24 February 2009

The view from David Vitter's glass house

Pot, meet kettle.

This week's "Just Shut Up Award" goes to Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, who had the audacity to criticize Sen. Roland Burris' shaky/perjurious testimony concerning his contacts with former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Vitter, a father of four, is an admitted client of the "D.C. Madam" prostitution ring. After her criminal conviction, ringleader Deborah Jeane Palfrey committed suicide in 2008, just weeks before her sentencing date. Vitter's phone number appeared in Palfrey's records on five separate occasions, two of them when House roll call votes (Vitter was a congressman at the time) were in session.

Vitter publicly admitted "a very serious sin in my past," but refused to divulge specifics. He has refused to speak with the press about his actions, has adamantly refused calls for his resignation, and said he intends to run for re-election in 2010.

A rising star in the social conservative movement, Vitter's reputation has been shattered (except among hard-core right-wingers, those who deplore President Clinton for his marital infidelities, but most of whom would still give Vitter a standing ovation if he walked into the room) among those to the left of Sean Hannity.

Vitter is a vociferous opponent of gay marriage, gay adoption and gambling, and has railed in favor of abstinence-only education. He has opined that abstinence-only education teaches teenagers "that saving sex until marriage and remaining faithful afterwards is the best choice for health and happiness."

You could cut the irony with a knife.

David Vitter is a hypocrite who is unfit for the office he holds. He is a disgrace to the Republican Party and owed his constituents his immediate resignation. I appreciate the fact that he claims to have asked God and his family for forgiveness. However, the fact that he would utter a sound about Sen. Burris evinces a complete lack of understanding about how seriously he betrayed the public's trust. 

When scandals hit the Beltway, it's Vitter's job to keep his mouth shut. 

The fact that the Republican Party is home to the likes of Larry "I Have a Wide Stance" Craig and David Vitter illustrates the dangers of building a political party on the supposed moral high ground, and how things can go terribly wrong from inside a glass house.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Re: BO's mortgage bailout plan. If my neighbor was smoking in bed and his house caught on fire, I would certainly grab a pail and my hose and douse the flames. However, I wouldn't buy him a pack of cigarettes, a new tempurpedic and all the materials he needed to rebuilt his home.