What is it about these Christian fellows? They don't just "sin," they drag anyone in sight along to help themselves out of a jam, according to an update in the New York Times.
Following an affair with Cynthia Hampson, the wife of one of his staffies, Ensign scrambled together a cover-up, a buy-off, and a plum job for the husband, el cornudo. But then he lied to people who helped him.
In acknowledging the affair, Mr. Ensign cast it as personal transgression, not a professional one. But an examination of his conduct shows that in trying to clean up the mess from the illicit relationship and distance himself from the Hamptons, he entangled political supporters, staff members and Senate colleagues, some of whom say they now feel betrayed by Mr. Ensign.
For example, a longtime fund-raiser and Republican Party campaign official who came through with help says Mr. Ensign misled him about why Mr. Hampton needed a new job. The senator also put his chief of staff at the time, who had raised concerns that Mr. Hampton’s activities could violate the one-year ban on lobbying, in charge of dealing with him.
And Mr. Ensign allowed Senator Tom Coburn, a friend and fellow conservative Christian, to serve as an intermediary with the Hamptons four months ago in discussing a multimillion-dollar financial settlement, to help them rebuild their lives.“John got trapped doing something really stupid and then made a lot of other mistakes afterward,” Mr. Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, said in an interview. “Judgment gets impaired by arrogance, and that’s what’s going on here.”
Were there prayerful meetings on C Street, too? Got trapped? The devil done grabbed aholt of god's own senator? Come on! The more you see in the New York Times, the more you can gape in wonder at Ensign's chutzpah.
Just one quality person after another, that's what the Republican party is made up of these days.
And wait, speaking of quality people, there's someone out there who thinks Sarah Palin has... well, I'll let you have it in his words ...
Formidable intellect and political savvy
... and she's going to give Barack Obama a run for his money in 2012. Ta-da! The post-Ensign Republican party. Something to, um, look forward to. You betcha!
