Ensign resigns from his GOP leadership position.
By on Jun 17th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Ensign resigns from his GOP leadership position.
Earlier today, Politico reported that it was “far from certain” that Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) would hold on to his Senate leadership position in the wake of his admitted affair with a former campaign staffer. Now, MSNBC reports that Ensign is stepping down from his role as the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee:
Update The conservative editorial page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal pens a strong defense of Sen. Ensign: “Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them…Sen. Ensign remains one of the more principled spokesmen now on the Washington stage for a government limited in size and intrusiveness into our lives.”
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Now he has all the time he needs to spend with his former employee’s family ……..
June 17th, 2009 at 2:02 pmMCMetal, I just spewed water all over my keyboard. Thank for the yucks.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:05 pmNo problem
June 17th, 2009 at 2:06 pm“Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them…
So it’s not hypocrisy? Is that what they’re saying.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:06 pmNext, Ensign should resign his Senate seat altogether.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:06 pm“Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them”
Accepting human frailities and embracing the lessons that make us stronger does not equate to expecting less. To the contrary, it is more difficult to forgive and show compassion than to stand on a soapbox and spout hypocritical rhetoric
June 17th, 2009 at 2:07 pmMay I be the first to say HA HA in a nasally Nelsonesque voice.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:07 pmDescription of ensign – American Heritage® Dictionary
NOUN: 1. A national flag displayed on ships and aircraft
John is the flag of the USS Republican Hypocrisy battleship.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pmnormally i would never call on someone to resign because of an affair.
i don’t care about what goes on in the personal lives of elected officials so long as they do their job well. i thought it was terrible what happened to clinton, i just don’t care to hear about it and it shouldn’t have been a blemish on his presidency
that being said
because this guy was such a dick about anyone else who had an affair, i would have been calling for his resignation. you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
at least he did the “classy” thing and stepped down, but that doesn’t make him any less a hypocrite.
you can’t call other people disgraceful for doing something and then go do it yourself… pathetic.
the morals and ethics of the republican party ladies and gentleman.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pmUncle Ho Says:
Next, Ensign should resign his Senate seat altogether.
hell yeah he should
its what he would have expected of anyone else.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:10 pm“Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them…Sen. Ensign remains one of the more principled spokesmen now on the Washington stage for a government limited in size and intrusiveness into our lives.”
Up yours , Las Vegas Review-Journal .
Where’s Ensign’s “principle” with regards to leaving political office , which is what he insisted Bill Clinton and Larry Craig do after their indescretions ?
Shut the hell up…………
June 17th, 2009 at 2:11 pm“The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon
Turns Ashes–or it prospers; and anon,
__Like snow upon the Desert’s dusty Face,
Lighting a little hour or two–is gone.”
[16]
June 17th, 2009 at 2:11 pmEnsign got exactly what was coming to him, he ate his own words.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:12 pm“Limited in INTRUSIVENESS“? This guy wants to define and “defend” marriage, and he pulls this shit.
Should we be calling him a HERO? A PROMISE KEEPER?
WTF?
Republic Fascists need to shut up or zip it up — they obviously can’t handle doing both simultaneously.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:12 pmWell, I do have to give him some minor kudos for at least stepping down from his leadership role…. very minor.
Because, I have to wonder how much of this was done out of real sincerity for his actions, and how much was done to try and avoid the backlash for his hypocritical actions and maintain some level of political future….
June 17th, 2009 at 2:12 pmPeople wonder why Ensign’s affair is any more relevant than others that have been revealed recently.
The relevance (and hypocrisy) is when these same Congressmen are so outspoken about gay marriage degrading the sanctity of the institution.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:13 pmI would be happy for his and anyone else’s (including mine) personal life to stay out of the headlines, but as long as he is going to sound off about other people’s lives, then he should be ready to have his exposed.
If he is “one of the more principled spokesmen now on the Washington stage for a government limited in size and intrusiveness into our lives[,]” then we see how bad off we are in this country in terms of leadership.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:14 pm“Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:15 pmLas Vegas Review-Journal: Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them
– - Clark County in Nevada has become the armpit of the Southwest and those illiterate droves of people there will have little use for much longer for a rag like the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:15 pmAmerican Patriot Says:
surprised you didn’t just cut and paste it and pretend it was your own remarks like you usually do
June 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pmUncle Ho Says:
——————————————————————————–
Next, Ensign should resign his Senate seat altogether
Double standard?
June 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pmFor some reason he looks like a used car salesman that would rip you off in a second! You know the type that would have put sawdust in the transmission,dyed the water green in the radiator and filled all four tires with Fix-a-Flat!
June 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pmI’m with you, calavzma. I don’t care if a politician has an affair outside of marriage. It’s personal business, and a human failing.
It becomes public business when his public positions (in “defense of marriage”, for instance) conflict with his personal actions.
That is the very definition of hypocrisy. It should leave his constituents suspicious of his every public pronouncement thereafter. But, since he’s a Republican, I’m betting they’ll forget about tat the first time he yells “NO NEW TAXES!”
June 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pmO Khayyam Says:
“The Worldly Hope men set their Hearts upon
Turns Ashes–or it prospers; and anon,
June 17th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
____________
Interesting gimmick. Will you be posting treatises on algebra and geometry as well?
June 17th, 2009 at 2:17 pmAmerican Patriot Says:
——————————————————————————–
“Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
Yeah , because you’re simply the same type of moronic shithead like the one who penned that stupid line ……….
June 17th, 2009 at 2:17 pmFrom TPM:
June 17th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I wonder if American Parrot would respond to gumble-bee-itch:
So it’s not hypocrisy? Is that what they’re saying?
My guess is no.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:18 pmSo Ensign is a ‘Promise Keeper’, eh?
The only 2 guys I knew who attended promise keeper meetings told me they always go to Hooters the night before the meetings.
Yes, they’re Republican’ts. Yes, they’re ‘devout’ Christians.
Yes, they’re successful businessmen.
and, Yes, they’re complete hypocrites…
June 17th, 2009 at 2:19 pmIn 1998, while running for Nevada’s Senate seat against Harry Reid, Ensign called on President Clinton to resign in light of his admitted affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky:
That’s why it’s hypocrisy. Period. One would think even wingnut editorialists or moronic trolls could see that, but they apparently lack any moral compass at all.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:20 pminsists a male staff member is present whenever he meets with a woman, his spokesman said. John Ensign, who is running for senate in Nevada will not be alone in a car with a woman.
– - Oh, so Ensign is going in for the menage et trois now.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:20 pmThe standard was set by Ensign himself when he called for Bill Clinton to resign, and later, Larry Craig.
So if Ensign fails to resign his eat then, yes, he will be holding a double standard.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:21 pmZimzone Says:
So Ensign is a ‘Promise Keeper’, eh?
– - Yep, starting……………………………….NOW!
June 17th, 2009 at 2:21 pmAmerican Patriot Says:
——————————————————————————–
Uncle Ho Says:
——————————————————————————–
Next, Ensign should resign his Senate seat altogether
Double standard?
June 17th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Ensign called for both Bill Clinton and Larry Craig to resign over their indescretions , chowderhead……
Nice to see you support only those who talk the talk and don’t back it up with the walk , jackass………
June 17th, 2009 at 2:21 pmThe conservative editorial page of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:“Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them…Sen. Ensign remains one of the more principled spokesmen now on the Washington stage for a government limited in size and intrusiveness into our lives.”
Gee. I wonder what the prestigious Las Vegas Review-Journal had to say during the Clinton impeachment hearings?
Besides, I’ve been to Sin City the last 3 years for business conferences, and believe you me, what Sen. Ensign has done pales in comparison to what really goes on there.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:22 pmSo take your “principled spokesman” and “leftist cries of hypocrisy” and shove it straight up your partisan derriere!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiIP_KDQmXs&feature=related
June 17th, 2009 at 2:23 pmAM Parrot says:
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
You’re darn right, you inarticulate fcuk.
PEACE
June 17th, 2009 at 2:25 pmSo, American Pee, you agree that he should resign his Senate seat, no?
June 17th, 2009 at 2:26 pmHey American Patriot, here’s what Mark Twian has to say about your blog name:
June 17th, 2009 at 2:27 pmAmerican:
1895 – “There isn’t a single human characteristic than can be safely labled “American.” There isn’t a single human ambition,or religious trend, or drift of thought,or peculiarity of education,or code of principals, or breed of folly,or style of conversation, or preference for a particular subject for discussion,or form of legs or trunk or head or face or expression or complexion,or gait,or dress, or manners,or disposition,or any other human detail,inside or out that can be generalized as “American.”
Patriot:
N.D. “The person who can hollar the loudest without knowing what he is hollaring about.”
Kinda makes you look like cheap chump change,doesn’t it?
American Patriot Says:
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
_____________
So true. Someone like yourself whose only posting ability consists of copy-and-paste talking points would be hard-pressed to say ANYTHING better yourself.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:29 pmAmerican Patriot Says:
“Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:30 pm==========
Un-American Patriot, I don’t recall any, “cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists…” what I do recall was the staffer’s husband using blackmail against Ensign?
American Patriot Says:
——————————————————————————–
June 17th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJgSl_auejM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdawA7SrK3Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQX1-aOM9Bg&feature=fvsr
June 17th, 2009 at 2:30 pmZimzone Says:
The only 2 guys I knew who attended promise keeper meetings told me they always go to Hooters the night before the meetings.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
_____________
So? Maybe they just like mediocre hot wings, eh?
June 17th, 2009 at 2:31 pmEnsign is stepping down from his role as the chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.
But isn’t this sort of thing a Republic Fascist Party requirement?
Oh, it wasn’t a gay affair in a bathroom stall…guess that would be OK.
I condemn anyone having affairs on their spouse. If I can be in 29 years of marriage and have managed to not even lust after any other woman, they should be able to.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:31 pmcalavzma says:
Which is exactly why I make that demand of Ensign. He demanded of Clinton, so why should he get a free pass?
June 17th, 2009 at 2:31 pmWhat’s good for the goose….
republicans should have never opened this pantera’s box.
(yes i know what i just wrote)
June 17th, 2009 at 2:32 pmMarriage should only be for gay people…..the rest of us should be free to do who and what we please with no questions or reprisals, free at last, free at last, thank Bill Clinton we are free at last………
June 17th, 2009 at 2:32 pmI’ve thought the same exact thing. Either that or a TV preacher. The word for guys like this is “smarmy”.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:32 pmI cannot remember a leftist or a democrat ever hitting others over the head and shoulder about their lifestyle or morals. While there are moral frailies like all human beings, they do not use sanctimony to elevate themselves morally above their opponents. On the other hand, republicans use morals as wedge issues to win the wingnuts on the right. Unfortunately it is dangerous because they are human and they will fall even though they pretend to be perfect like Jesus Christ.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:34 pmDon’t sugar coat it mom, tell him how we really feel. : )
June 17th, 2009 at 2:36 pmfree at last, free at last, thank Bill Clinton we are free at last………
Must be a really good batch of crank; he thinks he’s funny.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:37 pmMCMetal Says:
June 17th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
____________
I see your YouTube videos and call your bluff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt-VkRlCwt0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edaJP3Lp0Gg
Beat THAT!
June 17th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
June 17th, 2009 at 2:38 pmAmerkian Pisspot:
You must really like being a professional urinal. I’m not into the Golden Shower thing myself.
Well, there’s no accounting for taste. Drink up.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:38 pmkasinca Says:
I cannot remember a leftist or a democrat ever hitting others over the head and shoulder about their lifestyle or morals.
You’ve never met any vegans, apparently. Or animal activists.
Sanctimony isn’t limited to Republicans and conservatives, but sanctimonious lefties tend not to be in positions of power.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:38 pm“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” – Samuel Johnson, 1775.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:39 pmgummble-bee-itch Says:
So it’s not hypocrisy? Is that what they’re saying.
No, they’re saying they just don’t care if they’re hypocrites.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:39 pmSleeping with your employee or your friend’s wife is not the moral highground but it happens. We move on. The problem here is that Ensign has been involved in legislation putting restrictions on other’s families and lifestyles. Who is this hypocrite to cast judgement on other Americans. I don’t care if he sleeps with his sister (a red state wingnut commonality) but he shouldn’t be peeping in other bedrooms and telling others what to do.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:39 pmSen. Ensign remains one of the more principled spokesmen now on the Washington stage for a government limited in size and intrusiveness into our lives.”
Now, when he’s no longer in power. A year ago? He was in the first car of George’s Great Hegemonic Adventure Ride.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:40 pmlook at the hypocritical trolls
IOKIYAR
June 17th, 2009 at 2:41 pmAmerican Parrot
You really are a stupid worthless piece of garbage. Why havent you killed yourself yet?
June 17th, 2009 at 2:41 pmThe unutterable arrogance of the supercilious gasbag right wing propagandist to look at this phony hypocrite’s behavior and then claim the left wingers lack moral depth! Their posturing and sanctimonious moralizing is enough to make you want to vomit. Platitudinous dungmeisters! If you want to talk morality, talk about wars that kill hundreds of thousands, displace millions, and all for oil money.
If you want to talk morality, look at undermining democracy by stealing elections, holding people without charges for years, torturing them, and using fearmongerinjg to hold political power. The sexual escapades of this very little, insignificant piece of rethug garbage is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. But don’t you dare say you have a higher standard of morality than does the left, you little fcuk.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:42 pm“Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.”
And carfare for conservatives. They literally can’t get out of the driveway without advertising their ersatz love of country.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:42 pmWhat Sen. Ensign did is between him and his wife (…and the former employer. and her husband). Having an affair isn’t grounds for resignation; the blatant hypocrisy is.
This is a “born again Christian” who fervently supported DOMA and the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Family values, indeed.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:44 pmSlappyMoron is back. Begging us to pity him again. It is true he is staggeringly stupid and pathetic but dont give him any pity. He is addicted. He craves our pity. No amount of pity is enough for him and he has no self respect whatsoever. He will just keep coming back being stupider and stupider for more pity. He cant help himself. He cant help abasing himself. He IS stupid and he IS pathetic and he always will be. He will never be clever and the stupid will never stop. So dont give him the pity he is so desperate for.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:45 pmYou guys just can’t help yourselves can you?
June 17th, 2009 at 2:46 pmEnnuiDivine Says:
This is a “born again Christian” who fervently supported DOMA and the Federal Marriage Amendment.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
___________
Looks like the Defense of Marriage Act needs to go back to training camp – it didn’t do a very good job defending Ensign’s marriage…
June 17th, 2009 at 2:47 pmYou’d think since Senator Ensign is such a hard core Christian he’d know this:
Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:50 pm—Matthew 26:52, King James Version
I don’t know Dr. Matt, he was afraid to show up to defend Crazyface Bachmann.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:51 pmI just had a big ol’ side of asparagus with my lunch, and at least 6 glasses of water.
Dear Amerkian Pisspot: open wide.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:54 pmI see some of our trolls are still endlessly engaged in “shaking the devil off” or, as others like to call it “slapping the bastinado”.
June 17th, 2009 at 2:55 pmI’m glad to see him go, but who exactly is calling for his resignation? He’s head of the Republican policy committee. Sounds like an intra-party matter to me. We leftists have nothing to add except to laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh. Damn hypocrite gets his comeuppance. Beautiful.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:01 pmA scribe from the desert dump whose motto what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas i.e. an expectation of immoral, hedonistic behavior is condemning liberals for their lack of moral expectations.
I predictably shout Hypocrisy!
June 17th, 2009 at 3:07 pmIt really is time for a new Constitutional Amendment. While Ensign and ilk think it needs to be about marriage, I’m going with outlawing hypocrisy in all elected officials.
Stupid would be better but it probably goes too far.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:08 pmWhat goes around, comes around, Bozo.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:09 pmLet’s see. 2 Republican adulterers, one Republican blackmailer, and one Republican forgiving wife standing by her man..
Couldn’t care less about the lot of them. Too many people in power have extra-marital affairs. Close proximity of work and all. But one has a choice, does one not? Human failure is not pretty and it happens all the time.
The better people learn from their mistakes and make it a point to do better next time. Some gain compassion for others. It remains to be seen which Ensign will ultimately turn out to be. He certainly seems to be chastened now.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:13 pmUncle Ho Says:
calavzma says:
Which is exactly why I make that demand of Ensign. He demanded of Clinton, so why should he get a free pass?
What’s good for the goose….
when i saw your post regarding him stepping down as a senator altogether i wished i could edit mine.
stepping down from a leadership position was a good first step, but he needs to follow through and demand the same things of himself that he would of anyone else
i don’t think integrity is a republican ideal though.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:15 pmWhat? Senator Ensign is not going to demand that he himself should resign from the U.S. Senate like he has said to others?
June 17th, 2009 at 3:26 pm“Ensign resigns from his GOP leadership position.”
And I’m all broken up in tears for his resignation. Don’t tell me, he needs to spend time with his family. The real question is which family. Another GOP family values hypocrite bites the dust. NEXT!!!!
June 17th, 2009 at 3:27 pmAmerican Patriot Says:
“Despite the predictable cries of ‘hypocrisy’ from leftists who are only spared the label because so little is expected of them”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
So you copy a bit from the piece at the top into your own post, then follow it by stating that you are insufficiently articulate to make a comparable point. So why are you even posting?
.
gummble-bee-itch Says:
Sanctimony isn’t limited to Republicans and conservatives, but sanctimonious lefties tend not to be in positions of power.
That’s because the left is responsible enough to keep our fringe at the fringe. Unlike the GOP, who seems to have given all their wackjobs and finger-waggers the keys to everything.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:27 pmWe leftists have nothing to add except to laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh and laugh. Damn hypocrite gets his comeuppance. Beautiful.
–fletc3her
I don’t know,fletc3her, this leftist would like to know a little bit more about the blackmail angle of the story. Like how much was the blackmail demand? Was this the first time? Was the paramour in on it with the cuckold? Someone else? The aptly named “Deep Throat” of Watergate fame always told Woodward and Bernstein to “follow the money.” It usually seems to work.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:41 pmHere is a great post that discusses why Sen. John Ensign’s affair is more scandalous than others. This commentary nails it.
http://progressnotcongress.org/?p=1826
June 17th, 2009 at 3:42 pmAnother (very) loud-mouth hypocrite would be
SARAH PALIN.
June 17th, 2009 at 3:56 pmAnd to think we never would have known about this if he had just paid the cuckold off…
Man there are ZERO heroes in this story.
June 17th, 2009 at 4:02 pmAccording to Huffpo he has also cancelled this weekend’s barbeque fundraiser. He had aspirations for a 2012 run at the WH. I went to Politico and read some of the comments. One person talked about Politico leaving Ensign alone because the family is trying to heal.
June 17th, 2009 at 5:52 pmHa! I wish I could send that person one of Marvin Gaye’s songs, “Sexual Healing.”
According to rightwingwatch.org, Ensign signed a Christian pledge which contained a statement about remaining loyal and faithful to wife and family. Maybe he had this fingers crossed on the other hand that was not holding the pen.
Someone forgot to remind this fake Christian that Promise Keepers intended for him to treat his wife well, not someone else’s.
June 17th, 2009 at 6:09 pmSeems that quite a lot is expected of President Obama. Guess liberals expect government officials to govern, not to be our marriage guides.
June 17th, 2009 at 6:53 pmEugeneDebs Says:
SlappyMoron is back. Begging us to pity him again. It is true he is staggeringly stupid and pathetic but dont give him any pity. He is addicted. He craves our pity. No amount of pity is enough for him and he has no self respect whatsoever. He will just keep coming back being stupider and stupider for more pity. He cant help himself. He cant help abasing himself. He IS stupid and he IS pathetic and he always will be. He will never be clever and the stupid will never stop. So dont give him the pity he is so desperate for.
This is the second time I have seen this post.. and I still have no idea what it means
June 17th, 2009 at 10:05 pmThank you..
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