Taking Hypocrisy To The Next Level
A family-values Congressman resigned yesterday after an affair with a staffer was publicized. That in itself is not a big deal, well the resigning part is, most of them just keep going.
Lots of politicians have affairs, and not many of them resign over it. This guy has been married since 1974 and has three grown children. There is some vague speculation in the press about some legal issues, based on comments he made in discussing his resignation.
Souder is well known for his support of abstinence education, co-sponsored the DC Defense of Marriage Act, which would prevent same-sex marriage in the nation's capital, and the Marriage Protection Amendment to ensure that marriage was defined throughout the US as a union between one man and one woman.
On one hand, you can say it was a decent thing for him to resign. He has been exposed as a hypocrite ... but on the other hand, since when has hypocrisy disqualified anyone from politics?
Well, it seems this guy might have been flaunting it a little bit. The video has been taken down from YouTube, but Crooks and Liars has it HERE (sorry I can't link to it directly). This is a video promoting abstinence-only education, criticizing Democrats for wanting comprehensive sex-ed. The message is presented as an interview of Souder by the woman he has been having an affair with! Do you think they went back to their hotel room or whatever and laughed themselves silly over this? (The Post is saying they rendezvoused in a remote boat-house in a park.)
I understand that some people have trouble controlling themselves, even people who really really believe that self-control is an important thing. Go look at this video. There is a little flirtation between them in the banter as he answers her scripted questions with talking-point answers. Wouldn't you think he could have found somebody else to do this one? This goes beyond run-of-the-mill hypocrisy, it's hard to imagine how someone would mock morality like this.
Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder acknowledged an affair with a staffer Tuesday and unexpectedly announced his resignation, giving Democrats a chance at capturing what many had thought was a safe Republican seat.
The eight-term congressman apologized for his actions but provided no details.
"I am so ashamed to have hurt the ones I love," he said at a news conference in Fort Wayne. "I am sorry to have let so many friends down, people who have worked so hard for me." Rep. Souder says he'll resign over affair
Lots of politicians have affairs, and not many of them resign over it. This guy has been married since 1974 and has three grown children. There is some vague speculation in the press about some legal issues, based on comments he made in discussing his resignation.
Souder is well known for his support of abstinence education, co-sponsored the DC Defense of Marriage Act, which would prevent same-sex marriage in the nation's capital, and the Marriage Protection Amendment to ensure that marriage was defined throughout the US as a union between one man and one woman.
On one hand, you can say it was a decent thing for him to resign. He has been exposed as a hypocrite ... but on the other hand, since when has hypocrisy disqualified anyone from politics?
Well, it seems this guy might have been flaunting it a little bit. The video has been taken down from YouTube, but Crooks and Liars has it HERE (sorry I can't link to it directly). This is a video promoting abstinence-only education, criticizing Democrats for wanting comprehensive sex-ed. The message is presented as an interview of Souder by the woman he has been having an affair with! Do you think they went back to their hotel room or whatever and laughed themselves silly over this? (The Post is saying they rendezvoused in a remote boat-house in a park.)
I understand that some people have trouble controlling themselves, even people who really really believe that self-control is an important thing. Go look at this video. There is a little flirtation between them in the banter as he answers her scripted questions with talking-point answers. Wouldn't you think he could have found somebody else to do this one? This goes beyond run-of-the-mill hypocrisy, it's hard to imagine how someone would mock morality like this.
posted by JimK at 8:01 PM
1 Comments:
As Dana Milbank reports, Souder's affair is just one of many Scandals in the House Republican Class of 1994.
"...In his downfall, Souder appears likely to join classmates Mark Foley (lewd text messages to House pages), Mark Sanford (hiking the proverbial Appalachian Trail with his Argentine mistress) and John Ensign (whose parents paid the family of his ex-mistress $96,000) in the sex-scandal hall of fame. Another of their classmates, Bob Ney, did prison time for his role in the Jack Abramoff scandal...
...There was, for example, twice-divorced Bob Barr (Ga.), who at a 1992 charity event reportedly licked whipped cream from the chests of two women...Reps. Jim Bunn (Ore.), James Longley (Maine) and Jon Christensen (Neb.) went through public divorce proceedings. Rep. Enid Greene (Utah) filed for divorce and abandoned reelection plans when her husband, Joe Waldholtz, disappeared after being accused of embezzlement. Rep. Joe Scarborough (Fla.), now a TV host, was among those to follow her to divorce court.
Rep. Steve LaTourette (Ohio) did his colleagues one better. His wife accused him of having an affair with his chief of staff; the couple divorced in 2004, and he married the staffer, who had become a lobbyist..."
Some of Mitch McConnell's GOP candidates lost big time in yesterday's primary and special elections. His candidates, Trey Grayson and Jeff Reetz lost to tea baggers in two Kentucky primaries and to Democrat Mark Critz in a special election to fill Jack Murtha's seat in the only US district to vote for Kerry in 2004 but McCain in 2008 in a nationally watched contest considered a potential bellwether for this fall's midterm election.
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