A Family Affair

Ah, so it turns out, according to news today, that John Ensign the Nevada senator, that paragon of virtue and holier-than-thou rantings during his time in the U.S. Senate, especially over Bill Clinton and his peccadilloes, was not only carrying on an affair the wife of his legislative assistant, but also had the 19-year-old son of said wife of legislative assistant on the payroll for--get this: "research policy consulting." Just a couple of points. What in the hell is research policy consulting? And, be honest, what 19-year old do you know whom you would hire for $900 a month for such a purpose?

But the bucks were a family affair entirely, and I must say, they raise a stench in my nostrils--and I'm not the only one. The legislative assistant, Doug Hampton, was knocking down over $100,000, well over in 2007, and wife and love interest for the pure-as-driven-snow Senator from Nevada, that would be Cynthia Hampton--well, she was making $1,400 a month in 2007 and then her salary was doubled in 2008, which, oddly enough, coincided with the time she began sleeping with the holy Senator.

"Ensign is a member of the Christian ministry Promise Keepers and has championed causes pushed by the GOP's conservative religious base while seeking to raise his political profile for a possible presidential campaign."

Well, the holy Senator from Nevada is all sorry now. He's given the obligatory press conference and he's resigned from GOP Senate leadership--oh, yeah, he was one of the leaders. And apparently, he was diddling around with somebody else back in 2002. This hasn't been confirmed yet, but where there's smoke . . .