How much bad news can the Republican party tolerate? On top of Sarah Palin’s sudden quitting of the Alaska Governorship without any really clear explanation, and South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s "disappearance" and later continuous confessional to a love affair with a woman in Argentina who he calls his "soulmate", the Nevada Senator John Ensign scandal had receded into the background, but now it is back and far worse than it was.
Senator Ensign, who like Palin and Sanford, had plans to seek the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012, had been caught in an affair with the wife of a friend, with both the friend and the mistress on the Senate payroll and then forced out. Yesterday, it was revealed that Ensign had written a letter of apology to his mistress and her husband, at the urging of Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn. Today, it was publicized that Ensign is being sued by the couple for millions of dollars, and this on top of the wealthy parents of Senator Ensign giving favors in the amount of $96,000, as "friends" who wanted to help out this couple who had been close to their son and been on his staff.
Anyone analyzing this situation can see that the eight $12,000 checks (just under the amount that has to pay taxes and can be counted as "gifts") were a bribe to shut up the mistress and her husband, but apparently it has instead led to the deepening of the scandal, and calls by the husband and former "friend" of the senator that he resign from the Senate. What a total mess and disaster, and at the same time, an embarrassment to the Republican party and the US Senate.
While Sarah Palin has been criticized for deciding to quit her job, it does seem to me that both Governor Sanford and Senator Ensign need to follow her lead and resign for the good of the party, their families, and the American political system. What a horrible model these so called "Christian conservatives", who preach morality and ethics but don’t practice it, represent to young people and the country at large. This is what makes so many Americans cynical about politics. There is a need for ending this hypocrisy and for the governor and the senator to leave public life and stay out of it for the good of the nation!