Of course, I have decided to hit on the Ensign affair today, now that another 2012 presidential hopeful has admitted his infidelity as well. Yes, Gov. Mark Sanford (R-SC) told reporters today that he has cheated on his wife with a mistress from Argentina. After disappearing for five days-- his family and his office unaware of his whereabouts-- Sanford returned to South Carolina, where he tearfully told reporters about his marital infidelity. This makes him the second high-profile Republican in a week to admit to an extramarital affair, and the fifth in three years to prove the hypocrisy of the social conservative cause.
Sanford and Ensign were both considered beacons of social conservatism, and had been touted as possible presidential contenders who could appeal to the base (due to their wacky, nonsensical opposition to President Obama's stimulus package, which would have poured billions of dollars into their failing states) and so-called "values voters" (due to their wacky, nonsensical opposition to minority rights). Now, their future political ambitions have been crushed. In the past week, Ensign saw his approval rating drop from 53% to 39%, while many in South Carolina are calling on Sanford to resign.
Scandals like these make me laugh with glee. Not because I necessarily want to see their marriages fail, but because it highlights the rampant hypocrisy oozing out of the social conservative movement. Republicans constantly brush off these scandals as "simple mistakes," but they often forget that this isn't so much about the politicians making mistakes as it is evidence of the deteriorating legitimacy of ass-backwards social conservatism. It should make you queasy knowing that while Sanford was trashing gay marriage during the 2008 election, he was also sneaking off to Argentina to screw his foreign mistress, leaving his wife and four children home to wonder what Daddy is doing abroad. And yet, the two men who decide to spend the rest of their lives together, and may very well do so, are the people responsible for society's moral decline. Meanwhile, let's not forget that ten years ago, Sanford-- then a member of the House of Representatives-- voted to impeach President Bill Clinton for receiving oral sex from an intern.
Of course, Ensign, Craig and Vitter all attacked Bill Clinton's infidelity and tried to impeach him. Funny how the tables turn when they're in the spotlight. Craig never resigned, and went to finish out his term. Vitter hasn't resigned, either, and has kept his chairmanships. As far as we can tell, Ensign isn't planning on resigning, but it may be too soon to come to such a conclusion.
If you asked me, I'd say that all of these guys should have resigned. Not because of their infidelity, but because they betrayed the voters who were duped into electing such "morally superior" politicians in the first place. I could give a shit less if these guys screwed around on the side. What I care about is the blatant hypocrisy of their actions and how they have spent their careers chastising others for their "un-Christian" behavior while they exhibited the same behavior when the cameras weren't on.
Also, Mark Sanford should resign because he spent taxpayer money to drive to Atlanta to board a plane to Buenos Aires, and probably spent taxpayer money on the plane ticket. Why does this matter? Because if Sanford can bitch about how evil it is to spend taxpayer money on public health care and research projects, then he can surely put his money where his mouth is when he abused taxpayer money to continue to cheat on his wife.
For the record, here is a list of Republican politicians who have cheated on their wives in the past decade, and have been exposed to the public:
- Gov. Mark Sanford from South Carolina-- Cheated on his wife with a woman from Argentina for roughly a year (2009)
- Sen. John Ensign-- Cheated on his wife with a former staffer's wife; came forward when staffer threatened to blackmail him (2009)
- Sen. Larry Craig-- Attempted to cheat on his wife with an undercover police officer who was using an ajacent stall in the Minneapolis International Airport restroom; reportedly cheated on his wife with other men (2007)
- Sen. David Vitter-- Cheated on his wife with a prostitute; was a client of the infamous DC Madame; reportedly wore diapers and asked to be spanked during his sexual trysts (2007)
- former Mayor Rudy Giuliani-- Cheated on his second wife, Donna Hanover, with Judith Nathan; Publicly announced he was divorcing Hanover at a press conference without having discussed the matter with her beforehand (2001)
- former House Speaker Newt Gingrich--Cheated on his second wife while he was attempting to impeach Bill Clinton for infidelity; also, just for kickers, he divorced his first wife as she was hospitalized for uterine cancer (1998)
- bonus points go to Mark Foley, who wasn't actually married, but had disturbing conversations with some of his male pages (2006).
And, just to be "bipartisan," here are the Democrats involved in high profile sex-scandals over the past decade:
- former Sen. John Edwards-- Cheated on his wife with a nasty-looking thing; discovered by The National Enquirer (2008)
- former Gov. Eliot Spitzer-- Cheated on his wife with a prostitute; discovered via FBI investigation (2008)
- former Gov. James McGreevey-- Cheated on his wife with a gay man, whom he made head of New Jersey's department of Homeland Security (2004)
- former President Bill Clinton-- Received oral sex from an intern. (1998)
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