Mr. Family Values, Rick Santorum tipped off his buddy Sen. Ensign that it was going to hit the fan. He never called for Ensign or Vitter to resign. He has called for Anthony Weiner to go. I need someone to explain the difference here. Could it be the dreaded IOKIYAR?
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Principle in practice just isn’t playing out with Mr. Santorum. Is he a hypocrite?
Yes, Rick Santorum is a hypocrite of world class proportions. Mr. “Family Values” makes a mockery of such.
So the take-home from the left is that it is far better to not aspire to anything higher. If you live in the gutter or are completely apathetic to any sort of higher morality, you get a pass. If you aspire to a higher morality and you fail, you are a hypocrite.
Funny, I never read in the New Testament that human failure was not an option.
Simple extramarital affairs are one thing. Your hero was tweeting his meat all over creation! What’s important to me is that Weiner is standing strong against the calls to resign. He IS the quintessential Democrat and I want him rising to the top of the party!
In all seriousness, I want him to stay in office,too. It will be interesting to see how many of the folks yelling “hypocrites!” at conservatives end up turning cartwheels to distance themselves from Weiner.@SlowpokeRodriguez
Emma, I can understand aspiring to do better as a human being, but doesn’t that involve doing the right thing while aspiring? Santorum has a very rigid platform with all sorts of do’s and don’ts. How do you call for one person to resign and another not to resign when both have been involved in scandals of a sexual nature?
I didn’t get the don’t aspire to anything higher from Maddow. I came away with more of an attitude of be fair and consistent.
Did you see the film?
I’m not a fan of people (government) telling people what to do, what to say, what to buy, how to think, etc. Then to have those same people do exactly what they’ve told us not to do.. Boils me.
Is he a hypocrit? Sure.
But, if he was Mr. Family Values AND a major player on adult friend finder . com that would be a much higher level of hypocracy than looking out for a buddy by being silent.
I guess this goes back to — we’re all hypocrits one way or another. But, does our own hypocracy raise to the level of national news or does it diminish something we are associated with (Congress).
[Sighs and puts face in palm] Is Santorum a hypocrite, or a politician? I’d call a “family values” politician a hypocrite, if he or she themselves engaged in the behavior they railed against. An argument that Vitter was ahypocrite could be made. He was very publically anti-homosexual, and then comes along that whole toe-tapping thing. If Santorum is calling for Weiner to resign, could it be just plain old politics?
Since “name that hypocrite” is the game being played these days, I guess I should just play along. Ok. here goes:
Congressman sleeping with pages. Dan Crane, Republican was sleeping with a 17 year old female page. Very bad thing to do, and the fact that the page herself testified that she pursued him (perhaps a collector?) was no excuse. Dan Crane was censured, and later thrown out in the 1984 election. Dan Crane’s comment: “”I’m sorry that I made a mistake. I’m human, and in no way did I violate my oath of office. I only hope my wife and children will forgive me.”
Gerry Studds, Democratic Congressman, was having an affair with a 17 year old male page. Like the Crane case, the page testified that it was consensual. Gerry Studds received absolutely no punishment from his party. Zip. Zero. Nada. Quite the contrary, Studds became a hero of the left, because he took up the “rainbow banner”. In my research, I also found this: “Studds, who died in 2006, maintained throughout his life that his 1973 affair with the page was consensual and that he had done nothing wrong.”
In 2006, we have the case of Mark Foley. Foley liked to get drunk and email male pages. There is no evidence that he actually slept with any of them. When the information came to light, it was used as a political club by then House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. You know: “Culture of Corruption” and all that. Mark Foley was pressured by his own party to resign. He did. It was later learned that Foley had been molested by a priest (the priest made this revelation) when Foley was an alter-boy. Of course there was no sympathy from the left. No praise from the left for Foley finally admitting that he was gay. Nothing like what happened in the Studds case. The left had one less Republican to deal with. Political objective achieved.
Barney Frank. Gay congressman. I could spend a week discussing this guys ethics (or lack there of) Caught fixing parking tickets for a gay male prostitute. His live-in was caught running a brothel out of Frank’s DC townhouse…He is one of the most prominent Dems in the House. A hero to the left. Consequenses for his actions: Zip. Zero. Nada.
Ensign. Republican Senator. Coveted his neighbor’s wife. They carried on an affair. Husband caught them, and wanted some financial renumeration for his silence. Ensign payed them both off with a job and money. An investigation determined that Ensign hadn’t broken any laws with the payoffs, but would still face the ethics panel. Senate Majority Leader Reid, hadn’t called for his resignation, since Ensign had already announced he would retire. The GOP Senators shunned him, and eventually he resigned.
Weiner…convered in depth.
Democrat Congressman Wiliam Jefferson: Caught with $100K in bribes in his freezer. No pressure from his party to resign. Although primaried, Jefferson was the Democrat candidate in 2008, losing to the Republican.
We could go on, and on. Those on this blog who lean left can call “hypocrite” and throw out a bunch of names. We on the right can throw out a whole new set of names, and call “hypocrite”. We can look at a bunch of pigs in the wallow, and yell, “Yep. Theyr’ll dirty, stinky pigs…but ya’ll’s pigs are dirtier and stinkier than our’n”.
Or, we could as a group of concerned citizens, demand more from our electeds. We could, as a group say “Yep, so-and-so is human, but he/she needs to go”, regardless of the party.
Maybe I’ve just been too close to politics for too long. Maybe I am just a bit jaded. I find these types of incidents to be just another sign of rot in our government. Maybe I’m an idealist. I may disagree with someone’s political philosophy, but is it too much to ask that they at least be decent, honorable, ethical public servants? I do know I am sick (sick I tell you) of the word “hypocrite”. At some level, we’re all hypocrites.
@Steve,
I don’t think that Vitter toe tapped in the men’s room. I think he frequented ‘ladies of the night.’
Now, on to the response. We can think behavior is wrong,unforgivable, regretable, disgusting etc without thinking the person who committed the behavior is a hypocrite. John Edwards is a perfect example. A greater scumbag does not exist. However, I don’t think he is a hypocrite. He never tried to legislate our morals.
People who campaign and vote on a family values platform and then do anti family values things are hypocrites.
We might want and expect our leaders to set better examples. However, we have a long line of leaders who really haven’t set such great examples: Washington, Jefferson, Franklin to name a few. Does it matter? Have we as a nation gained from them despite their frailties? I don’t know.
Then we have to ask ourselves about the jerks who have real good morals. They just have bad legislation.
Moon,
You are correct. Larry Craig was the toe-tapper. To many scandals to keep track of.
If Rick Santorum isn’t a hypocrite, he’s at least an enabler.
I think a candidate who campaigns on a platform of “family values” and then is caught in some sexual peccadillo is a hypocrite. It’s the same as a candidate who extolls the electorate to tighten their belts and sacrifice while he or she buys a third vacation property or the same as a televangelist who accepts some poor chump’s tithe while buying an air-conditioned doghouse for Muttsy.
@Censored
I agree.
Perhaps this is the same gene that allows someone to run for office. I sure wouldn’t want to do it.
Maybe the thick skin makes them impervious to their own flaws and faults.
M-h, I sure wouldn’t want the job either. DH and I were discussing whether having to listen to constituents bitch about every little thing eventually makes a career politician want to tune them out. Once they’re tuned out, their needs/concerns aren’t primary. When a person feels continually under siege, he or she may start looking out for numero uno instead.
I’ve had one job where people called to try to influence what I wrote. Thank goodness it was temporary because I’d hate to put up with others’ agendas continually.
Vitter visited one prostitute, seven years before it was revealed. He and his wife handled it years prior to the revelation and when it was revealed, immediately came clean with the public.
Vitter should not be compared with Weiner. He did not accuse anyone, blame anyone, or lie about it.
Cargo, someone has sold you a bill of goods. You don’t make it on the DC Madam’s list by being an altar boy. My problem is not his ‘hoing around. My problem is he set himself up to be holier than though.
I actually don’t care what he did. That is between him and his wife. I care about the holier than though legislation. Translation: don’t play family values on me. The family values *I* respect don’t go ‘hoing around.
Funny that you are more than willing to dig up Teddy Kennedy just to excoriate him, even though you have no proof of what you said and despite the good he has done since then. None of us were there and no one will ever know exactly what happened. Teddy probably didn’t even really know.
Remember the innocent until proven guilty? I spent a long time thinking Teddy was a scumbag myself. Somewhere along the line I became able to compartmentalize my feelings about all that. I also had to tell myself that I didn’t know what happened for real and that I had listened to his political enemies to form my opinions.
If Vitter didn’t set himself up as Mr. Family values, not a problem. Probably no one would care.
Has anyone noticed that Schwartzenegger has dropped off the radar? He should send Weiner a thank you note and a bottle of booze.
Arnold didn’t set himself up as Mr. Righteous. Having an affair with the family made and having a kid by her is pretty trashy though.
So I think degrees has to fit into this discussion also. Having a kid with your housekeeper right under your wife’s nose is worse than sexting. Its just worse.
Good news so far! Weiner’s hanging in there! Weiner’s gonna stick it out!
Fine. You want to ignore the death of Mary Jo Kopechne? Ok. Lets bring out Kennedy’s cooperation with the KGB to undermine Reagan.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/27/ted-kennedy-soviet-union-ronald-reagan-opinions-columnists-peter-robinson.html
He was willing to help the Soviets in exchange for political help in defeating a possible Reagan re-election.
That corrupt enough?
By the way, Pelosi wants Wiener. Says that he’s staying. Apparently, Pelosi doesn’t need a Wiener probe. She must think that he’s an upright man, firm in his beliefs and principles. She’s taking his word, I guess, because he’s a very honest man……
Cargo, Mary Jo Kopechne died years ago. There is nothing left but speculation for those who did not know her. I believe you are trying to turn an accident into a conspiracy.
Regardless of what you or I think might have happened, we will never know and Kennedy was kept from holding higher office.
Again, speculation about KGB etc. How about J. Edgar planting crap in his file and spying?
Those weren’t pretty days. No one is really asking you to like Kennedy. He did have some major accomplishments in the nearly 50 years he spent in the Senate. No, he was not a perfect human being either.
But what difference does it make now? He is part of the ages and the end of a era.
I found myself very sad during his funeral. The Kennedys were ‘the adults’ during some of my most formative years. When he died, it was like a long legacy died.
Its difficult to explain to someone who wasn’t alive during that time.
Except I was alive.
And I saw enough when I got older, to understand JFK and RFK positions.
I also saw enough to understand TFK. Hmm…we call the brothers by their initials…why not Teddy?
And memos from KGB are not speculation. And neither are his actions after the car crash. Those are documented.
But he was politically connected, and so, was given a pass.
As for the rest of his career….what was so great about it? He was there a long time, trading on his name.
@Cargo….barely alive, (unless you are not showing your age REAL well) I am simply suggesting living through times puts a little different texture on things.
I have not seen the KBG stuff. I do know about the set up ordered by Tricky Dick as well as some of the dirty tricks ordered by J. Edgar. (speaking of abuse)
No one really knows what happened in that time period between when Kennedy left the party and the next morning. Rather than Kennedy’s political connections, I would venture to say that ‘fixing’ of the problem came from Papa Joe himself who had far more influence. The FBI also infused itself into the Chappiquiddick situation. It had no business being involved according to most neutral sources.
Since no one will ever be able to sort out what happened with what lies Hoover planted why not let it die along with everyone else from that era since what ever anyone comes up with cannot really be proven, any more than Oswald conspiracy can be proven.
Cargo has turned into a Gad-about. Last weekend he was off slaying turtles in Tennesee. Now he is off to Annapolis.
Well anyway…gotta go.
Crawfish boil in Annapolis. We’ll wave as we pass through NOVA.
Bye
Actually, according to one of our more prominent historians dealing with the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover had a rather curious personal relationship with Papa Joe Kennedy, probably emanating from Papa Joe’s connections to the bootlegging scene in the old days. In fact, J. Edgar may have almost gotten John F. Kennedy killed in a way. Story goes that the young JFK, assigned to a naval base down South (Charleston, I think), was bedding a young lady of German origin whom FBI agents tabbed as a likely Nazi spy. J. Edgar warned Papa Joe about it, and Papa Joe used his high-level influence to get JFK transferred out of there. So JFK was sent to the Asian-Pacific Theater. Then came PT-109. All kinds of potential consequences can come from being too loose with those wieners!
Bwaaaahahahahaha . You know. Wolverine, you might be right. There is a moral to this story somewhere….probably has to do with flies and two simple propositions.
Is there anybody else around here tired to death of manure mucking?