# David Vitter and John Ensign should step down also. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 14, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497 "2011-06-14T22:21:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/41 "2011-06-16T15:30:15Z")
Kennedy was not a “womanizing dickhead,” he was a great president and statesman who, like many alpha-male leaders at the top of society’s ladder then and now, had misstresses and affairs. I personally think that it’s unrealistic to expect monogamy from men in positions of power, power being the aphrodisiac that it is to women and the opportunities being too great and tempting for most men to pass up. But that is my opinion only. What I will say is that while Kennedy and others may have had affairs, it was never a sordid business. Sordid generally translates to “involving specific and explicit sexual acts that have been made public”, and the Weiner case is definitely sordid. Sending pictures of your penis which then become publicly viewable by the entire world is not classy. Kennedy was classy. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/42 "2011-06-16T15:52:50Z")
Kennedy didn’t have Twitter. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/43 "2011-06-16T21:29:31Z")
Kennedy is still dead. He’s still not serving in office. We aren’t asking why he isn’t expected to resign. Vitter however still fucked prostitutes, still broke laws, still lied. Why haven’t the Republicans demanded his resignation like they did for Weiner. I’m still interested in explanations other than Republican leadership is full of hypocrites. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/44 "2011-06-17T12:34:44Z")
The only reason that Weiner went down is that everybody in the country had access to pictures of his junk. If there had been pictures of Vitter engaging the services of prostitutes, he would have gone down also. Just my 2 cents. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/45 "2011-06-17T17:20:35Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Because the Republicans stand behind their friends and allies and don’t really care if they are hypocrites and liers. That bad press can be conquered down the line with big media buys. [QUOTE=Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)] During the Packwood debate, we made the tough choice. And, I have to say, that decision was one of the most difficult things I have ever had to do in my career in public service. To recommend expelling from the United States Senate a colleague, a member of my own party, and most importantly, a friend with whom I had served in the Senate for over a decade. We sent a clear message to the nation that no man is above the law. That no man is so important to the well-being of our strong and prosperous nation that we have to compromise the fundamental, founding principles of truth and justice. We chose to rise above, not sink below. Rather than change our standards, we changed our Senator. Let me also make a political point, here. We Republicans were aware during the Packwood debate that we would likely lose that Senate seat if Senator Packwood was removed from office. So, we had a choice: Retain the Senate seat or retain our honor. We chose honor, and never looked back. [/QUOTE] Care to guess what the forum was when he made that statement? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/46 "2011-06-17T18:04:16Z")
During the Clinton impeachment hearings. So what? Packwood _sexually assaulted_ a bunch of women. He didn’t just have an affair. The Republicans would have lost Packwood’s seat whether or not they voted to expel him. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/47 "2011-06-17T18:51:56Z")
I don’t think the rumors about JFK as a studly man-muffin are true. I think when the rumors first started to float about, they maybe thought about countering them but figured, hey, it connects to the common man who would surely love to bone Marilyn Monroe. Kennedy had health issues, and, more importantly, being President, a total lack of privacy. Much the same for the story making the rounds that he read Ian Fleming’s James Bond trash. I believe he read _Guns of August_, thank the Goddess, but Ian Fleming? An Irish Catholic? With only _two_ kids? Not a sex maniac. But a few rumors like that, floating about, makes him more of a “man’s man”. Not _another_ man’s man, I mean a man men would look up to. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/48 "2011-06-17T19:00:42Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Because the Republicans stand behind their friends and allies and don’t really care if they are hypocrites and liers. That bad press can be conquered down the line with big media buys. Didn’t the Republicans press the guy with the wide stance at the airport to resign? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/49 "2011-06-17T19:02:15Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > During the Clinton impeachment hearings. So what? Packwood _sexually assaulted_ a bunch of women. He didn’t just have an affair. > > The Republicans would have lost Packwood’s seat whether or not they voted to expel him. True but what was the original quote? [QUOTE=boytyperanma] Because the Republicans stand behind their friends and allies and don’t really care if they are hypocrites and liers. That bad press can be conquered down the line with big media buys. [/QUOTE] And my quote is an example of where boytyperanma was wrong. The reason for the comment about the forum for McConnell’s quote was that he was making a pre-emptive strike against Senate Democrats that had voted to convict federal judges for perjury that the issue was the defendent’s alleged crime and not his political party. So much for that :rolleyes: I think that 98% of the time BOTH sides are “Look at that guy but ignore my collegue doing the same thing.” Kind of like the Straight Dope. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/50 "2011-06-17T22:11:24Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Didn’t the Republicans press the guy with the wide stance at the airport to resign? Yes- and he didn’t resign. It’s not easy to force someone to quit. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/51 "2011-06-17T22:19:02Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > **I don’t think the rumors about JFK as a studly man-muffin are true.** I think when the rumors first started to float about, they maybe thought about countering them but figured, hey, it connects to the common man who would surely love to bone Marilyn Monroe. Kennedy had health issues, and, more importantly, being President, a total lack of privacy. Much the same for the story making the rounds that he read Ian Fleming’s James Bond trash. I believe he read _Guns of August_, thank the Goddess, but Ian Fleming? > > An Irish Catholic? With only _two_ kids? Not a sex maniac. But a few rumors like that, floating about, makes him more of a “man’s man”. Not _another_ man’s man, I mean a man men would look up to. They aren’t rumors. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/52 "2011-06-17T22:32:07Z")
Oh. Well. Certainly settles that. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/53 "2011-06-17T23:03:03Z")
[QUOTE=boytyperanma] Because the Republicans stand behind their friends and allies and don’t really care if they are hypocrites and liers. That bad press can be conquered down the line with big media buys. [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Saint Cad] And my quote is an example of where boytyperanma was wrong. [/QUOTE] Well you’ve proved your point my quote is not correct 100% of the time, it might only be correct 25% of the time. Them being hypocrites still stands. They do not hold Republicans to the same standards they hold Democrats to. The line drawn to demand Republican members resignation lies somewhere between sexual assault or gay sex and criminal prostitution for heterosexual sex. For Democrats however non-criminal dirty pictures will surface. Sure someone will come along and say Democrats are the same way they let so and so get along with x or y. Sure the Democrats are not without sin too. I simply take joy in pointing out the hypocrisy of a party that campaigns on superior morality and family values while they have the inability to actual hold themselves to their own standards. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/54 "2011-06-18T00:01:07Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Oh. Well. Certainly settles that. Maybe someone should introduce her to **Dio**. I foresee True Love Forever. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/55 "2011-06-18T00:06:58Z")
Love forever is Ray Charles playing tennis with Stevie Wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/56 "2011-06-18T00:17:12Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > True but what was the original quote? > > > [@](#): > > > > Because the Republicans stand behind their friends and allies and don’t really care if they are hypocrites and liers. That bad press can be conquered down the line with big media buys. > > And my quote is an example of where boytyperanma was wrong. The reason for the comment about the forum for McConnell’s quote was that he was making a pre-emptive strike against Senate Democrats that had voted to convict federal judges for perjury that the issue was the defendent’s alleged crime and not his political party. So much for that :rolleyes: Uh, what? He said they don’t care if their colleagues are hypocrites and liars. He didn’t say they don’t care if they’re rapists. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/57 "2011-06-19T07:38:55Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > Maybe someone should introduce her to **Dio**. I foresee True Love Forever. I’ll probably fry for this, but that just made me giggle. [They’ve been introduced](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13921463&postcount=95). ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/58 "2011-06-19T14:29:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’ll probably fry for this, but that just made me giggle. [They’ve been introduced](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13921463&postcount=95). It like those scenes in the movies: male and female hurl insults, slap each other, and then suddenly… start making out. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/59 "2011-06-19T14:39:47Z")
I hate all of you. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2011, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497/60 "2011-07-04T15:45:21Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > I just mean, if a Democrat that is very popular does something, it’s never talked about. When an unknown or an unpopular Democrat does something, it can be a big deal. Right away. Before, the media used to just not mention these things in polite company, but now that the media doesn’t care, politicians are forced to. > > Anywho, if Democrats would stop bringing up JFK and Roosevelt and other known womanizers, maybe I wouldn’t feel so sympathetic for Weiner. I mean, no one is sticking up for him, because of, you know _morals_. _whispers_ And the children. Don’t forget the children. > > I don’t care what the Republicans do. I care about what my team does. ☹ Yeh and Ike had a 20 year affair. But back then it was not made public. That is why it is different. There was an understanding that reporters shouldn’t bring down selected politicians. That is probably because there are so many womanizers in the political arena that we would eliminate most of them. Ask Gary hart if the Dems are a protected group. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-vitter-and-john-ensign-should-step-down-also/585497.md?page=2)