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.”
Once again it’s not hypocritical (a charge only used by political opportunist democrats, and the pro-gay lobby) when He has REPEPENTED for his sin, and reconcilled with his wife, he (and his wife; God bless Her!) has ACTUALLy demonstrated humility and repentence in the face of his sin, and his family did not break up. This (attack) is pathetic.
The difference between Vitter and most caught in Adultery is that Vitter recognizes adultery is WRONG, has done all he could to reconcile with his wife, repent and fix the consequences of his sin, and this was before he was “caught” in the general public!
Now most people (as well as politicians) only care about their “adultery” problem after they are “CAUGHT”..and don’t recognize it is MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE, let alone they should be held accountable for their sins..and repent!
Vetter should quit when Barney Fag stops taking it up the butt !!
If one is known by his friends, I think one's enemies bear a look at as well, and the people out to get Vitter are no friends of the conservative movement.
Its not the bedroom antics or even the corruption of congress that angers me at this point: Its the incompetence. Vote for secure borders, energy independence, victory in the war on terror, and limited government/lower taxes and I don't care if you take up residence in the Playboy mansion....
Actually some on FR think attaching a dog crate to the roof of your station wagon is much worse than manslaughter.
I guess you’re right, particularly in this climate the democrat party has created. And he IS from Louisiana, and he WOULD be replaced by a democrat - probably Ray Nagin. Despite all the “Gentlemen’s Clubs” in Louisiana, there seems to be a scarcity of gentlemen there. And, no, I never called for Rush to quit. HOwever, I do not think one can equate an addiction to prescription pain killers to the frequenting of whorehouses. But you are probably right.
Vitter for Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement!
And Barney Frank, with his slight lisp sounding unusually prominent, denied that he knew of his room mates activities.
Sure Barney.....[/sarcasm]
No, the left doesn't want anyone promoting high morals. Many of their politicians and policies reflect that.
When a Democrat president brings a Hustler magazine lifestyle to the White House, we aren't supposed to "cast stones". We are supposed to forgive his lies, even under oath against the rule of law, and forgive his debauchery, because the pressures of being president are so awesome, and he was seeking relief from the stress. After all, he is just a man, even if his wife isn't some little Tammy Wynette sitting at home, baking cookies (or something like that). And, the scandal was all about sex, but it really wasn't sex that he was having, and it was a private, personal matter anyway.
We must venerate the likes of "the honorable" Ted Kennedy, his partner in debauchery, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, whose "lover" ran a homosexual brothel on his premises, Gerry Studds, who actually did what Republican Foley was accused of doing to young Congressional pages, and so many other examples that I would tire of typing to mention them all.
Then we have William Jefferson, D. LA, the man with a freezer full of cold, hard cash obtained under less than moral circumstances, who was re-elected by the people in LA.
Fallible men are hypocrites when they promote high standards and fail to live up to them, and we aren't supposed to forgive them even when they actually do repent? But, we are supposed to ignore the debauchery and corruption of men who do not promote high standards, because they have nowhere to fall and can't be accused of moral hypocrisy?
More wisdom from the illogical left.
I’ll agree that Vitter should resign, but only if:
A) Ted Kennedy resigns for his numerous adulterous affairs and for leaving a girl to die.
B) Maria Cantwell resigns for having an adulterous affair with one of her staff members.
C) The mayors of Los Angeles & San Francisco resign for their adulteries.
D) Hillary Clinton states for the record that Bill was a serial adulterer and a misogynist who should have been removed from office.
E) Every Democrat who defended the aforementioned Clinton and voted to keep him in office issues a statement of apology for their stupid vote to protect a criminal.
That sounds like a fair deal to me.
heh
The left is still hypocritical in that they do not apply their lack of standards to everyone equally.
Don’t forget the rapist from the state to the north.
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