Hypocrites Galore.

AuthorClinton, Kate
PositionUnplugged - Viewpoint essay

A disturbing new disorder is sweeping the nation. First there was SAD, Social Anxiety Disorder. Formerly known as "shy," SAD is fear or apprehension regarding social situations. Then there was an epidemic of RLS, Restless Leg Syndrome, not to be confused with the twitching next to you on the delayed N.Y. to D.C. US Air shuttle. Now there's SHF, Sexual Hypocrisy Fatigue, and I've got a wicked case of it.

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Plain old Hypocrisy Fatigue I can handle. Harriet Miers, she who wanted to be on the Supreme Court, showing contempt of Congress? Ho, hum. Alberto Gonzales, the nation's leading law enforcement officer, preemptively ordering the Justice Department not to prosecute contempt of Congress charges if they concern assertions of executive privilege? He wore me out with his hypocrisy long ago, and his is no mind of mensa.

But after Ted Haggard and Mark Foley, I knew I was in the throes of a full-blown SHF attack. And when the story unfolded about Senator David Vitter, I felt like a drowsy chaperone at yet another orgy. Yawn.

Back in the good old days of the Clinton impeachment, after the multi-philandering Newt Gingrich stepped down, his successor, the Speaker-elect Bob Livingston, resigned when his extramarital affairs became public, thanks to the investigative hustle of Larry Flynt. Louisiana legislator Vitter campaigned for Livingston's vacant house seat and won. During his campaign, Mrs. Vitter was asked what she would do if her husband cheated on her, and she said, "I'm a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me." You go, girl!

Vitter is a family-values, anti-choice, abstinence-only social conservative who called for Clinton to resign to preserve the moral fabric of the country. He led the election-year fight to bring the Marriage Protection...

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