Another pillar crucial to the Republican base is crumbling before our eyes. While I think it's safe to say that George W. Bush destroyed the pillar of fiscal responsibility. The latest core principal to come under fire is the moral high ground with regards to the institution of marriage.
On June 16, 2009 at a press conference in Las Vegas Senator John Ensign(R)Nevada admitted to an extramarital affair with a campaign aide. The scandal forced Ensign to step down as chairman of the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee, the party's #4 leadership spot. Political analysts in Nevada have declared Ensign has lost some serious clout within the party, and now instead of being a regular talking head on the Sunday news programs, will probably be relegated to working on the serious issues in the background.
Enter Republican firebrand and Governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford. Who last week after telling staffer's he was hiking the Appalachian Trail, took a five day hiatus to Argentina to spend time with his long time mistress Maria Belen Chapur. Chapur a producer for Argentinian television has been silent since the story broke last week. Some of you may remember Governor Sanford for his attempted refusal of President Obama's stimulus money. Money that mainly would have benefited South Carolina's poorest population. Now with bigger fish to fry, the Governor has apologized to the people of South Carolina, his cabinet, and the legislature. However, despite the Governor's calls for forgiveness, he has been besieged with withering cry's for his resignation. Cry's that have fallen on a defiant Sanford who insists he will complete the remaining 18 months of his term.
Today we learn there were several women he "crossed the line with..." but that he had sex only with Maria Chapur. Professing the affair with Chapur as a real life love story. However while on trips to "blow off steam..." he admittedly "let his guard down...but didn't cross the sex line." his latest statement contradicts previous confessions with regard to the frequency of the encounters.
Sanford's wife released a statement last week that said as far as her husbands political career was concerned she could care less, stating her top priority was the welfare of their children. Jenny Sanford found out about the affair in early 2009, and went into counseling with the Governor in an attempt to save their marriage, she refused to meet with the mistress despite the Governor's insistence on doing so.
This story seems to be a recurrent and increasingly frequent dilemma for Republicans. Now I'm not so foolish as to think Democrats do not suffer similar indiscretions. However, Republicans bring upon themselves a much brighter beacon of examination when these things come to them. Why? Simple, because Republicans consistently race for the moral high ground to appeal to the evangelical element within their party. So while they throw out catch phrases like "the sanctity of marriage" or "marriage between one man and one woman" or "the holy sacrament of marriage" or "as prescribed in the Bible". They set themselves up to be examined by microscope for not practicing what they preach. Republicans certainly don't need marriage or religion to highlight their hypocrisy, but there is no question that when these scandals break they undermine the credibility of Republicans much more than Democrats. The moral vicissitude that truly represents Republican dogma is hypocrisy at it's highest form. When former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was hell bent on impeaching President Clinton for conduct unbecoming a President, he was cheating on his 2nd wife, who he later divorced to marry his current wife.
In short the island of moral high ground on which the Republicans like to stand is getting smaller, and if they don't learn how to swim or find a new position on which to stand, they are going to be swept away like a rising ocean suffering the effects of global warming.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
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