Today, GOP senator John Ensign of Nevada admitted to an affair with a family friend and staffer.
Normally, I would not have even cared. Senator Ensign’s affair is his business. I believe that we too often pay too much attention to the private lives of public figures and government officials. Obviously, Senator Ensign, his wife, and family have some things they need to work through.
However, what Senator Ensign claims to stand for obligates me to say something.
This is the same Senator Ensign that denounced President Clinton’s affair as embarrassing and insisted that he resign. This is the same Senator John Ensign that called Republican Senator Larry Craig a disgrace and called for him too to resign after Craig was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex in an airport restroom in Minnesota. This is the same Senator Ensign that actively campaigned for the Federal Marriage Amendment which sought to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman and who defined marriage as sacred. And yes, it is the same Senator Ensign who expressed aspirations to run for president in 2012.
And now Senator Ensign admits to an affair with the wife of a friend and staffer. In other words, he slept with his friend’s wife. And it appears he wouldn’t even have come clean if it had not been for someone attempting to use the affair to blackmail him.
When you are quick to pronounce judgment on others, make sure your own house is in order.
Should the private lives of government officials be so closely scrutinized?
