Hmmmmmmmm.....
Posted on 06/17/2009 10:47:42 AM PDT by MaestroLC
The Republican senator who went public a day earlier about an extramarital affair has resigned his GOP leadership post on Wednesday.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., stepped down as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, the fourth-ranking GOP position in the Senate, after holding a brief news conference Tuesday to come clean about his affair with a former aide. He is not expected to resign from the Senate.
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., confirmed the move Wednesday afternoon.
"He's accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his family and constituents. He offered, and I accepted, his resignation as chairman of the policy committee," the Kentucky senator said.
Several reasons contributed to Ensign's decision to step down from his post, according to a Senate GOP leadership aide. They included the likelihood of a persistent media firestorm stemming from his admission Tuesday; growing irritation within the conference regarding other distractions; and the possibility that more damaging information could emerge regarding the affair.
Sources told FOX News the admission was prompted by a blackmail threat. Two Senate Republican sources close to Ensign said a former employee had asked Ensign for money in what both sources described as a case of "extortion."
The employee, Doug Hampton, worked in Ensign's Senate office, and his wife, Cindy Hampton, worked for Ensign's re-election campaign. Both ceased working for the senator shortly after the affair ended, the sources said, with Cindy Hampton receiving a severance package. The circumstances of Doug Hampton's departure remain unclear.
Ensign expressed regret Tuesday for his actions.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
The Republicans are a joke.
The Democrats make me sick.
I’m tired to death of all politicians of all stripes.
Clean house.
I do. Here's the same article if the man was a Democrat:
A Senator from Nevada, who went public a day earlier about an extramarital affair, has resigned his leadership post on Wednesday.
Sen. John Donkey stepped down as chairman of an undisclosed Policy Committee, the fourth-ranking position in the Senate, after holding a brief news conference Tuesday to come clean about his affair with a former aide. He is not expected to resign from the Senate.
The aide has lavishly praised his lovemaking skills, and several people have floated his name for Vice Presidential candidate in 2012. Many people have said that this amazingly bold action if proof of Donkey's courage and loyalty to his mistress. "This is the sort of man we NEED in the Senate," said Dorothy Lackluster, a Nevada resident.
President Obama is expected to nominate Sen. Donkey to the Supreme Court later this week.
I don’t agree with what he did, but no way sould he resign from the Senate.
___________________________________________________________
I believe that he is resigning from the GOP leadership post. He is not resigning from the Senate.
And we wonder why we lost the election? And why we have no chance in winning the next?
Sheeeeeeesh
When you consider the very high percentage of married men who cheat, it becomes difficult to elect one that hasn’t or won’t in the future. I certainly don’t condone the behavior, just stating the realities of the sad situation. There is very little shame in our society.
The point is that one is illegal and the other is not. In some religions, dancing is morally wrong.
That's why I qualified it, with "I can't speak to Ensign directly".
But I do not understand why all this breathless, high drama over a man who was separated and had an affair. "Ensign is to announce at a press conference...", "Ensign resigns GOP leadership".
This is a family tragedy, not a national scandal. Enough with the public personal guilt, mea culpa's and public punishment from the GOP. He didn't murder anyone or steal from his constituency. Both he and the State GOP need to STFU and move out of the public limelight on this! It's no one else's business!
I agree. Tempest/teapot.
Well, since the article is about how he resigned his party post, it would be hard to write it in such a way as to not mention the name of the party.
And, we can just guess about the number of presidents (thus far, Clinton, Harding, FDR, JFK confirmed!)
Don’t fool yourself. If he were a democrat you would be led to believe he was a republican.
And we wonder why we lost the election? And why we have no chance in winning the next?
Sheeeeeeesh
That is absolutely NOT why we have lost elections and continue to do so. We have lost elections and continue to do so because of our EXTREME INTOLERANCE.
It must be a very lonely world out there for those of you that are, and insist on 100% perfection.
I agree with you 100% If he didn’t do something illegal, he shouldn’t resign. Remember, let he whom is without sin cast the first stone. There have been lots of womanizers in politics. Far worse to be a fag like Barney,IMHO,We aren’t seeing him offer to step down. Clinton didn’t resign, either, come to think of it!
Because we are bloody stupid while they laugh at our stupidity.
This irritates me nearly as much as Putin lecturing us on the heavy hand of the government in the USA.
Not to excuse his behavior, but unless you’ve seen it firsthand it’s hard to appreciate the level of temptation confronting politicians with national media exposure.
Back in the day I owned a company that did the back-end campaign contribution reporting for a candidate running in the presidential primaries, and I spent a lot of time at his national headquarters.
I wouldn’t consider this man conventionally attractive, but he was considered by some to be charismatic, and when he walked out the door of that headquarters and into the hallway outside (this was before security was the concerned it is today and pretty much anyone could walk into a national headquarters) his staffers had to walk three abreast down the hallway and push back the groupies waiting for him to walk out the door - in some cases, they literally had to pull them off, and according to staffers there was more than enough more discreet opportunity, and he was taking advantage of it.
At the time, the media didn’t report this kind of behavior.
15 years later, they did, and this politician did eventually end up caught in an widely publicized affair.
Far as I’m concerned, consensual adult sexual behavior ought to be pretty much off the table in evaluating a politician’s fitness for office, but I don’t think there’s anything can be done about the taint of hypocrisy.
Please, no.
Not when it comes to cheating on your wife.
A man who is willing to betray his wife and family is likewise willing to betray his country, his state, his party and any other groups he’s “loyal” to if something “better” presents itself.
This ain’t rocket science, folks...the man’s a pig and needs to resign.
Ed
“You do realize that according to contemporary writing,several of our nation’s founders had affairs,were themselves born illegitimate,smoked tobacco,drank alcohol,were known to curse on occasion,owned slaves,and no doubt missed Sunday School at times.
WE ought to be merciless when elected officials betray the public trust and the Constitutional limits on government,but we just might want to stop trying to insist on perfect people as officeholders.I’m afraid there is a shortage and we will have to make do with not-quite-perfect humans.”
I agree with all your points. The Dems are destroying the foundations of this country as quickly as possible, now is not the time to demand absolute purity of mind and deed in the personal lives of our allies (nor is it ever).
You make some good points.
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