Yet another Louisiana politician compromised.

From the NOLA blog via Harry Shearer (yes, that Harry Shearer, of The Simpsons and Spinal Tap fame), on his HuffPo column. Yet another politician from Louisiana finds himself under the arc lights of public scrutiny. The senator from Louisiana fessed up to his sins of taking advantage of the services offered by, um… ladies of the evening.

Jeanette Maier, the madam known for operating a high-end brothel with her mother and daughter, said Tuesday that U.S. Sen. David Vitter made occasional visits to her business beginning in the mid-1990s after the two met at a fishing rodeo where she and her prostitutes were hired to entertain local politicians.

After the initial meeting, Maier said she saw Vitter at the bordello and knew him as someone who patronized her call girls. She denied having a personal relationship with him and said he had stopped visiting the establishment by the time it was raided by federal agents in 2001.

"Sometimes we'd cross paths," Maier said of their encounters at the house.
"He was not a big regular client that he's so clear in my mind that I can remember every time he walked in the door."

Vitter, a Republican, did not respond to numerous attempts to contact him for comment.
(snip)

Vitter this week became the first elected leader outed as a patron of the Washington escort service run by Deborah Palfrey, the so-called "D.C. Madam." He is the first elected official connected to Maier, known locally as the "Canal Street Madam." The only other clients named, a pair of Slidell businessmen, were charged for hiring prostitutes for a private cruise.

The senator apologized Monday night for a "very serious sin in my past" in connection with the Palfrey case, but he made no public appearances Tuesday.


What makes this particular case so newsworthy and elicits shivers of schadenfreude up and down my spine is that Vitter is another one of those “holier than thou” Southern Baptists. He called on Bill Clinton to resign because of Clinton’s philandering (between two consenting adults) with Ms. Lewinski, is anti-gay everything and esteems “family values” over all other considerations. (His wife was also quoted as saying something like, if her husband ever tried anything like what Bill Clinton did, she would probably react more like Lorena Bobbitt, who, you may remember, cut off her philandering husband’s member with a kitchen knife, than how Hillary Clinton reacted, which was to not say much of anything in public.) Yet, there he is, another Conservative Republican and/or Fundamentalist Christian, caught with his pants down around his ankles. Hypocrisy knows no bounds with these people. They only care about their own values when they get caught.

What this particular article does not relate is another part of his mea culpa. He said something to the effect of “I have confessed my sins, and both my wife and God have forgiven me.” It is wonderful to know that this man, who just broke several covenants of his religion, is on such close speaking terms with God that he immediately knew that “God had forgiven him.” Just like that. How touching. Show a little repentance that you actually got caught, and viola! Forgiveness from the Almighty! I wonder if his God is as quick to forgive the transgressions, real or imagined, of Vitter’s political opponents as He apparently is of conservative Republicans. Probably not. Funny how that works.

Look, I am not about criticizing anyone’s sexual preferences or proclivities. I think whatever consenting adults do, even when money changes hands, is between the two of them and their conscience. But boy, do I hate hypocrites. And sanctimonious ones are the worst kind of hypocrites. If someone is going to go around pretending they are the epitome of piety and jump on transgressions of their political foes, then they damn better “walk the talk” themselves. This guy deserves all the ridicule that he is getting right now. “God has forgiven him.” Bro-ther….. Like that makes it all better.

I also find it pretty astounding that Larry Flynt, he of Hustler magazine, is the driving force behind getting this story out. Let’s hear it for the mainstream media in this country! The new Woodward and Bernstein! Larry Flynt! The Washington Post and New York Times outdone by Hustler magazine!