The Men Who Led The Impeachment Of Bill Clinton

In follow up to the last post and the "quote of the day," a piece in Think Progress looks at what is now known about the Republican Party leadership in the House of Representatives that led the effort to impeach Bill Clinton.  All, of course, once claimed to support "family values" and to support the "sanctity of marriage."  All turned out to be complete hypocrites.  Frankly, its to the point that when I hear a Republican blathering about "family values," I figure it's only a matter of time before they are caught having an adulterous affair or cruising for gay sex on the sly.  Of course, self-loathing closet cases Rick Santorum and Ken Cuccinelli are in a league of their own when it comes to being utterly obsessed with gay sex.  Here are article highlights:

On December 19, 1998, the House of Representatives impeached Bill Clinton on two charges related to his extramarital affair with Monica Lewinsky. (The charges were for perjury and obstruction of justice.) The historic vote, and subsequent trial in the Senate, involved the work of three men who were elected Speaker of the House Of Representatives by the Republican majority, Newt Gingrich, Bob Livingston and Dennis Hastert. 

Almost 17 years later, with the federal indictment of Hastert for illegally concealing up to $3.5 million in hush-money, we finally have a more complete understanding of the men who led this effort.

Newt Gingrich

Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) led the push for Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Following a disappointing election in November 1998, he announced he was stepping down as Speaker and resigning from Congress.

Gingrich later admitted that, while he was pushing for Clinton’s impeachment, he was engaged in an affair with a Congressional aide. “There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them,” Gingrich said in 2007. He later said the situation was “complex and, obviously, I wasn’t doing things to be proud of.”

Bob Livingston

After Gingrich announced his resignation, Republicans unanimously selected Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA) to succeed him. 

On the day of the impeachment vote, Livingston announced he was resigning following revelations that he had engaged in an extramarital affair. According to Hustler Magazine Publisher Larry Flint, who offered a reward for information about the sex lives of members of Congress, he “found four women who said they had been involved with Mr. Livingston over the last 10 years.”

Dennis Hastert

Following Livingston’s resignation, which occurred on the same day the House voted on impeachment, Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) quickly gained support of the Republican leadership to succeed him as Speaker-designate. He began formally serving as speaker in January 1999, and held that role while the Senate conducted their trial on the articles of impeachment.

On Thursday, Hastert was indicted on charges that he illegally structured $1.7 million in payments to an individual in an attempt to cover up prior misconduct. According to reports, the payments were allegedly intended to “conceal sexual abuse against a former male student he knew during his days as a teacher in Yorkville, Ill.” The LA Times also reported that “investigators also spoke with a second man who raised similar allegations that corroborated what the former student said.”

The bigger question, of course, is why anyone sane believes anything these  "family values" politicians have to say.

 

Nebraska GOP Lt. Governor Resigns - Over Adultry?

While details remain murky, Nebraska Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy (pictured at left) abruptly his post today.  Indications are that Sheehy may have been having affairs.  His wife had filed for divorce in July, 2012stating that her marriage of 28 years was “irretrievably broken.”  A piece in the World Herald indicates that Sheehy had used his state issued cell phone during the past four years to make about 2,000 late-night telephone calls to women other than his wife.  Once again, one has to wonder why 8 times out of 10 that its the "family values" Republicans that have such a hard time avoiding adultery or seeking man on man restroom trysts like former Senator Larry "Wide Stance " Craig?  The supposedly godless Democrats seem to have nowhere near the difficulty keeping the their marital vows and their zippers up.  Here are article highlights:

LINCOLN — Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy resigned his post abruptly Saturday after questions were raised by The World-Herald about improper cell phone calls to four women, other than his wife, during the past four years.

An investigation by The World-Herald discovered that Sheehy made about 2,000 late-night telephone calls to the women on his state-issued cell phone, many of them long conversations held in the wee hours of the night.

Gov. Dave Heineman announced the resignation at a 10 a.m. press conference.

"I've got a knot in my stomach. I'm deeply disappointed. He's done a lot of good things for the state, but that trust was broken, and he's resigned," Heineman said.

Until now, Sheehy, 53, has been considered the leading candidate to succeed Heineman in 2015.

The governor, asked about Sheehy's candidacy, said: "I doubt he will continue his campaign for governor, and no, I would not support him under the circumstances."
 

Heineman declined to discuss the details of why Sheehy was stepping down, other than to say it involved "personal decisions" made by his lieutenant governor.

 I feel sorry for Sheehy's wife and his children who will now have to face humiliation and public scrutiny.

The Imperial Life Style of Top Generals and Admirals

While rank and file troops often live in bare basics accommodations or far worse in the field, the military's top brass live a lifestyle akin to a Tsar or maharajah and, from the ones I have encountered locally often have an attitude that their you know what doesn't stink.  One cannot help but ponder whether such an out of touch lifestyle doesn't impair their ability to care about their troops many of whom in the chain of command are treated as if their were members of India's untouchables versus Brahmins.   If we need to cut military spending, let's start with the lavish perks of the top commands.  A piece in the Washington Post looks ate the ridiculous luxuries and staffs these men outrageously enjoy.  Here are highlights:

The commanders who lead the nation’s military services and those who oversee troops around the world enjoy an array of perquisites befitting a billionaire, including executive jets, palatial homes, drivers, security guards and aides to carry their bags, press their uniforms and track their schedules in 10-minute increments. Their food is prepared by gourmet chefs. If they want music with their dinner parties, their staff can summon a string quartet or a choir.

The elite regional commanders who preside over large swaths of the planet don’t have to settle for Gulfstream V jets. They each have a C-40, the military equivalent of a Boeing 737, some of which are configured with beds.

Since Petraeus’s resignation, many have strained to understand how such a celebrated general could have behaved so badly. Some have speculated that an exhausting decade of war impaired his judgment. Others wondered if Petraeus was never the Boy Scout he appeared to be. But [former Defense Secretary] Gates, who still possesses a modest Kansan’s bemusement at Washington excess, has floated another theory. “There is something about a sense of entitlement and of having great power that skews people’s judgment,” Gates said last week.

Other veteran commanders concurred with Gates. David Barno, a retired three-star general who commanded U.S. troops in Afghanistan, warned in an interview that the environment in which the top brass lives has the potential “to become corrosive over time upon how they live their life.”

“You can become completely disconnected from the way people live in the regular world — and even from the modest lifestyle of others in the military,” Barno said. “When that happens, it’s not necessarily healthy either for the military or the country.”

Although American generals have long enjoyed many perks — in World War II and in Vietnam, some dined on china set atop linen tablecloths — the amenities afforded to today’s military leaders are more lavish than anyone else in government enjoys, save for the president.

Compared with today’s plutocrats, their pay is modest. In 2013, the base salary for a four-star general with at least 38 years of service will be almost $235,000, although federal personnel regulations limit their take-home pay to $179,700. Unlike top civilians in government, top generals also receive free housing and subsidies for food and uniforms. And when they retire, those who have served at least 40 years get an annual pension that is slightly more than active-duty base pay — this year it is $236,650.

But the frantic search for cuts to reduce the growth of government debt could soon put some of the four-star benefits at risk. When he was at the Pentagon, Gates wanted to trim some of the perks but ran into resistance. It was, he said, the “third rail” of the Defense Department.

“You don’t need a cadre of people at your beck and call in an age of austerity, unless you are a field commander in Iraq or Afghanistan,” a former top aide to Gates said on the condition of anonymity.

I would further argue against such perks for those who have so poorly advised - or perhaps even lied to - leaders in Washington.  Candidly, some of these a-holes need to spend a few days or a week at the front living like average troops, with no attendants and special meals, to help get their heads out of their pampered asses.

The GOP Presidential Clown Car Lurches On

The Obama campaign must be sitting back and laughing their butts off as the GOP continues to engage in a circular firing squad. With Rick Perry withdrawing from the race today, that leaves the constantly flip flopping Mitt Romney (he's about to give folks whip lash) in contention with Christianist extremist Rick Santorum whose wife had a 6 year affair with an abortionist, Newt "I want an open marriage" Gingrich who now claims to champion marriage, and the racist and sometimes reality untethered Ron Paul. Adding to the fun is are the attacks on Romney and his rapacious form of capitalism at Bain and his stupid remark that the $350,000+ per year he makes in speaking fees "isn't much." Obama need only sit back and let the GOP contenders make the case for Obama's re-election. Seriously, is the GOP slate the gang that couldn't shoot straight or what? Here are some highlights from the Washington Post on the non-stop batshitery:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry announced Thursday that he was ending his bid for the GOP presidential nomination and endorsing Newt Gingrich. Perry’s announcement was on the heels of reports that former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum actually won more votes in the Iowa caucus than Mitt Romney.

And despite having Perry’s support, Gingrich faces criticism following claims by his ex-wife Marianne that the candidate asked for an “open marriage” during the time he was advocating family and religious values in speeches around the country.

Adding to the bizarre alternate universe feel to the GOP slate's world view is Rush Limbaugh blathering that Gingrich was the victim in the context of his request to his second wife that she consent to an "open marriage." Limbaugh, who rants against gays and claims to support "traditional marriage" is on his fourth marriage himself. That anyone in the Christian Right listens to anything Limbaugh or Gingrich has to say is dumbfounding. Especially given their opposition to any legal recognition being afforded to long term. monogamous same sex relationships. Think Progress said this:

Newt Gingrich’s ex-wife . . . . reveals that the former Speaker asked her for an open marriage so he continue to see his current wife, Callista. Not surprisingly, some conservatives and Gingrich himself have attacked ABC for airing the “tawdry and inappropriate” interview, but shock jock Rush Limbaugh took things to another level on his show today by outright defending Gingrich on the matter.

Limbaugh went on to read a “great note” from a “good friend of mine,” which posits that Newt and not Marianne — whom Gingirch left shortly after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis — is the real “victim” here. Moreover, the fact that Gingrich asked for “permission” to cheat on his wife is “a mark of character, in my book,” Limbaugh continued:

LIMBAUGH: I got a great note from a friend of mine. “So Newt wanted an open marriage. BFD. At least he asked his wife for permission instead of cheating on her. That’s a mark of character, in my book. Newt’s a victim. We all are. Ours is the horniest generation.” [...] That’s from a good friend of mine, “Newt’s slogan ought to, ‘Hell, yes, I wanted it.’” (laughing) I’m sharing with you how some people are reacting to this.

It’s worth noting that Gingrich had been having an affair for several years before he asked “permission” to cheat on his wife. Rush Limbaugh married his fourth wife in 2010.

The Republicans and far right like to accuse the left and liberals of being morally bankrupt. However, the more one sees, the more it appears that the conservative accusers are looking in the mirror and seeing their own reflections. Hypocrisy and dishonesty are the hallmarks of the GOP and the Christianist who support that party.

Still Another Herman Cain Accuser Comes Forward

Perhaps there is a God - one who enjoys exposing liars and hypocrites. Why else would we be faced with would be standard bearers of the party of "family values" who can best be described as hypocrites if not pathological liars. On the one hand we have serial adulterer Newt Gingrich blathering about his desire to "protect the sanctity of marriage" from the gay barbarians (to borrow a phrase from "Marcia" Bachmann). One the other, we have Herman Cain who has just been accused of yet another affair outside his marriage. Cain is equally anti-gay and wants to "protect marriage." That two such individuals are supported by conservative, "pro-family" Christians shows that utter moral bankruptcy is likewise the norm amongst the self-congratulatory pious set. It's mind boggling that serial infidelity and likely constant lies are perfectly fine with these "godly" folks as long as the adulterers/liars are heterosexual. Talking Points Memo looks at the latest revelation about Herman "I can't keep it in my pants" Cain. Here are some highlights:

Herman Cain is quickly dealing with the latest round of accusations of alleged sexual impropriety — this time, by letting the national media know about it before it hits big.

Cain appeared Monday afternoon on CNN, saying that a woman will soon make a public allegation against him. The news story in question is from the local Fox station in Atlanta, which is teasing an upcoming report that a woman will claim a 13-year affair with the candidate, which he denies.

Another Talking Points Memo piece goes into details of the affair and reports that reporters have confirmed that the accuser had Hermain Cain's private cell phone number. Here are some of these details:

Ginger White, the Atlanta businesswoman who is claiming that she had a 13-year affair with Herman Cain, has given details of the alleged relationship to the local Fox station in Atlanta.

White told the station that Cain would fly her out to cities where he was speaking, and that they would then stay nice hotels. She claims that their physical relationship ended about eight months ago, right before Cain launched his presidential campaign.

White said she came forward because she was worried about potential media coverage about herself — and because of Cain’s attacks on the other women who have accused him of sexual harassment. “It bothered me that they were being demonized, sort of, they were treated as if they were automatically lying, and the burden of proof was on them,” White said. “I felt bad for them.”

White also showed the station evidence of some kind of contact with Cain — cell phone records, with Cain himself responding when the station tried the number:

She showed us some of her cell phone bills that included 61 phone calls or text messages to or from a number starting with 678. She says it is Herman Cain’s private cell phone. The calls were made during four different months— calls or texts made as early as 4:26 in the early morning, and as late as 7:52 at night. The latest were in September of this year.

With all these accusations, it's really becoming impossible to believe that with all the smoke there hasn't been a fire - or two, or three, etc.

Why Exposing Hyprocritical "Family Values" Politicians is Necessary

Once again some in the LGBT blogosphere are whining and having a cow over the call to expose hypocrites among the anti-gay, "family values" politician class who wrap themselves in the banner of "family values," oppose LGBT equality at ever turn and yet are cheating on their wives, seeking gay sex on the side, are twice or thrice divorced even as they whine about the "sanctity of marriage," or engaging in other behaviors that show the lie of their pretended piousness. And these are the same folks who shamelessly pander to the likes of the AFA and Bryan Fischer (who recently confirmed that he DOES really believe that gays should be placed in concentration camps), Tony Perkins and FRC, the ever self-enriching Maggie Gallagher, et. al, and repeat their nasty lies of anti-gay hate groups. Bil Browning - a fellow Bilerico writer - has made a call for dirt on such hypocrites in the Indiana legislature in response to an anti-gay marriage measure. Some - perhaps motivated for personal grudges - are calling this heinous muckraking and similar derogatory things.

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I call it playing hard ball and making the personal lives of our enemies the subject of public discussion just as they do to the lives of LGBT citizens every time they pander to the Christianists, vote for anti-gay measures and engage in other conduct that helps maintain an atmosphere where homophobia is rampant and where suicide still seems the best option to far too many gay teens. Here in Virginia, "family values" Republicans have killed EVERY gay friendly measure in this year's legislative session. Many of these elected officials - while kissing the ass of Daddy Dobson's affiliate, The Family Foundation - describe gays as a menace to society, disease ridden and other truly horrible things. They have no qualms about slandering me, the boyfriend and countless other LGBT Virginians solely to win points and votes. If my life, my love and my partner and friends are going to be used as political footballs, then I say what goes around comes around and our enemies have placed a bulls eye on their own backs and made themselves targets for exposure it they aren't living the family values life they claim to worship.

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This is an issue I feel very strong about and I've warned politicians in the past that there will be a price to pay for disingenuous pandering to anti-gay forces - former Congressman Ed Schrock (pictured above) being the most high profile example. For those who don't remember, Schrock had the second most anti-gay voting record in Congress yet was soliciting gay sex on the side in the Hampton Roads area. When I confronted Schrock (he called me on his cell from the House floor), his chief staffer threatened me with serious consequences, but ultimately Mike Rogers and others nailed Schrock and he dropped out of his re-election campaign. Others who are anti-gay and not living the "family values" life they claim to support deserve similar exposure. You make my life, my relationships, and my civil equality and issue for craven political gain and I WILL do my best to come after you. That message needs to be made to echo loud and clear in every state in this country.

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I repeat a statement I made the other day: anyone with any information on anti-gay politicians in Virginia that exposes them as hypocrites, adulterers, on the down low, or anything else not in accordance with their"family values" political posturing, bring it to me and, if substantiated, and I promise I will get it to those who can help expose the bastards and hopefully end their political careers.

Palidino Attacks Gays But Wants "Privacy" About His Love Child

UPDATE: Mr. Paladino, the Republican candidate for governor of New York appeared on both the “Today” show and “Good Morning America” and defended his outrageous anti-gay comments yesterday. Here are highlights from the New York Times where this falandering adulterer reiterated his denigration of LGBT citixens:
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Mr. Paladino, who also appeared on “Good Morning America,” sought to defend controversial remarks about gays he made on Sunday to Jewish leaders in Brooklyn, including arguing that children should not be “brainwashed” into considering homosexuality acceptable.
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Mr. Paladino reiterated that he thought it was wrong for Andrew M. Cuomo, his Democratic opponent, to have taken his daughters to a gay pride parade, saying that such events were inappropriate for children.
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“Young children should not be exposed to that at a young age. They don’t understand, it’s a very difficult thing,” Mr. Paladino said. “And exposing them to homosexuality, especially at a gay pride parade — and I don’t know if you have ever been to one, but they wear these little Speedos and they grind against each other and it’s just a terrible thing.”
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The gall and audacity of the far right Republicans continues to be amazing. Yesterday, Carl Paladino (shown at right) - who wants to be governor of New York - went on an anti-gay rant during a visit with Orthodox Jewish leaders. Here's the Daily News' account of the batshitery:
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Flame-throwing Republican Carl Paladino erupted again, declaring Sunday that being gay is "not the example that we should be showing our children."
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"I don't want [children] brainwashed into thinking homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option - it isn't," Paladino said to applause at a meeting with Hasidic Jewish leaders in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
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In a version of the speech distributed by a rabbi, the rant went further, charging there is "nothing to be proud of in being a dysfunctional homosexual."
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He cast himself as the "religious values candidate" and vowed to veto any gay marriage bill if he's elected governor.
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His comments come amid a recent wave of anti-gay incidents, including a stunning revelation that nine members of a sadistic Bronx gang tortured a gay man and two gay 17-year-olds.
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Well it seems that "Mr. Religious Values" is a major league hypocrite and apparently subscribes to the David Vitter form of "family values" which includes sex out side of one's marriage. In Paladino's case, the sexual affair led to a child who is now 10 years old. As the true hypocrite that he is, Paladino wants to meddle in the sex lives of gays and demean us, but his own adultery is supposed to be kept "a private matter." Here are highlights from today's Daily News on this hypocrisy eruption:
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A controversial conservative businessman who will announce his run for governor Monday fathered a child during an extramarital affair a decade ago.
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Buffalo developer Carl Paladino, 63, has been married nearly 40 years to his wife, Cathy.
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The two had three grown children together - one of whom died in a car crash last year. It was only after that tragedy that Paladino confessed to his wife he had a secret love child, a now-10-year-old girl. A Buffalo-area source identified the child's mother as Sue Brady, an ex-staffer of Paladino's Ellicott Development company.
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"The Paladinos consider this a private family matter and ask all media to respect their privacy," said campaign manager Michael Caputo, who would not confirm the woman's name.
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Yep, it's the same old GOP double standard - sing family values to others and utterly ignore them in one's private life.

Homophobie (and Hypocrite) Iris Robinson Continues to Reap Whirlwind

UPDATED: According to the New York Post yet another shocking detail has emerged in the Iris Robinson sex scandal: Her 19 year old boy toy was a Catholic!

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Former Northern Ireland MP Iris Robinson, both a homophobe and hypocrite of immense proportions, continues to reek havoc in the fragile political landscape of Ulster. Her husband, First Lord of the Government, has stepped down temporarily as he tries to conduct damage control over his wife's adultrous affair and financial improprieties, In the Irish Times, Iris Robinson gets ripped to shreds yet again in a column. What strikes me, however, is how much Ms. Robinson is like anti-gay members of the Republican Party in this country. She demands one standard from others and preaches morality while displaying none of those attributes herself. She's the Irish equivalent of Louisiana U.S. Senator David Vitter who preaches family values notwithstanding his frequent trysts with prostitutes. The hypocrisy is simply astounding. Here are some column highlights:
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THERE IS abomination at the house of Robinson, and it is fortunate for Ulster’s first couple that most of us are less inclined to reach for the Old Testament than they are. Iris Robinson called on her harsh God when she vilified homosexuals last year after a gay man had been beaten up by homophobes. The same Lord’s wrath was undoubtedly kindled when she lay down with young Kirk, and she knows only too well what Deuteronomy and Leviticus would have with her ilk. Left to their mercy, she would, in short, perish, and perish horribly.
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Iris the adultress has duly torn her hair and rent her garments; she has put on the sackcloth and ashes; and wept. Her repentance has been lavish, if selective. . . There have been reports that she is to retreat to the luxury ski resort to which Elin Nordregren went recently also after laying into renegade husband Tiger Woods with a golf club. Other reports suggest she is in hospital. Her husband says she is incoherent and too ill to face the questions he agrees she must answer.
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Iris Robinson the politician had all the DUP’s most unattractive traits, including prefacing all her sneery putdowns with the phrase, “I’m not going to take any lectures . . .” She was no feminist. However, it still came as a shock when Darragh MacIntyre’s excellent Spotlight programme presented the portrait of a powerful woman behaving like the worst sort of man.
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Spotlight revealed that Mrs Robinson had known Kirk McCambley since he was a nine- year-old child working in his father’s butchers shop. She had been very close to his father. Before he died, he asked her to look after his boy. She did so with a vengeance. She must have cut a glamourous figure, with her big hair and designer clothes, sweeping into Ballyhackamore in her convertible. . . She described Kirk as being like another son. Her sexual behaviour towards him can only be described as predatory. If she was lavish when he was her lover, when the sexual relationship ended, Iris Robinson wanted her money back.
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The fallen woman says that Jesus has forgiven her. Her husband seems less sure now that he will stand by his woman. She has been cast out, but the party of preference for the “holier than thou” is in deep trouble. Meanwhile Kirk, now 21, is still selling cappuccinos on the banks of the Lagan, while gay magazines want to turn him into a pin-up. Coocooachoo, Mrs Robinson.
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Iris Robinson brought disaster upon herself both by her conduct, her hubris, and her willingness to condemn others all too freely. Pay backs can truly be a bitch.

More Hypocrisy: Anti-gay MP Iris Robinson's Lover Said to Have Been under 21

I written before about Irish gay-hater, Iris Robinson (pictured at left), a Member of Parliament who condemned gays as sinners, advocated for reparative therapy, and pushed an anti-equality agenda. Recently, Ms. Robinson announced that she would be retiring from politics for health and family reasons. Turns out, Robinson must have been studying GOP politicians in the USA. It seems that the real story behind her resignation is that she was having an adulterous affair with Kirk McCambley (at far left), a man believed to be one third her age. Oh dear, another homophobic sinner caught by her own disregard of the "family values" standards she would impose on others. Of course, when it comes to hypocrisy, Ms. Robinson is in the good company of the child abusing Catholic Church. But maybe she just thought she really WAS Anne Bancroft in the movie, The Graduate. Both Pink News and the Daily Mail have more details. First some highlights from Pink News:

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Homophobic Northern Ireland MP Iris Robinson's affair was thought to have been with a young man aged under 21 at the time. News channel UTV, which broke the story of her affair and suicide attempt yesterday, reported the claim this evening. Robinson, who is 60, said the affair and suicide attempt took place in March 2008. She said the "brief" liaison began "completely innocently" when she offered support to someone who had suffered a family death.
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Earlier today, The Times reported that a BBC investigation into the finances of Robinson and her husband Peter, who is Northern Ireland's first minister, was what prompted her to reveal details of her affair and attempted suicide. The "embarrassing" television documentary was to be broadcast with allegations over the first family's financial affairs.
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Robinson, a fundamentalist Christian, was labelled a bigot for a series of outbursts last year in which she made offensive comments about homosexuality. In 2008, she told the Belfast Telegraph that homosexuality was comparable to paedophilia. She also told a radio show that homosexuality was a mental illness and could be "cured".
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Not surprisingly, the Dail Mail has some juicier tid bits on the affair and refers to McCambley as obinson's toyboy. Here are some highlights:
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Last night sources close to Mrs Robinson revealed her lover's name to be Kirk McCambley - and they said he was 19 when the pair became involved 18 months ago. . . . They apparently met in March 2008 at the funeral of Mr McCambley's father, a friend of Mrs Robinson. The young man, now 21, owns the Lock Keeper's Inn in south Belfast. Details of the affair were revealed by the BBC in an interview with her husband. Last night it was claimed that Mrs Robinson organised a £50,000 loan to help her toyboy lover set up the restaurant business.
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Mrs Robinson and Mr McCambley's affair lasted for around five months, ending after they allegedly rowed over the repayment of the money. . . In her statement she said: 'Everyone is paying a heavy price for my actions... I am so, so sorry. It had no emotional or lasting meaning, but my actions have devastated my life, and the lives of those around me.'
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Her name will bring to mind the fictional Mrs Robinson, played by Anne Bancroft who had an affair with a man half her age, played by Dustin Hoffman, in the 1967 film The Graduate.

GOP Marital Infidelity and Cover Ups

I find it amazing that the freepers and wingnuts continue to be duped into voting for members of the GOP as the "party of family values" when media coverage suggests that such alleged family values warriors have more affairs and disingenuous cover ups of affairs than their allegedly ungodly Democrat opponents. One example of this ridiculous situation is Louisiana Senator David Vitter who has a penchant for prostitutes - both at home in New Orleans and in Washington, D.C. Another example that hopefully will get increased attention and media coverage is the marital infidelity of Senator John Ensign and his help mates in attempts to cover up the affair, Senators Mitch McConnell and Tom Coburn. Several New York Times stories look at this sordid affair which displays GOP hypocrisy in stark terms. Here are highlights from some articles. First this:

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The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wife of an aide, current and former officials said Friday.

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The complaint that initiated this inquiry focused on whether Mr. Ensign improperly used campaign money in April 2008 to make a $96,000 severance payment to Mr. Hampton and his wife, Cynthia Hampton, who once was treasurer of Mr. Ensign’s campaign. At that time, Mr. Hampton and his wife, who was still having an affair with the senator, were forced out of their jobs.

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So far, no evidence has surfaced that the money for this payment came from the government or from campaign money. But the new accusations, detailed in an article that appeared Friday in The New York Times, appear to be a more serious threat to Mr. Hampton and Mr. Ensign, ethics lawyers said.

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And then there is this about Ensign's helpmate, Coburn:

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In acknowledging the affair, Mr. Ensign cast it as a personal transgression, not a professional one. But an examination of his conduct shows that in trying to clean up the mess from the illicit relationship and distance himself from the Hamptons, he entangled political supporters, staff members and Senate colleagues, some of whom say they now feel he betrayed them.

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Mr. Ensign allowed Senator Tom Coburn, a friend and fellow conservative Christian, to serve as an intermediary with the Hamptons in May in discussing a large financial settlement, to help them rebuild their lives. “John got trapped doing something really stupid and then made a lot of other mistakes afterward,” Mr. Coburn, Republican of Oklahoma, said in an interview. “Judgment gets impaired by arrogance, and that’s what’s going on here.”

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Mr. Coburn, an ordained deacon, took the lead in questioning Mr. Ensign, who acknowledged that Mr. Hampton’s accusation was true. . . . Mr. Albregts said he believed the Hamptons might have a civil claim against Mr. Ensign over their dismissals from his staff and the consequences for their family. That began a series of intense, though ultimately futile conversations intended to reach a financial settlement. Mr. Hampton went back to Mr. Coburn, who offered to talk to Mr. Ensign about restitution for the Hamptons to help them relocate from Nevada. Mr. Coburn said he raised the issue with Mr. Ensign, who said, “I’ll listen.”

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With family values like these hypocrites, the Christianists are clearly being played for fools. When are the sheep going to wake up?

National Enquirer Reports on Alleged Palin Adulterous Affair

Whatever the merits of the National Inquirer's story, it ought to be fun watching the gyrations of the McCain campaign. What with the news about McCain's gay chief of staff and now this, Daddy Dobson will be none too happy. I have no doubts that Palin has many enemies - when you trample over people and/or fire them so you can have your cronies hired, you'd best have no secrets that they can carry.

Here are the lead in from the Inquirer: No less than three members of the man’s family including one by sworn affidavit have claimed that Sarah Palin engaged in an extramarital affair with hus­band Todd’s former business partner, Brad Hanson. These sources have named Hanson as Palin’s secret love, and say their affair nearly wrecked both their marriages.