Legal Commentary

Old fashioned values - by David Vitter

By Ernest Svenson

On the left here (click to enlarge) is a letter of support that David Vitter wrote along with 13 other Republican senators. The letter stressed the importance of a $50 million dollar grant for 'abstinence education' for adolescents. Vitter was the first person to sign the letter. Nineteen days later he admitted that he had hired hookers while he was a senator. What a guy!

If his wife wants to accept his apology for infidelity, that's fine. But what about the constituents? How does one apologize for rank hypocrisy? Apparently, Mr. Vitter thinks that we can teach adolescents to behave better by allocating money. What kind of congressional program would we need to curtail this kind of sanctimonious political hypocrisy?

Answer: one that swiftly removes said hypocrites from office.

We all understand that people make mistakes. But when officials like Vitter or Spitzer ride around like knights gallant proclaiming their pristine virtue, only to reveal later that they have none, it's not a simple matter of forgiveness. Consequences are in order. Spitzer resigned, and Vitter should do the same. If he doesn't then I hope the voters do their job. If they don't then they deserve all of the hypocrisy that they receive.

Full post as published by Ernie the Attorney on March 30, 2008 (boomark / email).