Another GOP Hypocrisy Erruption

What is it about "family values" Republicans who whine about the need to "protect marriage" by forbidding us gays to have it while they go out and cheat on their spouses either in affairs like that of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and Nevada Senator John Ensign, the use of prostitutes like Louisiana Senator David Vitter, or gay sex trysts like former Congressman Ed Schrock? One almost begins to wonder whether there are any GOP politicians who are not seeking sex on the side outside of their marriages. The hypocrisy factor is off the charts. If these blowhards are so worried about the "sanctity of marriage, why don't they begin by honoring their own marriage vows. Here a peak at CNN's coverage on Sanford:

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South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, just back from a secret trip to Argentina unknown to his staff or his wife, admitted Wednesday he has carried on an extramarital affair with a woman in Buenos Aires, Argentina. "I've been unfaithful to my wife," Sanford told a news conference in Columbia, South Carolina. "I developed a relationship with what started as a dear, dear friend from Argentina."

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The affair began in the last year and was discovered five months ago, Sanford said without elaborating. He added that he and his wife were trying to work through it. In a statement issued later Wednesday, Sanford's wife, Jenny, said she asked him to move out two weeks earlier but was still open to a reconciliation for the benefit of their children.

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As for the larger implications for the GOP - which is fast becoming the party of non-stop sex scandals - here are some highlights from the Washington Post:

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Mark Sanford's summer adventure to Argentina -- no, he was not hiking the Appalachian Trail, as his aides incorrectly told reporters -- is now a full-fledged personal and family embarrassment, a story of infidelity followed by a public confession of the kind that has become all too familiar from political leaders.

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But Sanford's story is more than personal. For a Republican Party down on its luck, the governor's disappearance and subsequent rambling apology to his wife, his family, his close friends and all the people of South Carolina draw more unwelcome publicity to a party that needs but cannot seem to get any good news.

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Coming a week after Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) admitted to an extramarital affair, the scandal will impact the Republicans in several ways. First, it further damages the GOP brand, potentially driving away more voters or at least making it more difficult to win back some of those who abandoned the party in the past two elections. Second, it could disillusion social and religious conservatives -- a critically important part of the Republican coalition -- who may now wonder whether those who share the Republican label truly share their values. Third, the Sanford saga removes one more new-generation GOP leader from the field of prospective 2012 candidates, adding to doubts about the strength of the party's bench.

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One has to wonder when the so-called "values voters" are going to wake up to the fact that the GOP plays them for suckers since its elected officials seem unable to keep their zippers zipped up when outside of their own homes?