http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/09/AR2007070902030.html

So another conservative Republican politician gets caught on a madam's roster.  Once again, the right-wing talkie talking point is how much worse Bill Clinton was.  Once again, the liberal talkie talking point is Republicans are do-as-I-say not-as-I-do hypocrites.

The case for Senator David Vitter (R. LA):
a) He 'fessed up, Clinton lied.
b) He made right with God, and, hey, we're all sinners!

The case for President Clinton:
a) Clinton did not moralize about other people's lifestyles, Vitter was for impeaching Clinton for sex.*
b) Vitter broke the law by purchasing the services of prostitutes, Clinton was diddling free and legal.

The case against both:
a) Adultery is adultery.  Extramarital sex is the true moral failing.  The fact that Clinton could get it for free and Vitter had to pay is incidental.
b) They both lied as marriage vows themselves are promises.

The case for neither:
a) What consenting adults do in privacy is nobody else's business.
b) Extramarital sex should not be a public matter even among public officials.  It should be a matter for spouses only.

Further commentary:
* I believe it was about sex, not about perjury.  If Clinton told the grand jury he had sex with Monica Lewinsky, the Republicans would have given Ken Starr another $70 million dollars to cobble together some kind of moral turpitude case into an impeachable offense.  The Republicans would not have said, "Clinton told the truth and got right with his wife and with God, so let's forgive him."  In fact, I believe if Clinton had invoked the name of God, it would have only further incensed the Christian Right who would have drummed up even more hysteria against this "blasphemous heathen."

The Republicans absolved Gingrich and Livingston of hypocrisy because they resigned.  The will do the same for Vitter when he resigns. 

Sean Hannity keeps saying Clinton's dalliances put national security at risk because, as President, he could have been blackmailed.  A senator cannot be blackmailed?  Who would blackmail Clinton? Osama Bin Laden? 
"You cut off all aid to Israel right now, or I'll go to the press about your moral failings!"
:D
Actually, what the Starr Chamber did to Clinton is what jeopardized national security.  If the Republicans were concerned about the health and well-being of the country, they would have kept their mouths shut.  That way, nervous Christian parents would not have to explain "oral sex" to their kids and the Executive Branch would not have been distracted from vital concerns about domestic security and foreign policy to because they had to wrestle with a frivolous impeachment that had no chance of succeeding in the senate!

QUESTION:
I have not been able to find a straight answer on the Web.  What are the state-by-state statutes on adultery?  In a few states, I believe it is still a crime unto itself, but I'm not sure if either one is Louisiana or DC.

:-*

I can't judge because I'm not self-righteous as many are (ahem, conservatives) and know my place when it comes to the rightful judge. (You know there's just so many people (ahem, conservatives) who actually believe they are God and somehow are as equal.)

I can't judge because I'm not self-righteous as many are (ahem, conservatives) and know my place when it comes to the rightful judge. (You know there's just so many people (ahem, conservatives) who actually believe they are God and somehow are as equal.)


.. and some of us *ahem conservatives* that don't believe in the virulent concept of an all powerful deity and instead believe that hypocrisy exists wherever one chooses to look because it's in the nature of a human being to be hypocritical.

Yes, but had Clinton asked God and the congregation (oops I meant Congress) for forgiveness?  Lastly did he scream out "I HAVE SINNED!!"?  Nope not that I remember.

Yes, but had Clinton asked God and the congregation (oops I meant Congress) for forgiveness?  Lastly did he scream out "I HAVE SINNED!!"?  Nope not that I remember.



It wasn't about fidelity or restraint, it was about power.  The GOP believes it is entitled to the executive branch.  Period.  Clinton was an interloper.  He had to go.  If he pulled a Jimmy Swaggart, they would have hounded him just the same. 

It wasn't about fidelity or restraint, it was about power.  The GOP believes it is entitled to the executive branch.  Period.  Clinton was an interloper.  He had to go.  If he pulled a Jimmy Swaggart, they would have hounded him just the same. 


You're right.  The GOP needed an reason.  They had to stoop pretty low to use Monica to help them gain control back. :P

Yes, but had Clinton asked God and the congregation (oops I meant Congress) for forgiveness?  Lastly did he scream out "I HAVE SINNED!!"?  Nope not that I remember.

And would Vitter have done if he hadn't been found out, or would he have carried on preaching the good word while practicing the opposite?  I also see Vitter's (very public) confession as so many crocodile tears - him saying whatever seems most likely to keep him in office.

I went for both as bad as each other - I dislike the hypocrisy of what Vitter did more, because I have a natural distaste for any politician who tries to tell people how to live their lives.  Frankly, I don't give a proverbial flying backflip whether he has consensual sex with anybody... but it is a bit rich to be telling others they shouldn't be doing it.  Again, I don't really care what Clinton did with Lewinsky, but it would have been great if instead of saying "I did not have sex with that woman", he'd had the guts to say "So what if I did? You're only jealous, anyway"... but he's too adept a politician to think he might get away with that.  Like Vitter, he has chosen what he has said as what he considered to be the most likely to keep him in office.

There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of difference to me.