February 24, 2009
DEPT. OF POTS AND KETTLES.... Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) still hasn't figured out the benefits of quiet time.
Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R), who survived a 2007 sex scandal, called on Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) to resign Tuesday for his ethical shortcomings.
Oh my.
To be sure, Burris' problems are overwhelming, and he'd do well to step down from the Senate seat he never should have agreed to accept in the first place. No doubt, it's time for him to go.
But hearing Vitter complain about another senator's ethical shortcomings is pretty amusing. It's as if he has an incredibly short memory -- or he assumes we do.
We are, after all, talking about a far-right Republican, known for his "family values" platform, who got caught up in a prostitution ring just two years ago. Vitter, who's has spent years lecturing others about morality and the "sanctity of marriage," arranged extra-marital liaisons while on the floor of Congress. The only reason Vitter wasn't prosecuted is that the statute of limitations had come and gone.
I can appreciate the notion of Senate Republicans calling for Burris' ouster. But if the caucus nominated Vitter to take the lead on this, they clearly chose the wrong guy.
Indeed, Vitter is facing a tough re-election fight next year. The more he talks about others' ethical shortcomings, the easier it is to remind voters of his own unpleasant background with a certain D.C. madam.
—Steve Benen 2:20 PM
Permalink
| Trackbacks
| Comments (27)
Shortcomings...short memory...short...
Posted by: Ms. Pamper on February 24, 2009 at 2:15 PM | PERMALINK
Time for Vitter to change his diapers.
Posted by: qwerty on February 24, 2009 at 2:22 PM | PERMALINK
Yeah! But she was cute and I had the money.
Posted by: EC Sedgwick on February 24, 2009 at 2:25 PM | PERMALINK
Did he have his diapers on when he made this call for Burris to resign ?
Posted by: stormskies on February 24, 2009 at 2:29 PM | PERMALINK
There's nothing like trying rebuild your house, after it's been burned to the ground by an arsonist, than by employing the very same arsonist to rebuild the house that was just burned to the ground....
Posted by: Steve W. on February 24, 2009 at 2:31 PM | PERMALINK
Geeze, Dave. Sure Burris is ethically challenged, but it's not worth filling your diaper over.
This rash of diaper jokes is really starting to stink.
Posted by: doubtful on February 24, 2009 at 2:32 PM | PERMALINK
Is it just me, or are the Republicans acting especially bizarre today? Did someone dose their coffee with LSD?
Posted by: fostert on February 24, 2009 at 2:33 PM | PERMALINK
"Vitter, who's has spent years lecturing others about morality and the "sanctity of marriage," arranged extra-marital liaisons while on the floor of Congress"
So, if Vitter went to a whore after piously chiding the rest of the country about marriage, where's he going to go now that he's scolding Burris about political corruption?
Posted by: Lab Partner on February 24, 2009 at 2:34 PM | PERMALINK
Diaper Dave is from Louisiana. A state that has produce a few "colorful" senators in the past.
Posted by: jeff on February 24, 2009 at 2:36 PM | PERMALINK
Yes but the DC Madam is conveniently dead now so.. Jesus forgave David Vitter and she is burning in Hell forever, right? Isn’t that how it plays out?
What would Jesus screw?
Posted by: The Galloping Trollop on February 24, 2009 at 2:38 PM | PERMALINK
One begins to suspect that GOP hypocrisy is a feature, not a bug.
Posted by: short fuse on February 24, 2009 at 2:44 PM | PERMALINK
Yes, but his wife and his God have forgiven him, so it's all OK now, don't you see? Like it never happened.
It is SO crass of you to mention it again.
Posted by: Cal Gal on February 24, 2009 at 2:56 PM | PERMALINK
Vitter: The joke that keeps on making us laugh!
Thanks, Dave. BTW, does your wife still have that smokin' hot leopard skin dress?
Posted by: Sarah Barracuda on February 24, 2009 at 2:58 PM | PERMALINK
I can't look at the good Sen. Vitter without thinking about that horror classic with Angenette Comer and Ruth Roman (who someone described in the movie as a cross between Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Ernest Borgnine)...The Baby.
Posted by: Saint Zak on February 24, 2009 at 2:59 PM | PERMALINK
speaking of Vitter, anyone see the story about Jindal in the Post today? I think we may have found the source of the diaper problem...
"At the time, I was feeling I was on a good career path," recalled committee member David Vitter, a Republican who had just won election to the state legislature and now is Louisiana's junior senator. "I came home and told my wife, 'I just met somebody today who makes me feel both stupid and old.' "
Posted by: northzax on February 24, 2009 at 3:13 PM | PERMALINK
"Come and gone."
Ah yes, ejaculate and evacuate...
Posted by: abject funk on February 24, 2009 at 3:14 PM | PERMALINK
Tough reelection race? Uhm, really?
There are too many stupid, brainwashed people in LA who spend far too much time listening to the Limbaugh's of the world and voting against their own interests. I see them every day when I read right-wing sites. Vitter is tres popular by his right-wing supporters.
Future headline: Jindal turns down money for constitutes and wins re-election. Meanwhile, thousands continue to starve.
Vitter wins re-election on pro-family platform. He hasn't seen a pro in two years!
Friggin' ADD of the electorate.
Posted by: MsJoanne on February 24, 2009 at 3:18 PM | PERMALINK
The Post assassination cartoon would have been of service, if the victim was a white man wearing a diaper.
Posted by: Ted76 on February 24, 2009 at 3:26 PM | PERMALINK
Ah but in LA what Vitter did isn't all that much of a problem even for a Republican. According to Edwin Edward he would have to have been caught with a "dead girl or a live boy" for it to truly have been a problem. Of course considering LA what Burris did/didn't do isn't that much of a big deal either......
Posted by: ET on February 24, 2009 at 3:27 PM | PERMALINK
Pot, meet Kettle....
Posted by: SCLiberal on February 24, 2009 at 3:45 PM | PERMALINK
Cal Gal: Thanks, Dave. BTW, does your wife still have that smokin' hot leopard skin dress?
Ah, yes. The wife who made a big point of publicly announcing in the late 1990s that if she were Hillary Clinton, she sure as hell wouldn't be such a doormat as to stand by her faithless man.
I'm getting a strong whiff of presidential aspiration off Vitter, who has been making love to the cameras (hand him that Johnson's baby lotion and the pacifier) for weeks now. Oh, god, please, please, please...
Posted by: shortstop on February 24, 2009 at 3:48 PM | PERMALINK
It wasn't just the DC madam, was it? I was under the impression that he also had a regular account with a whorehouse in Louisiana, back home where his wife was.
Posted by: Texas Aggie on February 24, 2009 at 4:13 PM | PERMALINK
I was under the impression that he also had a regular account with a whorehouse in Louisiana, back home where his wife was.
Correct. David is a serial John.
Posted by: shortstop on February 24, 2009 at 4:18 PM | PERMALINK
Vitter reminds me of the father who gets caught effing around on mommy, goes into an emotional tailspin, drinking every night and failing to go to work most days until he's fired, standing in the living room in his underwear (or in his case, a diaper), waving a nearly-empty bottle of gin "I am still the man of this house and I demand respect!" Because, you see, if you fail to acknowledge you did anything wrong, then presto! You didn't! Easy & fun and really, who suffers?
I'm not kidding, this is EXACTLY the kind of person I think of whenever I see Vitter open his prostitute-tasting pie hole.
Posted by: slappy magoo on February 24, 2009 at 4:55 PM | PERMALINK
Boy, what a bench the GOP team has -- Vitter, Larry Craig, Jim Bunning, Norm Coleman. Oy. They need a sub with a good three point shot.
Is Jindal angling for Vitter's seat?'
Posted by: pj in jesusland on February 24, 2009 at 5:25 PM | PERMALINK
I haven't had strong feelings for or against Burris, but now that Vitter has entered the fray I definitely want Burris to stick around long enough to let them 'fight it out' in the press. This can only make Vitter look more ridiculous.
But then, it does distract from the Dem agenda.
Okay okay, so I'm still undecided. heh.
Posted by: MarkH on February 24, 2009 at 6:15 PM | PERMALINK
Seeing Jesse Jackson Jr after Obama's speech tonight, just as the PBS commentators were tlaking about Roland Burris brings up the question:
Why isn't anyone asking Jackson to resign? He was right in the thick of the Blago Senate-seat-selling scandal (the BSSSS). But here we are pointing at Burris and Burris alone.
What am I missing? Why is Jackson getting a pass?
Certainly, Burris has made things tough on himself, but so have dozens of other Senators and Congressmen over the last several years. Hardly ANY have resigned. Why should Burris?
From toe-tapping to hookers to bridges to macaca to wishing Strom Thurmond had been elected back in 1948, and lots of others, most are still around, and only the voters kept some of them from still being in the Congress.
Disgraced? Yeah. Gone? Not many.
Burris is within his right to stay right where he is.
Remember Teddy Kennedy and the events of 1968? He is still there, isn't he? Burris isn't any Teddy, but scandals pass.
We just - FINALLY - got rid of the biggest embarrassment this country has ever had to endure, so what Burris is putting us all through is NOTHING.
Is he perfect? Hell no, but who in Illinois politics IS?
We just sent the best Presidential material to Washington in our state's history, bar one.
SO our new one isn't Abe or Barack. But he also isn't Dick Cheney or George Bush. Or Blagojevich.
.
Posted by: SteveGinIL on February 24, 2009 at 10:36 PM | PERMALINK