There’s enough proof: Ensign unworthy

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.

After two interviews and some private chats over the past few months with Doug Hampton, I gleaned that his life consisted of two overriding motivations:

1. Get money from John Ensign.

2. Force John Ensign from office.

So it did not surprise me as No. 1 became less likely and No. 2 seemed evanescent that Hampton decided to unload his storehouse of damaging documentation where it could do the most harm: The New York Times.

Like a fire that starts with a sequoia and spreads to the surrounding forest, Ensign has since been scorched by a variety of publications, from pieces in the likes of Politico and Roll Call to a blazing editorial in The Washington Post that concluded thusly:

“What kind of man lets his parents clean up his mistakes (by paying off an old girlfriend) or misleads supporters (into hiring Mr. Hampton) or ensnares friends (such as Mr. Coburn) in his tawdry affairs? Mr. Ensign recently delivered a pronouncement about public mistrust of Washington: He’s a good example of why.”

What kind of man indeed. That is the question that goes beyond ongoing ethics or Justice Department probes and gets to the nub of L’Affair Ensign: What kind of man has an affair with his best friend’s wife, both of whom are on staff, has his parents pay them off with an amount transparently concocted to avoid exposure and then dissembles to friends and associates as he tries to pawn the husband off on them, perhaps breaking laws, while he continues to pursue the wife?

What kind of man? One whose every word, whose every motivation, whose every action must now be greeted with suspicion, rendering him nearly useless as a legislator but supremely useful as a political symbol for the opposition.

You saw that this week as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee sought to wrap Ensign around Sue Lowden, the highest profile of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s opponents, who has said she welcomes Ensign’s support.

Even more interesting — and so revealing — is the behavior of Reid, who has rebuffed requests for comment by referring to the scandal, in identical verbiage as Lowden, as a “personal matter.” Reid might have a motivation beyond friendship in shying away from criticizing the junior senator — the longer Ensign stays, the better for the majority leader and Democrats who might want to use him as a foil in the 2010 elections.

Come next year, Reid might well be apologizing to his pal after using him in an ad by employing a phrase from Ensign’s infamous, revolting handwritten letter to Cindy Hampton: “I used you for my own pleasure.” That’s the kind of man Reid, Nevada’s Machiavelli, is.

Even though Ensign is once again being greeted with the sounds of silence from his GOP colleagues, Hampton’s No. 2 goal still won’t be accomplished unless enough skittishness percolates inside the Senate Republican caucus. That could happen if the ethics panel begins holding hearings in a daily CSPAN horror show. There is a lot of material.

For instance, the Times all but documented what anyone with a triple-digit IQ already had concluded about Ensign’s claim that the $96,000 paid to the Hampton family was a “gift” from his concerned parents: That it was a lie.

First, the Times produced the check from an Ensign family trust made out to “Doug, Cindy, Brandon and Blake Hampton.” If you hearken back to Ensign’s God-is-love-but-you-are-not letter to Cindy Hampton, he wrote of “Doug, Brandon, Blake or Brittany.” Why wasn’t poor Brittany worthy of the Ensign family generosity?

More telling was the April 2, 2008, note from Hampton to himself about his conditions for leaving Ensign’s employ with his wife, which included handwritten references to severance for both of them. That came five days before the check was written, so it is reasonable to assume the $96,000 was severance/hush money, not a gift. What kind of man indeed.

Ensign’s subsequent conduct of under false pretenses trying to get Hampton jobs with businesses he regulates does more than raise legal questions. I say false pretenses because I doubt these contacts with NV Energy or Allegiant Air began with Ensign saying, “I’m sleeping with this guy’s wife and I need to assuage my guilt and keep him quiet, so can you hire him?”

If it weren’t true, it would be hard to believe anyone who isn’t a villainous caricature in a novel could act this way. I care less that any laws were broken than that anyone could behave so grotesquely and believe he still warrants the public trust. What kind of man could think that?

One not fit to be a United States senator.

Discussion: 11 comments so far…

By mwh710

10/7/09 at 5:07 a.m.

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Just another scumbag Republican..... There are soooo many.
By mushkane

10/7/09 at 9:11 a.m.

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I'll tell you what kind of man: An idiot with an undeserved and humongous sense of entitlement, and his parents should be ashamed for not telling their boy that he made his bed, so to speak, so now lie in it. However, it isn't just politicians. Now Letterman figures it was a fabulous idea to drag his wife's name (not to mention that of their child) through the national mud by publicizing his indiscretions on his network show! Why? Because he thought the public would appreciate that he's trying to avoid having to pay off somebody. Holy Jeez! What the heck is the matter with these schmucks??? Is money the only thing that motivates them? And what in the world is the matter with US that makes us continue to discuss their smutty lives? Impeach! Change the channel! Do whatever it takes to drop these sleazes off our radar.
By lcdrmandingonamvet

10/7/09 at 1:46 p.m.

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Mr. Ralston, I challenge you to fully investigate our military's security clearance national security laws, and tell your readers why O'BUMBLER should immediately STRIP Ensign and Sen. Coburn of their TOP SECRET military security clearances. Coburn, Ensign, and Engsing's parents, are all part of a conspiracy to suppress Ensing's felonious conduct (not reporting him being BLACKMAILED).

O'Weasel is more than 60 days in executing his sworn duties in this regard. I never thought in my wildest dream, Obama and Holder would be such Uncle T*m's, they fear the criminal and illegal Mexicans' support mafia and the GOP Jim Crows. Don't impeach Coburn and Ensign, just takeaway their security clearances. Then let's jail Ensign's parents.
By newyorkrebel

10/7/09 at 4:21 p.m.

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John Ensign's dedicated his career to caring for abused and injured animals, which makes him a far better man in my book than you will ever be, Ralston. And the same goes double for the majority of the Democrat party.

Whatever Ensign's parents gave away, I'm sure it's a fraction of what Slick Willie paid to cover up his sins.

And I'll bet you were the first one in line shouting MOVE ON, MOVE ON whenever Slick Willie's indiscretions were covered weren't you?

The Democratic congress has run this country into the ground since Nov. 2006 and their day of reckoning at the ballot box is only one short year away!

Your boy Harry's going down and Ensign will be re-elected by a comfortable majority because no one cares about this dead horse of a story you keep trying to beat back to life.
By Judy

10/7/09 at 5:31 p.m.

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John Ensign's dedicated his career to caring for abused and injured animals????

And when does he do this? He WAS a vet, he does not practice. He is either in Washington, boinking with Cindy or driving around Nevada apologizing for boinking Cindy.

He is guilty of felonies, that does not have a thing to do with his having rich parents who paid for his education (and his sex).
By geezelouise

10/7/09 at 6:41 p.m.

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Hey, Newyorkrebel,

Can I bet on that?
By jsilver

10/7/09 at 10:40 p.m.

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Don't blame Ensign,,,blame the people who elected him...
By hss46

10/8/09 at 8:51 a.m.

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I just wonder where is the sense of moral outrage that caused the conservatives to waste more than a year of the public debate on a little oral sex? I'm a liberal democrat but I do not think there should be any kind of inquiry into Ensign just like there shouldn't have been with Clinton. I only point to the hypocracy of the right in this regard. Let the voters decide.

Oh, newyorkrebel, your attitude towards Clinton is presumably based on your view that he is a f***** liberal but he ended welfare, pushed through NAFTA, and balanced the budget. What "conservative" republican president can say that? Bush 43 and Reagan, held up as idyllic conservatives, created the biggest deficits in the history of mankind and both left office with the economy in a tailspin. But thank god they were pro-life! Try looking at what polticians actually do instead of merely accepting the spin put on by the media.
By skerlahdee

10/8/09 at 12:07 p.m.

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"...nearly useless as a legislator but supremely useful as a political symbol for the opposition."

Whether you support Sen. Ensign or not, it is obvious that he has become a burden to the GOP. When the going gets rough, and the ship is in danger of sinking, it's time to jettison the dead weight.

Ensign looks more and more like jetsam.
By late49er

10/8/09 at 2:48 p.m.

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What is amazing about Ensign is not the cries for his ouster.

What is amazing is his not resigning given his supposed belief in christian values.

He should resign and figure out how he can become a better man.

He is continuing down the path that only a morally corrupt individual could believe is ok.
By Houstonjac

10/9/09 at 9:30 a.m.

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Ralston --you are obsessed. Get a life!
Ensign should have dumped her and fired Hampton, then walked away. Ensign's office has consistently been responsive to all my calls and letters. I like his political values. That's why I'd vote for him again.

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