Ensign Blamed Wife in Letter to Mistress

Actually, I want to qualify this. Ensign's communication, what he said in the letter, was morally fine. There is no story EXCEPT for the financial treatment of Mrs. Hampton and her family. We already knew something of this, but the timing of the letter has brought it all up to be considered again in greater clarity now. ........................ Hampton's salary *doubled* in her time on the Ensign campaign. She was paid for sleeping with the boss. note: I assume this was wildly unusual per pay rates; feel free to challenge me on this if you have checked and found otherwise...) At termination, Mrs. Hampton received a $25,000 dollar severance package. Her 18 or 19 year old son was working a s a policy *expert* for the national Republican apparatus. ....................... And, the kicker, Senator Coburn urged Ensign to pay her off! . http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hf-lPYvrBjHgrjESmFE8gMFY5xDAD99AMNOG1 ......... Is this kind of bribery and corruption the norm for Republicans and we just haven't seen it much till now? I'm wondering if these scandals are serving as windows into the souls of those actually trying to toe the line of the Republican Party. The moralisms and principles are all just pretension. An elite crew who have captured power and maintain it with crude populism ................................. And the punchline: Both Sanford and Ensign were hanging out at "C Street" -- a Christian House for sleepovers. Who else has dropped in on the Christian Orgy House for Senators? http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/25/AR2009062504480.html?hpid=artsliving

Only if the word "whore" were applied equally among the males as it seems to be tossed at the females as they stand alone in such matters. Also the fact of the double standard on persecution/prosecution of the politicians. If your going to hold public hearings and attempt to crucify one party then be prepared when the other party simply make headlines as they desperately seek forgiveness through fake tears pledging not to do it again (in a manner which might get them caught).

This is the thing that gets me about our current American political climate. I don't care Clinton got his pipe swiped. I don't care that Bush 43 was a coke head. I don't care that Ted Haggard likes sex with men and smokes crank. What one does is ones' PERSONAL BUSINESS; I'm not going to scrutinize my grocer or MOST PEOPLE I pay for goods and services to that degree. The problem I have is PREACHING ONE THING AND DOING ANOTHER!! Ted Haggard irks me BECAUSE he MAKES A LIVING preaching AGAINST things he himself enjoys. I don't prescribe completely to Christianity, although I do ascribe to virtues of forgiveness, sacrifice, courage, honesty, etc. But it is the evangelical electorate that cares about ones moral fiber and NOT qualifications. How important is Obama wearing a lapel flag pin to the people on unemployment or food stamps? Yet it was a campaign issue for far too long. This was the TRUE TRAGEDY of the GWB administration: no interest in performance, just loyalty. Guess what, If someone owns a hospital that is in need of a neurosurgeon, that person might want to find someone that CAN AND WILL DO the work, not just someone they like. We could probably convict MOST politician (Reps and Dems alike) of possession of Weapons Of Mass Distraction. Welcome to the cult of personality. Now who wants to have that beer with the (former) President you can drink a beer with. Unreal.