Photo of cocooned, privileged Republican golden (shower) boy Sen. Vitter by Flickr user Sir Poseyal. Used under a Creative Commons license.

Back in 2009 a very nettled Ken Layne clearly thought Louisiana Senator David Vitter ought to resign.

Louisiana sex creep David “Diaperman” Vitter is known for one thing, and one thing only: Hiring hookers and then making those hookers put adult diapers on him, so he can poop in the diapers, for sex kicks. He has been caught employing prostitutes at least twice, in New Orleans and in Washington DC — his number found in the client phone records of the since-suicided “DC Madam,” in the latter case.

Source: Wonkette

I seem to remember saying that if Rep. Anthony Weiner should resign then Sen. Vitter ought to resign too. I didn't think Weiner should resign. But the entire Democratic leadership from President Obama to Nancy Pelosi and pretty much all the way down thought resigning was the right thing to do. And in the end Weiner did just that.

And so, fair being fair, I think it's well past time for Vitter to go.

Going back through the records it sure is hard to find a prominent Republican who was ready to ask Vitter to do what for him really would be the right thing. Take a look at the commenters in this Michelle Malkin post about the Vitter, err, affair back in 2007.

I’m sick and tired of the “holier than thou” crowd of Democrats (and some Republicans) calling for Republicans to resign their office (like Trent Lott over his Strom remark), when NOT A SINGLE DEMOCRAT RESIGNING WHEN THEY GET CAUGHT!

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In Vitter’s case, he had ALREADY worked it out with his wife...

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The dems need to take VERY long look at their own ranks before calling for Vitter’s head.

I think Vitter should keep his jopb just long enough to flush out the Dems who are also on that list and who demonize him, and then get exposed…

Line up 3 or 4, and then say “I’ll resign if they do”…

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I like Vitter. He’s a solid conservative.

This issue is between Vitter and his wife.

It just angers me that the democrats are make out to be clean and pure, but the republicans are made out to be corrupt and untruthful. It’s all BS and media spin. William Jefferson had his freezer full of money and he’s still in the house. You don’t hear the main line media talking about that at all. Keith Obermann is a real slime ball. NBC sounds like the DNC.

Guess what? Like it or not, and I actually kind of like it, the Democrats actually are the party of ethics and integrity. Sucks for Weiner, and it sucks for those of us who aren't really that troubled by the depressingly mild transgressions that led to his forced resignation.

But by and large I prefer their over-caution and priggishness to the 100% support he received from Republican President Bush, and from the Republican Congressional leadership, not to mention the outrageous number of right-wing nominally Christian, nominally family-values Louisiana voters who overwhelmingly re-elected the literally shitty asshole.

Yeah, I didn't think Weiner should resign. But I did say that if Weiner should resign then Vitter should as well.  So...

Ball's in your court, Breitbart. Your integrity's on the line, Malkin. Clock's ticking, Mcconnell. Not that I'm holding my breath for any of them. Because when it comes to hiring prostitutes and cheating on their wives it's not just a matter of "It's Ok If A Conservative Does It," it's not even news.

#%!#@!

Photo by Flickr user Wallula Junction. Used under a Creative Commons license.

Dante Atkins says

Mike Huckabee thinks that Natalie Portman sets a bad example for people on account of her unwed pregnancy. Of course! Because as we all know, nobody in their right mind would want to emulate a Harvard-educated, world-famous actress who just won an Academy Award. Maybe if she had been married like that paragon of Christian virtue Britney Spears, things would be just fine.

Source: Daily Kos

Or that even more paragonically virtuous Christian Bristol Palin.  Oh wait!

Oddly, I believe Huckabee actually has a great deal of admiration for a Hollywood star who's firstborn, like Portman's, was conceived out of wedlock.  Enormous admiration.

Clue #1: "Nancy was three months pregnant at the time."

Remember: Why does Huckabee single out Natalie Portman while utterly fucking ignoring it when conservatives do it?  The question positively answers itself.

It's not that, as the usual construction goes "it's ok if you are a Republican" (sometimes abbreviated to IOKIYAR.) It's because, like alcoholism, wife beating, divorce, affairs, teen pregnancy, sexual assault, sex with minors, trolling men's restrooms, hiring escorts, hiring prostitutes, etc., it simply isn't news when a conservative does it because it's so routine.

(Note: Contrary to Huckabee's public position, having a baby out of wedlock when you're financially secure, healthy, not coerced, and have the support not only of your partner but of your community, as Portman is doing, is hardly problematic. Even if, unlike Portman, the prospective mother and father aren't engaged and don't intend to marry.

Paul Waldman of TAPPED wrote such a wonderful indictment of the IJNNWACDI tendency towards conservative perversion that I’m reproducing the whole thing here.

Via Steve Benen, we see that former Rep. J.D. Hayworth, who is challenging John McCain in the Republican Senate primary in Arizona, has some interesting ideas about what gay marriage will lead to:

“You see, the Massachusetts Supreme Court, when it started this move toward same-sex marriage, actually defined marriage — now get this — it defined marriage as simply, ‘the establishment of intimacy,’” Hayworth said. “Now how dangerous is that? I mean, I don’t mean to be absurd about it, but I guess I can make the point of absurdity with an absurd point — I guess that would mean if you really had affection for your horse, I guess you could marry your horse. It’s just the wrong way to go, and the only way to protect the institution of marriage is with that federal marriage amendment that I support.”

This kind of thing comes up with alarming frequency from Christian conservatives. For some of them, any issue of gay rights is about sex – — hot, steamy sex, so hot they can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve always said that James Dobson thinks about gay sex more than any five gay people I know put together. And apparently, people like Hayworth think that there is a tide of perversion lapping at our levees, and if we allow a crack in the edifice of heterosexual marriage, it will come down upon us like a tidal wave, drowning us with its forbidden temptations. I wonder what kind of thoughts led them there?

He said it here.

That sounds about right about James Dobson, and one suspects Fred Phelps thinks about it more than every other gay man in Kansas. Any time folks start going into lurid details or taking their proposed prohibitions to extreme lengths there’s gotta be at least a little fire behind all that smoke. Another example, one with almost universally horrific consequences are the white slave-owning men who, while regularly justifying violence against African American men for their “lust” for white women, also happened to have unrestricted and coercive access to African American women. Another example? I always wonder what’s really up when I hear of another regressive state legislator proposing one of those no-exceptions-for-rape-or-incest abortion restrictions. For instance one wonders how long it’ll be before a weeping Glenn Beck upbraids the likes of me for being all nonconsanguino-centerically privileged and just not understanding that, say, Louisiana state legislators deserve grandchildren just like people do. Now I’m forced to wonder whether J.D. Hayworth would support this petition drive... or if he’d change the subject and fulminate about government having no business interfering with private property rights. $%!#%&%

(Quick note, plus attempted guilt expiation for quoting his entire post: I don’t quote Paul Waldman often in this blog but if you’re into politics and social issues TAPPED is a great group blog and you can find a bunch of his other posts here. I particularly appreciated his post Pro-Lifers For More Abortions from yesterday.)