Congressional Democrats Target David Vitter on Prostitution

Louisiana Senator David Vitter: Hypocrite and Sex Crimes Criminal

There are few bigger hypocrites in the U. S. Congress than GOP Senator David Vitter.  Vitter pretends to be a "family values" Republican yet has a documented history of using prostitutes both in Louisian and the District of Coumbia even though he is a married man.  y of using prostitutes both in Louisiana and in the District of Columbia even though he is married.  Sadly, it is all too typical of today's GOP where one can pretty much count on the GOP elected officials who bloviate the most about "family values" or rails the most against gay marriage are the ones you'll see cheating on their wives or seeking out gay sex trysts like former Virginia 2nd District Congressman Ed Schrock. Politico looks at a Democratic push to penalize such hypocrisy and the hypocrisy of Vitter in particular.  Here are excerpts:

Senate Democrats have had all they can take from David Vitter and his fixation on Obamacare — and they’re dredging up his past prostitution scandal to hit back.

Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, has infuriated Democrats this week by commandeering the Senate floor, demanding a vote on his amendment repealing federal contributions to help pay for lawmakers’ health care coverage.

But Democratic senators are preparing a legislative response targeting a sordid Vitter episode. If Vitter continues to insist on a vote on his proposal, Democrats could counter with one of their own: Lawmakers will be denied those government contributions if there is “probable cause” they solicited prostitutes.

According to draft legislation obtained by POLITICO, Democrats are weighing whether to force a Senate vote on a plan that would effectively resurrect Vitter’s past if the conservative Republican continues to press forward with his Obamacare-bashing proposal.

Such a hardball move could bring back uncomfortable memories of the 2007 “D.C. Madam” scandal in which Vitter’s phone number turned up in a Washington-based prostitution ring. Vitter apologized for committing a “very serious sin” but did not elaborate. In 2008, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics decided not to move forward with the matter because the alleged conduct occurred before Vitter became a senator.

There are three options Democratic senators are weighing in response to Vitter’s proposal.

Under one scenario, no federal contribution may be given to a lawmaker or an aide if a congressional ethics committee has “probable cause to determine” that the individual has “engaged in the solicitation of prostitution.”

Another option includes broader language that would deny contributions to those found to have engaged in “improper conduct reflecting discreditably on the congressional office involved.”

And a third proposal would deny coverage to lawmakers who vote for the Vitter plan, even if it doesn’t become law.

Since the prostitution scandal erupted in 2007, Vitter has methodically tried to move past it. He won reelection in 2010 and now serves as the top Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

While Vitter never admitted to having used prostitutes, he did offer a public apology for the incident. His wife Wendy stood next to the senator during a high-profile press conference a week after the scandal broke.

In virtually every state, soliciting a prostitute is a criminal offense.   It's interesting how Vitter's friends saved him from criminal prosecution.

Maine Anti-Gay Marriage Supporter Arrested in Prostitution Scandal

Once again we are seeing a shining example of the hypocrisy of some of the members of the conservative Christian crowd who oppose gay civil rights as they claim to be motivated solely by a desire to "protect the sanctity of marriage."  In this case the hypocrite is Donald Fortin, age 59, of 83 Skillings Woods Road, Turner, Maine, who has been charged with Engaging a Prostitute following an ongoing police department investigation of a prostitution ring out of a Kennebunk Zumba studio.  Fortin is the owner and president of Fortin Construction which on its website describes the company as a "Christian family owned company."   Moreover, he is a contributor to anti-gay  Protect Maine Marriage and family values GOP state senator Garrett Mason.  Maine's Majority has released the following Press Release:

Portland, ME - A review of campaign finance filings has found that the name of one of the men charged in the ongoing Kennebunk prostitution scandal matches that of a large contributor to the effort to defeat the state's same-sex marriage ballot measure and a maxed-out donor to Garrett Mason (R-Lisbon Falls), a Christian conservative and staunch opponent of marriage equality.

According to state records, on October 15, 2012, Donald Fortin of Turner personally donated $1,000 to Protect Maine Marriage and $350 to Mason through his business, Fortin Construction.[1] On June 21, Fortin also made a personal contribution to Mason in the amount of $350.

On October 25, the Kennebunk Police charged Donald Fortin of 83 Skillings Wood Road in Turner with Engaging a Prostitute. The same address is also found on the corporate filings of Diamond Developments of Maine, LLC (owned by a Donald Fortin) as well as a campaign contribution report by a Cynthia Fortin, who also gave $350 to Mason's campaign on October 15.

“We feel that the public deserves to know about this kind of hypocrisy," said Maine's Majority director Chris Korzen. "If Donald Fortin the campaign donor is indeed the same Donald Fortin in the Kennebunk Police press release, he cannot get away with actively promoting a conservative political agenda while engaging in behavior that is so blatantly at odds with his stated values. Furthermore, Protect Maine Marriage and Garret Mason must do the right thing and return these contributions.”

 Obviously, Fortin doesn't place much sanctity of his own marriage.  Whenever I see a business mentioning religion on its website, I usually take that as a good warning to hold on to your wallet.  Nonetheless, I feel sorry for his sons pictured on the company website who are no doubt embarrassed by their father's behavior and hypocrisy.

Berlusconi Sex Scandal Embarrassing for Vatican

Personally, I find it hysterically funny that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi - a sycophant of the Vatican - has been indicted for having sex with an underage prostitute. The indictment underscores the fact that Berlusconi is of about the same level of moral bankruptcy as the current occupant of the throne of St. Peter. Berlusconi has happily pushed the Vatican's anti-modernity agenda and done all he can to frustrate sexual freedom for Italians, both gay and straight. Meanwhile, Berlusconi's personal conduct has been akin to a nasty old satyr and has made a mockery of the Vatican's supposed rules regarding sexual conduct. Berlusconi and the Vatican truly deserve one another and the fact that Berlusconi's morals are pretty much in the gutter clearly corresponds with those of the child rapist protectors within the Vatican's walls. A post at Huffington Post explores the well deserved embarrassment accruing to the Vatican Here are highlights:
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Berlusconi's stands against euthanasia, living wills, in-vitro fertilization and domestic partnerships have put his country in line with Catholic teaching, and out of sync with all other major countries in the region, including traditionally Catholic Spain. His government has also granted large financial subsidies to Catholic schools, and expanded tax breaks for church-owned businesses.
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Yet in Berlusconi's increasingly public personal life, the billionaire businessman-turned-politician is not exactly a model of Catholic values. After months of ever more graphic reports of wild parties and sex with young women, including several alleged prostitutes, a judge on Tuesday (Feb. 15) ruled that Berlusconi must face trial on April 6 on charges of paying for sex with a minor and obstruction of justice.
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Catholic bishops have several strong reasons to refrain from openly criticizing Berlusconi now. The most obvious is that the church needs the cooperation of his center-right government to pursue its legislative agenda.
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Another factor inhibiting Italian church leaders in the Berlusconi matter, Franco said, may be last year's controversies over clergy sex abuse in several European and Latin American countries, which undermined the church's moral authority in the eyes of many critics.
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Still, the pressure on church leaders to break with the prime minister may grow too strong to resist. An anti-Berlusconi demonstration by hundreds of thousands of Italian women on Sunday (Feb. 13) won the endorsement of the editor of the Italian bishops' official newspaper; one of the most prominent speakers at the rally in Rome was a 70-year-old nun who is also an activist against sex trafficking.
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Berlusconi bears a striking resemblance to the American GOP hypocrites who laud "family values" yet then commit adultery, troll for gay sex, vote for policies that undermine the finances of working families, and gay bash for politic points.

Italy's Anti-Gay Berlusconi Had Many Prostitutes

One can only assume that Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has been taking notes from Louisiana's prostitute loving U. S. Senator David Vitter in that Berlusconi is virulently anti-gay, apparently finds it impossible to keep his zipper up around women who are not his wife, and claims to be the champion of religious values and friend of the Vatican's anti-gay jihad. The hypocrisy is stunning - especially as reports are coming out that Berlusconi frequented many prostitutes, including one reportedly who was still a minor. If the later charge proves true, it would be Divine justice to see Berlusconi prosecuted and convicted. Time magazine looks at the bigoted Berlusconi's legal problems which I for one hope intensify. Here are some highlights:
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Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi had sex with a significant number of prostitutes, Milan prosecutors alleged Monday in documents seeking authorization to search some of his properties.
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The prosecutors are leading a probe aimed at determining if the 74-year-old media mogul paid for sex with a 17-year-old Moroccan girl nicknamed Ruby who attended parties at one of his villas last year. Prostitution isn't a crime in Italy, but exploiting or aiding prostitution with minors is.
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The scandal, which exploded Friday with word that Berlusconi was under investigation, gained momentum Monday with the arrival in parliament of a nearly 400-page dossier from prosecutors on the case.
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The teen, now 18, has said she was among a bevy of young women invited to parties at Berlusconi's Arcore villa near Milan. She has said in a TV interview that the premier last year gave her euro 7,000 ($9,000) to help her financially.
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Prosecutors want police to search an apartment complex in Segrate, near Milan, which includes the offices they alleged could contain documentation that young women were given money and rent-free apartments — in another residential complex — by Berlusconi in compensation for prostitution.
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Among those associates prosecutors alleged helped procure the prostitutes are a young woman who is now a provincial government official from Berlusconi's party; a longtime executive in the premier's private TV empire, and a talent agent for entertainment programs.

Prostitute Loving U. S. Senator Supports "Birther" Lawsuit

One has to wonder what is in the water in Louisiana - I don't mean now, since we know BP oil is seeping in everywhere along the coast and into Lake Pontchartrain - but rather when David Vitter was elected to the United States Senate . The guy is an admitted adulterer and frequenter of prostitutes both in his home state and in Washington, D.C., yet continues to be embraced as a "family values" Republican. The guy takes hypocrisy to a new level as do his political supporters. Now, Vitter is demonstrating just what a loon and political whore he is with his statements that he supports "birther" lawsuits questioning Barack Obama's citizenship. There are many reasons to not support Obama - as LGBT Americans are sadly discovering - but the lunatic claim that he's not a U.S. citizen is not one of them. Those that believe that Obama's not an American probably also believe that they have been abducted by little green men in spaceships. Indeed, they probably could use a stay in a mental institution. Yet, Vitter is out there pandering to them and in the process making prostitutes look down right virtuous. Here are highlights from a Time article that looks at Vitter's latest prostituting of himself:
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Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana says he supports conservative organizations challenging President Barack Obama's citizenship in court. Vitter, who is running for re-election, made the comments at a town hall-style event in Metairie, La., on Sunday when a constituent asked what he would do about what the questioner said was Obama's "refusal to produce a valid birth certificate."
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With the crowd applauding the question, Vitter responded that he doesn't personally have standing to bring litigation. "But I support conservative legal organizations and others who would bring that to court," he said, according to a video of the event. "I think that is the valid and most possibly effective grounds to do it."
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So-called birthers have challenged Obama's standing as president by arguing that he was not born in the United States. Hawaii officials have repeatedly confirmed the president's citizenship, and his Hawaiian birth certificate has been made public, along with newspaper birth notices published when he was born in 1961.
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His spokesman did not immediately respond to a question about whether the senator doubts Obama's citizenship.

Former aide to GOP officials arrested in prostitution sting

Man, these family values Republicans get more action than anyone it would seem. They surely are preoccupied with sex. Here's a new story from the Star Tribune (http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1365005.html):

Tim Droogsma, a former press secretary to a U.S. senator and a Minnesota governor, was arrested Tuesday in a midafternoon prostitution sting on St. Paul's East Side. Tim Droogsma, a former press secretary to a U.S. senator and a Minnesota governor, was arrested Tuesday in a midafternoon prostitution sting on St. Paul's East Side. He allegedly arranged a deal for sex from an undercover officer through Craig's List, police spokesman Tom Walsh said Wednesday.

Droogsma was a spokesman for Sen. Rudy Boschwitz in the late 1980s and Gov. Arne Carlson in the early 1990s. Recently, he publicly supported a candidate seeking to replace state Rep. Steve Sviggum. All three elected officials were Republicans.