Scandal Dogs Family Values Republicans

'Republican Revolution' beginning to look like horndog revolution

(NEWSER) - Mark Souder may be leaving Congress as a disgraced hypocrite, but hey, at least he ought to fit in at the Republican House Class of '94 reunion. He can hang out and talk sex with Mark Foley, or Mark Sanford, or John Ensign, or any of the whopping 15 Republican Revolutionaries who've been caught in career-ending scandals — “Most of whom came to town with a 'family values' message,” notes Dana Milbank of the Washington Post . More»

From Sanford to Ensign, Republican leaders are falling down

(NEWSER) - Mark Sanford caused the GOP enough of a headache when he disappeared—but coming back to South Carolina only made it worse. The second Republican sex scandal in a week has left party leaders angry and exhausted, reports the New York Times, and has them wondering whether they can mount a challenge to Barack Obama in 2012. "The concern here is that this continues a broader narrative that is completely unhelpful to the Republican Party’s rebuilding,"said one party leader. More»

C Street House members believe they 'transcend morality'

(NEWSER) - The C Street House, the Capitol Hill religious enclave that Mark Sanford, John Ensign, and Chip Pickering have in common, is more than a residence that happened to shelter three lawmakers involved in recent sex scandals, writes Jeff Sharlet in Salon. "If sexual license was all the Family offered the C Street men, that would merely be seedy and self-serving. But Family men are ... followers of a political religion that embraces elitism, disdains democracy, and pursues power for its members the better to 'advance the Kingdom.'" More»

Rick Perry has one you probably never heard of

(NEWSER) - Who needs debates? The Washington Times rounds up the GOP candidates' favorite movies:

• Herman Cain: The Godfather. (Yes, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza winked when he answered.)
• Newt Gingrich: "Probably Casablanca."
• Michele Bachmann: "Braveheart, or maybe Saving Private Ryan."
• Rick Perry: Immortal Beloved. The most offbeat choice comes from the Texas guv, who favors this 1994 biopic of Beethoven.
• Mitt Romney: O Brother Where Art Thou, he told the New York Times.
• Rick Santorum: Field of Dreams, he said when pressed to pick just one. (It's in Iowa after all.)

Chris Dodd, Barney Frank should pay for collapse, not Wall Street bigs: Newt

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich has an interesting idea for resolving political conflicts: Jail Democrats. That was the former House speaker's surprising recommendation in last night's GOP debate . The suggestion came up as he expressed sympathy for the Occupy Wall Street movement, saying protesters have every right to be angry. But they should direct their ire at government officials, not Wall Street fat cats, he insisted. In fact, he added, top Democrats Rep. Barney Frank and former Sen. Chris Dodd, co-authors of financial reform legislation, should be jailed. "If you want to put people in jail, you ought to start with Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. And let’s look at the politicians who profited from the environment and the politicians who put this country in trouble," said Gingrich, who also urged "firing" Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner. More»