"I just want to thank you personally Colonel Sanders. You make the best fried chicken!"
Posted on 07/16/2007 8:41:13 AM PDT by freespirited
WASHINGTON — State Democrats on Friday launched a petition drive that they hope will force U.S. Sen. David Vitter to resign.
The Louisiana Democratic Party posted the petition on its Web site, http://www.lademo.org. The purpose behind the effort is to collectively gather names of voters “who are intolerant of Vitter’s hypocritical behavior and irresponsible behavior in the U.S. Senate,” Louisiana Democratic Party Chairman Chris Whittington said in a statement.
On Monday, Vitter, R-La., apologized for his phone number appearing on the list of a Washington escort service operated by a woman dubbed the “D.C. madam.” Vitter called it a “serious sin” for which he takes full responsibility.
Telephone records show that the service called Vitter’s number five times from 1999 to 2001, while he was a U.S. House member.
Vitter served in the chamber from 1999 to 2004 when he was elected to the Senate. He served as a state representative in the 1990s.
Vitter, a Catholic father of four, said that he and his wife have since gone through marriage counseling. He also said he had asked for and received forgiveness from God and his family.
Federal prosecutors have charged Deborah Jeane Palfrey with running a prostitution ring that collected $2 million since 1993. Palfrey has denied the charges, saying she operated a “high-end adult fantasy firm which offered legal sexual and erotic services across the spectrum of adult sexual behavior.”
The petition states “we will not tolerate the sanctimonious posturing of anyone who has campaigned on and professed to live by one moral code only to reveal that he has lied about his personal actions.”
Vitter, a staunch conservative, has opposed abortion rights and gay marriage while preaching abstinence to teenagers.
In addition to the “D.C. madam” case, Vitter has also been linked to a New Orleans brothel by the former “Canal Street Madam,” Jeanette Maier, and a former prostitute, Wendy Cortez, according to the Times-Picayune of New Orleans.
A spokesman for Vitter said Friday he was with his family in Louisiana and would not comment beyond the Monday statement. Vitter missed seven votes in the Senate last week on the defense authorization bill. He is expected back in Washington next week.
U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., told reporters Friday that, based on e-mail exchanges with Vitter, he expects his colleague to return to the Capitol by Tuesday.
DeMint said of Vitter’s admission: “It’s a huge moral failure that reflects on the whole body. And for that he’s very sorry.”
Several GOP colleagues in Washington and Louisiana have rallied to Vitter’s side, saying politicians deserve forgiveness when they err and repent. Some opponents have accused him of hypocrisy, noting that his career is built largely on an image as someone more ethical than the average politician.
Several lawmakers, including U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., publicly accused Vitter of hypocrisy this week. Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt reveled in his role in unearthing Vitter’s phone records, saying, “I’m only exposing the hypocrisy.”
Roger Villere, chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party, said Friday he had tried unsuccessfully to contact Vitter. Villere said he’d been inundated with e-mails from Republicans, most of them supporting Vitter. A “vocal minority” is voicing opposition, he said.
Vitter’s allies say they will try to help him regain some of his luster.
“The past conduct that Sen. Vitter has acknowledged and taken responsibility for is serious and disappointing,” U.S. Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., said in a statement Friday, “but it does not define the whole of the man, and it is not irredeemable.”
It’s a personal matter of moral infidelity between Vitter and his family.
Meanwhile, Jefferson D-Louisiana is still walking around free.
ROFL!
I’ve noticed that “hypocritical behavior” only became the highest crime against the Republic since one of the two parties has completely jettisoned even the auspices of any moral standards that could subject them to the accusation.
The left has no standards to violate - thus is immune to attacks for hypocritical behavior. Those who advocate a a high moral standard are INEVITABLY bound to fail at meeting that standard in some respect ...
H
Well this should keep the liberals busy. Just when you think the party of hypocrites could not look more foolish.
LLS
I might be in the minority here, but Vitter needs to step down. A one-time failing is one thing. But using the service mutliple times and being linked to the New Orleans brothel is another.
He has lost all his credibility on conservative social issues. He ought to step down.
Colenol Sanders is a DEMOCRAT?
Barney Frank’s boyfriend ran it from their bed.
And these are the same people who believed that SLick Willy should remain president after his somewhat less than stellar performance in the Oval Office on several occasions and his lying while under oath.
Let Ted resign. Last I checked, manslaughter was worse than adultery.
If he’d been hooked up with male prostitutes the Dems would be silent on the matter.
I quite agree; he should step down. But not at the behest of the democrat party.
Hey maybe we can sign the petition with names like William Jefferson.
He has lost all his credibility on conservative social issues. He ought to step down."
The popular election of Senators is, IMHO, one of the biggest mistakes we've made in amending the Constitution. Having said that, I voted for Vitter to represent my State in the U.S. Senate, and for the most part, I couldn't have asked for better representation of my views in terms of his votes and (no pun intended) the positions he's taken.
Knowing Vitter's wife by reputation, I have little doubt that she'd have kicked him to the curb had she not believed in his sincerity and his repentance. If in fact, the person against whom he transgressed has forgiven him, who are we to hold his sins against him? If his repentance is sincere, and he's no longer banging hookers, he's a person who has demonstrated his ability to fix his mistakes, and that's the kind of person I should choose to represent me.
If there's enough evidence to charge him with solicitation, charge him under LA and DC law, and let the chips fall where they may.
Vitter seriously disappointed me with his personal conduct, and I was never real happy with his endorsement of Giuliani, but I'm not about to grow old waiting for a perfect candidate to come along. There's a fine line between a hypocrite and a person who learns from his mistakes, weaknesses and errors. I think Vitter's fallen on the right side of that line. Clinton taught us all that "words mean things," and Vitter's conscious use of the word "sin," tells me a lot about his personal standards and values, even if, by his own admission, he failed to live up to them.
He should stay right where he is. Were you calling for Rush to leave the airwaves when he had an addiction to pain pills?
We’re all clay. It’s the potter who we must trust to be the judge once a person acknowledges his guilt, not us.
Not mine. I am glad he has made his peace with God and his family, but he is not worthly to be a US Senator. We as conservatives have bought in to the dumbing down of character and honor of our candidates and politicians presented by Democrats. Democrats need to lower expectations of its leaders because character and honor left liberalism years ago. Conservative have no shortage of this and should not accept less.
I dont know what the statutes of limitations are on the relevant laws, but I would take a WAG that they have expired by now. He used the DC Madam between 1999 and 2001 and if I understand correctly, the other ones were allegedly before that.
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