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twitterTHE SENATOR’S SCANDAL :
If shockers done, Ensign could stay in office, many say
Saturday, July 11, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sen. John Ensign with his wife, Darlene, and Cynthia and Doug Hampton.
Sun Archives
- GOP support for Ensign dwindles as new details of affair emerge (7-10-2009)
- Ensign's parents gave Hampton family $96,000 (7-9-2009)
- Hampton portrays Ensign as relentless (7-9-2009)
- Ensign’s pal lacked usual qualifications for top job (7-5-2009)
- Handling the public display of contrition (6-27-2009)
- Off the cuff, Ensign guarded but genial (6-26-2009)
- Fox News had Hampton’s letter earlier than it said (6-24-2009)
- For Ensign, a new lot in Congress (6-24-2009)
- Ensign apologizes during lunch with GOP senators (6-23-2009)
- Back in Washington, Ensign received warmly (6-23-2009)
- Ensign back in D.C.; group plans ethics complaint (6-22-2009)
- In state GOP, Ensign finds few defenders (6-21-09)
- War of words between Ensign and Hampton escalates (6-20-09)
- Ensign's office says Hampton made 'exorbitant demands' (6-19-2009)
- Spouse in Ensign affair sought help in letter to Fox News (6-19-2009)
- Ensign's office: Woman's husband approached media with story (6-18-2009)
- Unanswered: Why he told (6-18-2009)
- Ensign resigns GOP leadership post (6-17-2009)
- Ensign fallout could weaken GOP efforts to rebuild party at state, national levels (6-17-2009)
- Ensign's mea culpa tops bad day for GOP (6-17-2009)
- Ensign acknowledges extramarital affair (6-16-2009)
If this happened to anyone else at any other workplace, the outcome would be certain.
If Sen. John Ensign were, say, a casino manager, and he embarked on an affair with his underling’s wife, who also worked for him, he would be shown the door, or maybe thrown through it.
But like President Bill Clinton before him, Ensign, the second-term Nevada Republican, lives and works by a different set of rules. Ensign’s employer, the people of Nevada, won’t have the power to fire him until 2012.
Ensign has said he will not resign. No Nevada elected official or other person of considerable stature has called for him to resign, and they likely won’t, unless there are more revelations like the one this week that Ensign’s parents paid the family of Cynthia Hampton, with whom he had an affair, nearly $100,000 around the time she left his employ in April 2008.
Observers suggest that the reticence of Nevada Republicans could be due in part to Nevadans’ apparent tolerance for the tawdry. As Jennifer Duffy of the Cook Political Report noted, if Ensign should resign, what about Gov. Jim Gibbons, given the Republican governor’s many scandals and ugly public divorce?
On the other hand, it is possible Ensign’s family, and especially his intensely private father Mike Ensign, will pressure the senator to resign to prevent further public humiliation.
Beyond that, Ensign could face an investigation by the Senate Select Committee on Ethics for bringing disrepute on the upper chamber, as well as the Federal Election Commission if the large payments to the Hampton family are judged to be unreported campaign expenses.
But the machinery of Senate ethics and FEC investigations are so slow and so timid that Ensign could easily finish the remaining three years of his six-year term barely nicked by the imbroglio, Washington insiders say.
Paul Blumenthal, of the Washington watchdog group the Sunlight Foundation, recently summed up a widely held view of Senate Ethics: “The Ethics Committee is, as most know, a black hole where investigations go to die. Anyone remember that Ethics investigation into Sen. Ted Stevens? That’s right, it never happened,” Blumenthal wrote on his blog, referring to the Alaska senator convicted by a jury of accepting gifts from an oil contractor. The conviction was thrown out and the Justice Department chose not to refile charges, but critics say the ethics committee should have acted aside from any criminal case.
Another example: Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, or CREW, launched ethics complaints against Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., for receiving favorable terms on their home mortgages.
That was a year ago.
“It takes them forever,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, which offered ethics and FEC complaints against Ensign last month. “They’re terrible investigators,” she said, adding that although the staff is competent, senators are so reluctant to investigate or discipline their own that the committee is farcical.
David Lublin, a congressional scholar at American University, said, “One gets the sense the Senate would rather have the public process of the person not getting reelected.”
And a Washington lawyer with experience defending and investigating ethics cases said, “Investigating a senator for having an affair with an employee? It would create a panic on the Hill.”
Sloan said she envisions a letter of reprimand for Ensign, but nothing else.
The Senate was poised in 1995 to expel Sen. Bob Packwood, R-Ore., for his serial sexual harassment, but he resigned first — the only time in recent history the Senate has come close to taking tough action.
The Federal Election Commission will investigate Ensign for the unreported $96,000 payment to the Hamptons. The FEC has jurisdiction because Cynthia Hampton was the treasurer of political committees controlled by the senator. If the payment was severance rather than a “gift,” as Ensign’s lawyer claims, the senator may have committed a felony by not reporting it.
But the FEC is not known for quickness or toughness.
“Feckless is a good word. And politically divided,” Lublin said.
“They’re dysfunctional,” Sloan said of the commission.
Sloan has asked the Justice Department to investigate, though prosecutors may not be eager to take up such a politically volatile case, preferring to let voters judge Ensign’s fate.
Although Ensign can likely survive them, these investigations will drag on, as would a potential civil suit by the Hamptons. And, they will produce damaging leaks and possibly new information.
The bottom line for Ensign: Assuming there is not another scandal dropping, he can survive, but it could be brutal.
Sun reporter Lisa Mascaro in Washington contributed to this story.
Discussion: 77 comments so far…
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Sure maybe HE could survive but it makes Nevada look horrible - even the national news made a comment that Nevadan's don't care too much about this stuff.
Cheating is one thing but Ensign calling Craig and Clinton to resign is another.
Are gays a threat to marriage or are slazeballs such as Ensign the real threat?
Nevadans need more pride in who represents us- Party doesn't matter - they are both horrible but character does.
Resigning would be ethical. He is not ethical. Therefore, he will not resign. Resigning would be good for the GOP. Therefore, he will not resign because he only cares about himself. Unless someone tells him to resign. The most striking thing in yesterday's revelations is how weak in character John Ensign seems to be. Maybe somebody will take him to FedEx to send in his resignation.
Ensign has become a joke and the best thing Democrats could ask for.
Cheating, hush money, cover-up and lies. Certainly he will not resign as he should along with Coburn. The powerful, rich and influential do as they wish. Considering the past eight years of war crimes, violations of our constitution (spying on Americans included) and of the 1994 Torture Treaty why should a little issue such as this call for resignation? These two birds supported all the above issues based upon lies. We are in wonder as to why our nation is horrible economic troubles, well, when an entire U. S. Army is exported to a distant and strange country and our debts are in the hands of yet another strange and distant country in the trillions, why is this odd? This past eight years has been the worst in our history so why should these two hypocrites quit in light of all these minor issues? They are participants in all of the above. They are the typical politicians who tell everybody what to do and how to do everything while all the time they do just as they please with whom they please. No, these hypocrites will not quit. They plan to resume the day to day ruination of this country as best they can by constantly fighting against the Democrats rather than working in conjunction with them on behalf of the American people. If we are lucky these cats will be voted out of office, but who knows how much damage they can do prior to it. Apparently the two parties just cannot work together. How disgusting.
Senator Ensign, You can start by fulfilling your pledge made to help Paul Rupp from Silver Peak NV with the cover-up By MSHA (Boulder NV Office) and NV Mine Safety and Training Section(Ed Tomany & Jeff Bixler) for unlawful safety violations and wrongful termination. Or perhaps you are still convinced that a cab fire in a moving mining haul truck and falsification of safety records covered-up by regulators is ok and not a problem? Or am I yet another poor unfortunate casualty of your broken promises? If you intend to stay on the job. . . then by all means. . . do the job you pledged to do. If you do not honor your pledges stop wasting your constituents time and do all Nevada a favor and RESIGN! Paul W Rupp B125 Silver Peak NV 89047
Its all about power!!!
Ensign, belong to a group and live in a house that is called the Famaly.
This are a cult religous group. In The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, published last year, the journalist Jeff Sharlet reported that Ensign -- as well as several other members of Congress of both parties, but predominantly Republicans -- are members of a secretive and publicity-shy religious organization founded in 1935 that aims, broadly speaking, to forge ties with decision-makers around the world in order to put Christian teachings at the center of public policy.
Ensign lived at the Family's group home for members of Congress, described as a "four-story red-brick Washington townhouse, a former convent at 133 C St SE, run by a Family affiliate called the C Street Foundation."
I think that Ensign is merely an exponent of the Sexual Revolution that started with Alfred Kinsey, author of "The Kinsey Reports," as extensively reported on in the DVD "THE KINSEY SYNDROME," available at www.kinseysyndrome.com.
In that context, Ensign is merely carrying out another Gramscian undermining of Western Institutions, namely the one requiring that families be abolished and communal living be the norm. The desired outcome of this norm is for all to live in family-less communes and have open sex with one another.
Under this cultural norm, Ensign is supposed to be a role model. This would encourage people to cheat on their spouses as a meritorious endeavor.
The precursor to this role modeling was President Bill Clinton, who set the pace with Monica Lewinsky. Clinton was not damaged by this.
Proof will be that Ensign will continue undamaged by his peccadillo. He eventually may even be elevated for his "achievement."
None of this bodes well for the American People, who face having their families destroyed by the new norm.
Most people do not understand this subversive manifestation of a culture war against America, but they need to.
That the Senator might survive this sleazy, smarmy mess is testimony to the hypocrisy of political leadership in this country, often of both parties. And, to the indifference of the public nowadays toward such shenanigans.
It is one thing to be forgiving of more routine human transgressions...who among us has not erred. But by not holding our leaders to a somewhat higher standard, usually because one political party or another fears they are going to get gored, results in us getting what we deserve.
In this case the Republicans, who have pontificated about this kind of lifestyle for decades are fearful. With Clinton, it was the Democrats. But at least they had not been so holier-than-thou about such messes.
I find it ridiculous that people are calling for Coburn's resignation.
So far all we really know is that Doug Hampton reached out to Coburn for help to end the affair, and Coburn made a sincere attempt to do that.
Everything else is pure speculation at this point. I don't believe for one moment that ANYONE would tell Ensign to give this slimeball millions of dollars. That is horrible advice.
Also, did anyone else watch his interviews and come away thinking that Doug Hampton is not a straight man? I'm usually very spot-on with this stuff.
Rachel Maddow had an eyepopping interview yesterday. It seems the place where Enstench lives in DeeCee calls itself the "Christian Mafia" and admires the way Hitler worked.
Link: http://www.insider-magazine.com/Christia...
It is a sad commentary for Mrs Ensign and all the children on both sides, that this story continues. Senator Ensign has admitted to his part of the affair and should be allowed to work this problem out with his family without continued public participation about the relationship....
But I think it is fair and expected for the public to inquire about the $96,000 dollars of "severance pay" or "gift" given to the Hampton's; one could only ask if other employees received the same amount of money for severance pay; or is that amount of money only gifted to those who do a little more than dictation, thus making the payment of $96,000 dollars for "services rendered" ... which is a totally different legal definition in Clark County.
I wonder if the future defense for prostitution in Clark County will be "Your Honor if you don't think this money was a gift would you believe it was my severance pay for being his entertainment coordinator for the evening?"...
And please don't ask me about a husband who would take money for services rendered by his wife to his best friend in order to justify her actions. The husband just elevated her action from infidelity to "a working woman" and himself to a "pimp" and made John into a john.
Reminds me of King David and Bathsheba from the Old Testament, the affair was forgiven by the Prophet, but the cover up was David's downfall...
Senator please step down like King David did and go repair your relationship with your wife and family, out of the spot light of the media, which would be honorable, and allow some other republican to serve the needs of the great state of Nevada during these trying times...
That "C Street" political fraternity house of Ensign, Sanford and Coburn sure makes the comedy ANIMAL HOUSE tame by comparison. Having nookie parties, bragging amongst each other, and having their own gynecologist/obstetrician Coburn to keep their secrets as "doctor-patient privilege." Just what did Ensign and Sanford tell Coburn within the "privilege" that would be protected by an obstetrician? Were they pregnant? Or helping someone else (mistress) with some pregnancy questions? Or STDs? Or just birth control questions? Or morning after pills? Or what? And whatever wasn't covered by their obstetrician privilege was apparently covered in their confessions by his "ordained deacon ministry" position. Their penance? Pay your mistresses $96,000 and say a prayer that no one finds out. Yes, the POLITICAL ANIMAL HOUSE mentality lives on.
...why would you continue to subject to yourself to endless news stories? Why would you continue to embarass yourself and your family? ...because you don't care about the people you represent in Nevada, your family. You don't care about anything other than power and yourself. It's all about me....
Senator Ensign, Promoting corporate interests at the expense of working Nevada Familys. . . will be your downfall.
Fosimmons..you have it about right. There are two Americas now: the one for the playboys like ensign who run to daddy when life gets tough and the other for everyone else. Ive got a great idea on how to help the economy. Lets have little Johhnie sleep with everyones wife, sister, mother or niece. His family can then pay everyone off when they catch him!! Problem solved!!
henderson"s gay-dar is usually "spot on" . Am going to go throw up now.
Glad someone is looking into the christo-cult house. Follow-up story Sun?
Mommy, Daddy, I need sex bad, can I have $100,000, please, there's plenty of social security recipients still pulling the handle on those machines, so can I have some more money, after all I'm a "Vet" and I always wear a red, white and blue condom when I "minister" to my best friend's wife.
He will be fine. I think it will really disappoint the LIBERAL bloggers here lol. Let's face it, he's still an excellent Senator. He'll come back stronger than ever!
hampton is a desperate liar that is looking for more money from ensign or the government....121K was not enough for him....he should be indicted and the ralston interview used against him....body language and stuttering says he is not an honest man!!!
where is cindy? has anyone checked on her welfare? why is this clown doing all the talking? has he browbeat or beaten cindy down to where she cannot appear in public to tell her story or does she not care and wants it to go away while stupid keeps it going?
The Ralston interview was ridiculous (Ralston had to work SO hard to try to get Hampton to say anything coherent) but of course at this point Hampton's character issues have nothing to do with if the allegations are true, since Ensign has admitted both the affair and the hush money (or whatever he prefers to call it). So really, all Hampton's flakiness tells us now is that Ensign knowingly hired an obviously unqualified person to be his chief of staff - for reasons we can only speculate on.
Good one, Henderson! You are indeed spot on. And I'm sure that's the *real* scandal the family is still paying to cover up, based on a story that circulated several years ago about an embarrassing arrest in a DC hotel room ...
Comment removed by staff.
"come back stronger than ever"... is he using that stuff advertised on right wing talk radio?
Maybe Ensign could get a endorsement gig like Smiling Bob Dole?
read it and weep ; another one bites the dust and its NOT ensigns fault according to the people hanging outside the lifeboat of the republican party. i suggest enswine consult w/ sanford in s. carolina for pointers on how to GET OUT OF THIS MESS!
What people should really know about is the C Street House where Ensign, Coburn and a handful of other GOP congressmen reside. This isn't just any old "men's boarding house", it's owned and run by "The Family", a quasi-secret right-wing Christian "group", complete with its own pastor. And who else is in that group? Well, try Rick Santorum and Mark Sanford for starters.
And since the Covenant of this group is to be highly protective of each other, this is hardly the group to be respectful of much of our democracy.
He SHOULD survive it ... Princess Pelosi flat out LAID about waterboarding and blamed CIA. Flat-out lie that she was caught in ... and she's still around. Bill Clinton was into all kinds of questionable deal-making and nothing happened to him. Same for Bush.
dnegi -
In the future, please do a little research before you automatically repeat what you hear on Rachel Maddow.
The home is owned by Youth With a Mission, and run by the Fellowship. Also, both Democrats and Republicans live there.
The senator will stay put. The Republicans need his vote to block any progress on health care or you name it, and now have something to hold over him so he stays in lockstep. (not that he wouldn't have anyway) With Byrd and Kennedy in failing health the Dems still have no way to block a filibuster so he will stay, scandal be damned. No more money need be spent on Ensign or a replacement so they can save it for 2012 and keep a locked up vote, a win win for the Repubs who, judging by the comments posted here, couldn't care less. That the Senator will survive all this isn't a testimony to his hypocrisy but to our stupidity for electing people that have corporate instead of voter's interests at heart. Ya get what you pay for.
According to some here, John Ensign is doing a great job and Doug Hampton is a sleazy no-good-for nothing.
So, why did John Ensign hire Doug Hampton at $160,000 per year if he is so worthless?
According to some here, Ensign is a devout Promise Keeper and Cynthia Hampton is just this side of being a whore.
So, did John Ensign hire Cynthia Hampton to give him better access?
Also, when did little Johnny actually ask mommy & daddy to pay the hush money? Was it before he wrote "The Letter" or during the continued affair or after he fired all the Hamptons?
I think these are germane questions. Any John Ensign defender care to answer?
When will the truth about Darlene Ensign come out? Ensign said in writting that be blamed her for his affair.
Darlene Ensign is rumored to be unfaithful and loose.
Darelene Ensign should not be raising these kids.
A cheating husband blames his wife "News at Eleven". She forced me to break my marriage vows, uh-huh sure. I put it in writing...GROW UP NICK. Blame the wife ... pathetic.
As Sgt. Friday used to say " The facts.. nothing but the facts"
how can you compare ensign to clinton, ensign makes clinton look like a boy scout looking up girl scouts skirts. this turd won't resign.
LVRocks - I don't consider myself a "defender" -what he did was deplorable, but I'll give your questions a shot. In the order they were asked:
-I like Ensign's voting record, I appreciate the way he votes on the issues I feel strongly about.
-Doug Hampton IS a totally sleazy, worthless loser of a man that needs his wife's ex-lover to make him "whole" again. What kind of man would say that or admit that?
-Good question - It appears that Doug Hampton is completely incapable of securing employment on his own and has always been riding Ensign's coattails.
-I haven't heard anyone call Ensign a devout Promise Keeper since the affair was exposed, that would be stupid.
-Cindy Hampton IS a dirty, dirty, cheating tramp who betrayed her best friend that took such good care of her all these years.
-I doubt it, they were working together for a long time. The affair started when the Hamptons were staying at Ensign's home.
-I believe Ensigns parents paid the money after Ensign secured other jobs for Doug & Cindy.
Part 2 of 2
Darlene worked for a veterinary pet insurance company (VPI). It wasn't a marriage against Darlene's will, but it was a "family sanctioned" (both Cipriani/Ensign and Sciaretta) marriage. Cipriani/Ensign was to have been the "Modern Mob's" man in high politics (he still is - and has been since his first Congressional office.
Remember his statement last year about campaign fund contributions? "All that matters is that you have a reasonable explanation about how you get the funds!" In other words, "as long as they are properly laundered, campaign funds can be as big as you want, and come from whoever or whatever you want."
Between Cipriani/Ensign's cover story as a "veterinarian" and Darlene's cover story as "Sunday School Teacher", the Cipriani/Ensign campaigns could never be derailed. The truth is that Darlene Sciaretta/Ensign really was a "good girl". But John Cipriani/Ensign's involvement with the Four Square Church and Abraham Vereide/Douglas Coe's "The Family" is the most devious and scary.
Remember what the Anti-Christ is: he is someone who will "fool even the elect (read: strongest of Christians).
Remember at the end of "Godfather 1" when Michael Corleone told his wife Kay that she "knew she could never question him about the "Family Business""? His answer was "... just this once I will allow you to ask me about my business. The answer is NO. I had nothing to do with his murder". Kay was relieved, and the audience withnessed the diabolical art of "lying to the innocent and they blindly believe them". (Remember Bill Clinton's "I did not have sex with that woman"?)
John Cipriani/Ensign is Satan's "wet dream"!
end part 2 of 2
Part 1 of 2
The John "Cipriani" Ensign story resembles a poorly written rip-off of the "Godfather" trilogy.
Remember in the beginning of the first "Godfather", Michael Corleone is telling his girlfriend "Kay" that his father's days of doing business as organized crime are over? ... within a few years all "family business" will be "Legitimate!"?
Mike Ensign plays Robert Duvall's character "Tom Hayden" who went to Las Vegas to tend to "family business". This character adopts the boy and gives him a nice English name of Ensign instead of "Cipriani/Corleone".
Remember the sorrow of "Don Corleone" when he finds out that "Michael Corleone" has become involved in the "family business"? Don Corleone wanted Michael to be "Governor Corleone" -- or "Senator Corleone"! Today's Senator Corleone is "Senator Ensign".
In Political Circles it takes decades to develop a "Political Contender". They need a suitable, yet exciting background. The two top choices are "Pediatrician" (baby doctor) or "Veterinarian". John Cipriani is a Veterinarian who delivered one of his own children at home. (Got that "syrupy" feeling yet?) Cipriani/Ensign's involvement in the "family business" of gambling and casinos is almost never mentioned -- it's always "the vetenarian" who started a 24-hour Vet Clinic! And I've never seen any mention of his presence at, and involvement with, pornography production sets back before he began his "sanitized" run for high political office.
That brings up his wife, Darlene -- daughter of Alfredo Sciaretta -- granddaughter of Giuseppe Sciaretta. Alfredo HAD! to leave New Jersey when Darlene was just a small girl. The reasons are sketchy, but it had something to do with "family business" problems. In the mid-80's Giuseppe (who didn't speak English) made the trip to Alfredo's Orange County home to deal with the matter of Darlene's marriage.
end part 1 of 2
gooda be a christian henderson to put that post, everyone else's fault but john's. gotta love it.
What some of your ignorant heathen peons dont seem to realize is that Great Men of God like Senator John 'John', Governor Mark 'Caliente' Sanford and myself do not live by the same set of rules as you.
Having Jesus on our speed dial, we are able to get special dispensation for such minor trivialities as cheating on our spouses, paying them to be silent and basing an entire political career preaching family values.
So put aside your petty jealousy, and simply accept the fact that we are Godly and you are, well, Godless. And now, if you will excuse me, I have to write a check to the 'Defense of Marriage Christian PAC' to ensure that family values continue to rule the land.
And then, it's off to see my mistress...
Have an excellllent day.
MB
formervegas, what are you talking about? I NEVER said Ensign wasn't at fault. Can you even read?
He did once. And he will do it again!
henderson,
Thanks for the answers. "Doug Hampton ... has always been riding Ensign's coattails"
This brings into question John Ensign's abilities to judge character. If Hampton was "totally sleazy, worthless loser" then Ensign hiring him means Ensign did not understand how poor a performer he was. Allowing this incompetent to work in the Senator's office and interact with his constituents is deplorable.
I don't know the timeline, but I wonder if the affair was John Ensign's real motive to allow the Hamptons to move into his house.
Getting jobs for the Hamptons is one of the reasons this story resonated with the public. What is especially disturbing is the Ensigns then paid hush money to the Hamptons and, if I understand him, Hampton didn't think it was enough. That is sad.
It's always the coverup that gets politicians into trouble. If Ensign had held a press conference months ago - before the transfer of resources (jobs, money) - then none of this would be biting him in the backside.
I've just about had enough of the Ensign/Hampton affair, so I probably won't comment again, unless another ethics issue surfaces.
LVR
"This brings into question John Ensign's abilities to judge character"
Obama is an excellent judge of character.
He spent decadeds in Chicago and claims to never met a crook.
He asked one of the biggest crooks in Chicago to help him buy a house.
His chief of staff is one of the biggest pieces of slime on the face of the earth.
His spiritual mentor has been preaching hate against Israel for decades.
Yep.....Obama....excellent judge of character.
corporal rock, how did obama get in this thread?
That's all SgtRock, err, jfNance32, err, James F Nance is capable of... equivocation. I don't think he's once said that what Ensign did was bad.
Sixty percent of the voters in Nevada will vote for Ensign in 2012.
Did Ted Kennedy resign? No, and a woman died because he left the scene of an accident.
But I agree, whether republic or democrat, involved in such a situation, should be fired instantly.
There ought to be a code of conduct, if they don't live up to it, they should automatically be fired. Why, because they can get away with almost anything.
"I don't think he's once said that what Ensign did was bad"
Yes, Kevin Sandoval (ksand99) I have.
I just point out the hypocrisy of those who worship Clinton who did 100x's worse than Ensign and now ask Ensign to resign.
I never called for Clinton to resign or be impeached.
He ended up paying nearly a $100,000 dollars to poke her in the wiskers!!!
"GO FIGURE"
Some chit is just getting to hard to understand in life!!!
"Yes, Kevin Sandoval (ksand99) I have."
Really? When?
Ensign has my vote!
You can look at this page:
http://www.casinoshka.org.ua/r/72/733540...
If you can't read Russian, then you can go to this page:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jun...
"Did Ensign do something wrong?
Yes
Should we beat him up about it?
Yes"
I am sure you stated that Clinton, Edwards, Barney Frank,Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson and JFK all did bad stuff. Right?
"Sixty percent of the voters in Nevada will vote for Ensign in 2012."
And the reason?
"Nevada has always lagged other states in numbers of public psychiatric hospitals and clinics. But private hospitals in the Las Vegas Valley began closing their psychiatric wings in the 1980s"
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/jul...
A lesson in all of this might be to automatically assume that people who tout their own honor and "family values" or who promote themselves with a "Promise Keepers" seal of approval should automatically be suspect and you might as well just assume that they're liars and hypocrites, and vote for the other guy.
There's probably a special place in hell for those who trumpet their alleged religious beliefs in order win power.
If Senator Ensign had any morals or truly held any religious convictions he'd have some shame, and he'd resign to go and actually "spend more time with his family." The proof is in his actions.
Mia,
Every politician is a liar.
And even worse than a liar is the lying hypocrites of the Ensign ilk, in my opinion.
But hey, like you say, he's a great conservative, henderson.
Maybe Senator Ensign will get lucky and this will all be forgotten as soon as the next holy-rolling politician flips out hiking the ol' Appalacian Trail or gets arrested in a public men's room.
You're right henderson; They all do it. Especially them Promise Keepers!
I don't know what makes one liar any different from another, but that's your complaint not mine.
I like his voting record, and that's all I really need him for. I'm also not sure the Promise Keepers corner the market on lies and infedility. But that's another issue that I'm sure you don't want me to bring up.
"I like his voting record, and that's all I really need him for."
Ensign is a cosponsor of this stunning piece of legislation just re-introduced, The Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2009.
I guess the economy, healthcare, taxes are all fixed and these morons have nothing better to do than protect us from mermaids and centaurs.
The Incredible Mr. Limpet for Senator OMG.
The Human Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act is not about mermaids and centaurs, but I'm sure you know that and are just trying to make it sound as sensational as possible.
Your right, I was making it sound like something it wasn't. It's an attempt by the anti science Republicans to outlaw research that might one day make organ donors out of animals. No more waiting lists for transplants, no more deaths because no match can be found, no more blood drives for our troops in harms way, and we can't have that can we?
" Scientists feel that, the more humanlike the animal, the better research model it makes for testing drugs or possibly growing "spare parts," such as livers, to transplant into humans. In Minnesota researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies.".
But none of this was possible two thousand years ago so God must not want us to have it now, Right? Ensign and his ilk have the "voting record" to prove it, but you can bet they would be first in line if they ever needed a spare part. I wish the scientists would work on developing a transplant brain, some members of congress, and this message board, could sure use it.
There are serious ethical questions that need to be discussed when advancing in this direction. Just because something might be possible, doesn't always mean it's right. Personally, I'm cautiously open to the dialogue, but you have to wonder what kind of future consequences could arise.
Then why outlaw it before we even know? We can eat em just not use em for spares? Come on. Future consequences like living longer or restoring someone's sight or ability to walk? This is all in the petrie dish stage and congress, including your boy Ensign, wants to stop it, Why? It is possible, it's happening now, not might be. As someone who works with people that have spinal cord injuries, MS , and missing limbs I wish for the day when I am out of business. Right to life until your out of the womb and then your on your own doesn't cut it. We should at least investigate before saying no. IMHO
And who better to impose or impede a dialog about the future or discuss these scientific things than a bunch of leg-humping hypocrites who "know" that the Earth is only six thousand years old?
henderson writes: "I don't know what makes one liar any different from another, but that's your complaint not mine."
Well, simply put, the one thing that makes a liar like Senator Ensign different from a hypocrite like Senator Ensign is the hypocrisy.
It's the hypocrisy, henderson.
Didn't Senator Ensign (R-NV) declare that his fellow Republican Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) should resign from the Senate for his alleged moral failings?
henderson writes: "I like his voting record, and that's all I really need him for. I'm also not sure the Promise Keepers corner the market on lies and infedility."
Promise Keepers sure have the hypocrisy angle covered.
It's not the petrie dish stage. The technology is far beyond that. There are pigs with human blood running through their veins and mice with human brain cells, and rabbits with human DNA.
Washington Post: "During one recent meeting, scientists disagreed on such basic issues as whether it would be unethical for a human embryo to begin its development in an animal's womb, and whether a mouse would be better or worse off with a brain made of human neurons.."
That is some weird and scary dialogue and even these basics are not agreed on by scientists. Can't you at least acknowledge that taking science in this direction might prove to be highly unethical?
Parts is parts. If you believe that any part of a human is sacrosanct and has a soul then are you damned if you don't give proper burial to your tonsils or appendix? What about a scab, it's part of a human? Cells do not constitute a human being, I don't believe what the religious right says about what God wants, how in the hell do they know anyway, do they have a direct line? Give me his/her number and I will call and ask him/her. Or should I say It? Nobody can say for sure what God is, wants or likes. Until God makes known what the will of God is, I want the people that are trying to save the lives we have here on Earth able to do the research needed to get the job done. All this without Mr. Morals Sen. John Ensign deciding it for me or anyone else. If he doesn't want a new heart or a new spine that's up to him, but I want the option of saving or making whole the people, not cells, that are on this planet right now. That's all folks.
crackheadbeak,
Forget about God for a minute! Don't you realize that you're the only one talking about him? Creating animal hybrids, with human blood, human DNA, human brain cells creates potential for a very blurred line of what being human is. What is to keep scientists from completely blurring those lines? Because you have to know that they will. What percentage of human DNA does something have to be before there are human rights involved. You have to think it all the way through. We're not talking about lab rats, we are talking about making animals that are part people, and then using them for Frankenstein experiments. If you feel there's no potential for serious consequences in doing this halfassed, you are seriously not very bright.
Chimps are 96% human at least gene wise.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/...
Some consider chimps people, not human, but people.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/1...
We breed animals for food. Some say we should be vegetarians, they may be right. They are entitled to their opinion, but to have someone making laws based on morality that person should be moral, and in that context, John Ensign has disqualified himself. I agree that there should be limits on where our tax money is spent and on what but these holier than thou moral majority types can not be permitted to dictate what scientific research should be conducted. I don't think changing a pigs bloodtype or giving a rat a few brain cells qualifies it as a person, but that's my opinion.. Just looking at congress blurs the line on what human is. What were talking about is modifying animals to have compatible parts, harvesting them, and using the parts for our benefit. Any different than ordering a rare T-Bone, I don't think so but again, my opinion. The only thing halfassed is you blindly supporting Sen. Ensign's do as I say not as I do persona and that in itself is not very bright.
I don't blindly support the Senator's behavior. I think it's deplorable what he's done. I elected him for his stance on the issues I care about. Who he sleeps with has no bearing on my life.
headupurasserson
Ensign on the issues you support
Homophobic- check - as your gay-dar comments "Hampton is not a straight man? I'm usually very spot-on with this stuff." from an earlier post prove.
Low or no taxes on the wealthy- don't know on this one , you may have money in which case you are voting your interests or you may not have money in which case your a chump for letting the rich not pay their fair share.
He's anti abortion and pro war, not really a flip flop there because we sure need someone to go and fight for the red, white and blue. But still he is telling women what to do with their bodies and that sounds familiar. He says no to just about everything else, I guess if you want nothing done he's your guy.
I'm trying to think of something else that the "good" Senator supports, can you help me out here and tell me what legislation that he has authored that has become law? Something that you support?
Senator Ensign understands the State of Nevada as does Senator Reid and together they have stood strong for the State. Whether you like or dislike either of their policies on national/social issues the State of Nevada has benefited by their service. It appears that Senator Ensign did not use common sense in hiring the Hamptons and they appear to have set in motion a major "sting" operation. Mr. Hampton is getting his 30 minutes of fame and he has yet to earn a living without the Senator's help in years. What's next a book deal? I think it is unfair to judge a man or a woman by one regretable act. Everyone knows people who have had struggling marriages, made mistakes and made their way back to their spouses. Do you ask for their heads on a platter? Do you make up rumours about their families and spouses? Senators are human. Both Senators have worked together and Nevada has benefited. In this difficult economic time this is important. Those playing judge and jury consider keeping that in mind. In addition the Ensign family has always been an asset to Nevada - they stand with a handful of other prominent Nevadans such as Bill Harrah who were good employers who created jobs with good benefits and were respectful and loyal to their employees. Again, consider looking at how the State has benefited under our Senators' leadership.
crackheadbeak,
You couldn't be more wrong. I am not the slightest bit homophobic. I have some very dear friends that are gay, I have a wonderful gay couple living next door to me and they are truly the best neighbors I have ever head, my cousin is gay!
Stating that you think someone is gay is not a homophobic statement dummy. That's like calling someone a racist if they say, "I think (insertname) is Russian."
You make no sense. You are fanatical.
headupurasserson
Making fun of someone or deriding their honesty because you think they are gay is homophobic. Me thinks you doth protest too much, besides I was just trying to find out which issues that you are in line with the "good" Senator on, I thought I had a winner, I still do.
As to being a "fanatic" THANK YOU
I expect honesty and ethical behavior from my elected officials, if that makes me a fanatic, fine, I prefer patriot but whatever blows your skirt up. Still waiting for those "issues" that are your basis for supporting the "Honorable Gentleman from Nevada"
Connie C writes: "I think it is unfair to judge a man or a woman by one regretable act."
Perhaps you should tell that to Senator Ensign, Connie.
Didn't Senator Ensign (R-NV) say that his fellow Republican Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) SHOULD RESIGN for disgracing the Senate?
Mia, I don't agree with Senator Ensign's comments on Senator Craig or President Clinton which is why I advocate not judging a person by one regretable act. If there is a positive it will be that our politicians will stop and think before they "cast the first stone"....
crackheadbeak,
You either have reading comprehension issues or you are just a liar. I have never once made fun of Doug Hampton "because I think he's gay." I never even said the word gay. I merely said that I watched him on tv and I don't believe that he is a straight man. Guess what, neither does the gay couple next door. Are you going to tell me that my gay neighbors are homophobic too? If he's not straight, it would certainly explain why he let his wife eff the Senator for so long.
Now, I have made fun of Doug Hampton for a lot of reasons, and I have even suggested that he might have girly parts.
So, stupid, it's time to put up or shut up. Do you have a post where I made fun of Doug Hampton for being gay? Bring it.
"I merely said that I watched him on tv and I don't believe that he is a straight man."
What does that imply, that he's green and 60 feet tall. No, sorry, wrong answer. I'll take brain damage for 200 Alex. You go right on deluding yourself, it seems that's what you're good at. My reading comprehension is fine, maybe you should try and make sense once in a while. I'm not going to try and tell you anything, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them think. Still waiting for those "issues" by the way.
You know as well as I do that if I ever had made fun of Doug Hampton's sexual preferences you would be all to willing to post it for all to see.
What you did was imply : to involve or indicate by inference, association, or necessary consequence rather than by direct statement : to express indirectly <his silence implied consent> see even the dictionary is on my side, amazing. Anyway , you implied (past tense) that because Mr. Hampton was light in the loafers that he "drove" his wife into the unsuspecting arms of Sen. Douche who couldn't resist the sex staved woman so naturally it wasn't his fault. You could have used wimpy or some other term but you choose not straight. That means you "had made fun of Doug Hampton's sexual preferences" . See, I can cut and paste out of context too. You must be a wide stance Republican "I am not gay. I never have been gay...." Got to go, be back in a week or so to discus all those "issues" . That should give you enough time to find one.
p.s. "You either have reading comprehension issues or you are just a liar."
If you don't understand this, feel free to have someone explain it to you.
crackheadbeack,
Light in the loafers? You are a piece of work! How dare you use this phrase and accuse me of being disrespectful to gays.
You totally revealed your own hypocrisy. I have never used that phrase in my life.