looking bad right now. In two quick weeks, two major figures in the GOP have had to go before the media and apologize to their families, their constituents and anyone else who may have been offended over their (gasp) marital transgressions.
First it was Senator John Ensign of Nevada, considered by some conservatives to be a rising star. He didn't come clean with the public out of some epiphany; he was at the brink of being extorted by the husband of the woman with whom he had been cheating on his wife.
This week, it's South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who went AWOL for several days without anyone actually knowing where he was. After several stalls and clinches, his office told the press a genuine whopper, saying he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail (all by himself).
It turns out he was actually in Argentina, of all places, wrapping up what he said was a year-long affair with a mistress named Maria in Buenos Aires. He went through the stock speech and then some, even muttering something about "God's law". It would have been sad if it weren't so hilarious.
Once upon a time, the Democrats were known for being the womanizers in politics, starting with those (wink, nod) Kennedy boys. Then Gary Hart got his picture taken at a marina with Donna Rice on his lap. This all came to a head - I'm so sorry - with Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky and continues to this day with the likes of John Edwards and former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.
However, shortly after they ascended to prominence, Republicans began losing control of themselves. The dalliances of such notables as Newt Gingrich and Rudy Giuliani went largely unnoticed even though both lost their marriages as a result. In the last few years, though, things have gotten very wierd in right-wing circles... They seem to be embracing diversity.
Mark Foley, after all, was hot for teenage male interns. Makes you squirm, doesn't it? Larry Craig's offense makes you even more uncomfortable than that. David Vitter, like Spitzer, was into prostitutes. The common thread among Vitter, Craig, Ensign and Sanford is that they all had plenty of moral high ground to stand on when Clinton was the target of their outrage.
The real difference between Republicans and Democrats in this regard is that Democrats have mostly had the decency to be ashamed of their actions. Gary Hart lost his political career. Spitzer resigned within hours of being exposed. Not a peep has been heard from Edwards.
In the Party of family values, there are no consequences, even for those who refuse to practice what they so forcefully preach. Sanford apologized but didn't resign. David Vitter, Larry Craig, John Ensign, those creeps are all still in office. Giuliani's a contender to be Governor of New York. Gingrich is hailed as a conservative guru and may be a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.
As for Foley, he slunk away from public life, coming out of the closet in 2007 and forgetting all about doing the people's business in Washington. He was the only one with even the slightest shred of integrity.
pH 6.24.o9
No comments:
Post a Comment