Letter to the editor:

Ensign’s fall couldn’t have luckier timing

Stanley R. Goldfarb, Las Vegas

Monday, July 6, 2009 | 2:05 a.m.

If you happen to see Sen. John Ensign walk into a casino, be sure to follow him. If he goes to the craps table and lays a bet “snake eyes” or “boxcars” at 30 to 1, cover it with a Ben Franklin of your own. If he chooses a 35 to 1 play at roulette, lay your chips on top of his. If I were him, I’d drive to the California border and buy a lottery ticket. Either the stars are aligned for him or he’s got a guardian angel looking over his shoulder.

Can you imagine the amazing good fortune he’s been the beneficiary of recently? First, his friend (the one whose wife he’s been playing house with) informs Fox News Channel of Ensign’s affair. But Ensign, realizing the jig is up, calls his own press conference to break the news and issues his mea culpa. Nevadans are titillated. Some are even shocked. That is, until they remember he is a Republican after all. There is bad publicity everywhere. His career is at stake. What to do? How to survive? Stonewall? Hire a PR consultant? What?

Fate comes to the rescue. Soon after the disclosure about Ensign, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford goes AWOL. Sanford ends up in Argentina in the arms of his sweetheart and spends the next week enthralling the nation with all the smarmy details. We start to forget Ensign. Next, Michael Jackson dies and Farrah Fawcet succumbs to cancer. The Ensign affair is nowhere to be found.

If that weren’t enough — and as Nevadans start to vaguely remember Ensign’s affair and he worries that he’ll soon be back in the limelight — hallelujah, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announces she’ll resign and the Ensign affair is securely relegated to ancient history.

Discussion: 8 comments so far…

By LasVegasRocks

7/6/09 at 5:18 a.m.

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And soon, Ensign will be relegated to ancient history by the voters who do not like HYPOCRITES.
By Future

7/6/09 at 5:53 a.m.

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Typical letter to the Editor selection to print by the LV Sun.
By annienonymouse

7/6/09 at 6:37 a.m.

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I do believe this is old, worn out, news.
By mschaffer

7/6/09 at 7 a.m.

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annienonymouse,
What was the time limit for those infidelities of President Clinton again? When did conservatives stop bringing them up?
By GordonShumway

7/6/09 at 7:45 a.m.

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On June 24th, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee against Sen. John Ensign, as well as a companion complaint with the Federal Election Committee against Ensign's campaign committee and his leadership political action committee. Senator John will be back in the news as these complaints are heard by the committees and his stonewalling will give the story infinite legs. Additionally I don't think the Hampton's are done yet.
Future: Typical response by a head in the sand '''super righty" to an indefensible issue.
By El_Lobo

7/6/09 at 10:55 a.m.

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I have to pretty much agree with Mr. Goldfarb's letter. John Ensign has been beyond lucky. He's actually spent very little time on the political radar screen.

I would love to think that Nevada voters will remember what the junior Senator has done to violate their trust come election time, but history doesn't validate that type of thinking...

Unfortunately voters have short memories....the right-wingers have already forgotten it, and those who are out-raged and didn't vote for Ensign in the first place will again vote against Ensign, but that may or may not keep him out of the Senate...

Who knows.....maybe John, John will be the GOP's presidential nominee in 2016....stranger things have happened. I'm sure the GOP, if still around as a party, will still be hard pressed to find viable candidates....
By LasVegasRocks

7/6/09 at 1:47 p.m.

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By mschaffer - 7/6/09 at 7 a.m
"What was the time limit for those infidelities of President Clinton again? When did conservatives stop bringing them up?"

Why, I do believe it is brought up in a comment every time an article on a republican self-admitted adulterer - like John Ensign or Mark Sanford - is published. Seems Clinton's infidelity is the reason most republican apologists think it is perfectly normal for Sanford to leave SC for his Argentina sex pot and for Ensign to have an affair with a staff member sho also happened to be the wife of his best friend.
By annienonymouse

7/6/09 at 5:57 p.m.

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mschaffer: Why do you need to bring this up every time? Why not bring up the infidelities of George Washington? Oh, wait, he wasn't a Democrat or Republican. How about JFK?

It's your right to respond to my comment, but it's also my right to say what I wish to say.

I do not care about the infidelities of either of them.