Family Affair

So, Republican Governor Mark Sandford of South Carolina has admitted that during those 5 days that he was MIA from his state and his responsibilities and no one knew where the hell he was, he was with his Mistress in Argentina. He issued the very cliche tearful apology that we have seen over and over again by politicians caught doing wrong. He apologized to his wife, family, coworkers, fellow Repubs, and American citizens yesterday and asked for their forgiveness.

He even said he was willing to do a tour around his state and meet with constituents so they could ask him questions and he could have a chance to show them how truly sorry he was. In his admission he remarked that the woman in question was a "dear, dear friend from Argentina" which he explained was someone he had known "casually" and now it has "developed into something more." Sanford also promptly resigned his position as Chairman of the Republican Governor's Association.

Yeah. Anyways, I have noticed a shocking and disturbing trend among these officials who get caught doing dirty deeds. Have you noticed that it always seems to be the politicians who push the most for traditional family values that are the ones who get caught doing things that are the furthest away from traditional family values as possible? Take Idaho Sen. Larry Craig for example, Craig was busted in a bathroom sex sting on June 11, 2007 where he tried to solicit gay sex from an undercover male police officer at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Like most vociferous anti-gay politicians (i.e. Mr. Troy King, Trent Lott), Craig turned out to be gay himself.

Craig had portrayed himself to the public as an all out conservative and traditional guy. He even served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Rifle Association since 1983. Craig openly and proudly endorsed Idaho's successful anti-gay constitutional amendment, HJR 2, which banned gay marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships in his state ." The Republican senator also mocked Bill Clinton in 1999, as a "naughty boy" for his affair with Monica Lewinsky." Once word of Craig's gay misconduct hit news, fellow Republicans of course fiercely denounced Craig and pushed for his resignation (Craig did temporarily resign only to withdraw his resignation later).

In December 2007, eight gay men came forward to the Idaho Statesman newspaper alleging either sexual encounters with Craig, or attempts by Craig to engage in sexual encounters. Four of the men gave the newspaper graphic, recorded details of their alleged sexual encounters. One of the four was Mike Jones, the male escort who in November 2006 had been involved in a sex and methamphetamine scandal with Ted Haggard. Jones claimed that Craig had paid him $200 for a massage and oral sex. Craig finished out his term but of course was not a candidate for re-election in 2008. He was rumored to have been a possible pick for the Republican nomination of President.

Nevada Sen. John Ensign, a leading conservative mentioned as a potential presidential candidate, admitted 6/16/2009, he had an extramarital affair with a woman who was a member of his campaign staff. "Last year I had an affair. I violated the vows of my marriage," Ensign said at a brief news conference. "It is the worst thing I have ever done in my life. If there was ever anything in my life that I could take back, this would be it." Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said the affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008 with a campaign staffer who was married to an employee in Ensign's Senate office. Neither has worked for the senator since May 2008. Ensign said he would not mention the name of the campaign aide involved in the affair. He described the woman and her husband as good friends.

Then there was Republican Senator Gary Condit, who in 2001 was all anyone could talk about (pre Spet. 11 obviously). He was constantly pushing for good home values, ethics, and lecturing on the importance of the family, and yet, he was found out to have been having an affair with intern Chandra Levy, who went missing that same year. Condit was of course suspected in disappearance but he was never arrested. However, In 2009 a Salvadoran immigrant named Ingmar Guandique was charged with her murder.

Obviously, in all three cases Republicans quickly denounced their disgraced comrade as not representing their views, and began to make them an outcast in the political world. I was just noting the level of hypocrisy among some of the highest ranking members of our government.