"Aunt Judy"?: The NYT Looks At The John Ensign Affair
Can John Ensign survive this story in the New York Times? The headline sticks to the boilerplate: Senator's Aid After Affair Raises Flags Over Ethics But the article has lots of new, dishy details, including this passage:
At a black-tie Christmas party at the White House in 2006, Mr. Ensign and Ms. Hampton beamed as they posed for a picture with President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura. It was that night that he realized that his feelings toward Ms. Hampton had become romantic, Mr. Ensign later admitted to Mr. Hampton, according to Mr. Hampton.
A year later, during what Mr. Ensign said was a difficult time in his marriage, Mr. Hampton intercepted a text message from his boss to his wife that made plain that their relationship had become intimate.
“It was such a betrayal,” Mr. Hampton said.
There were heated confrontations, tearful admissions, promises to end the affair, even joint family meetings that included the couples' children. Still, the relationship continued.
During a February 2008 Congressional trip to Iraq, Mr. Ensign called Ms. Hampton almost every morning and night. She said that when the phone bill came to Mr. Ensign's campaign office, he gave her almost $1,000 in cash to cover it. Mr. Ensign's office confirmed that the senator gave Ms. Hampton “enough cash to cover the personal charges.” (On the trip, Mr. Hampton said he noticed frequent calls from Mr. Ensign's cellphone to “Aunt Judy” — at his wife's number.)
That month, Mr. Hampton decided to take more aggressive steps to end the affair. He and Mr. Ensign shared a strong Christian faith, and often attended prayer meetings at a Capitol Hill house where Mr. Ensign, Mr. Coburn and other lawmakers lived. The house, on C Street, is affiliated with the Fellowship Foundation, a Christian outreach group influential with conservatives in Congress.
Mr. Hampton went to several group leaders. Soon after, on Valentine's Day, they confronted Mr. Ensign during lunch at the house. Mr. Hampton, agitated and yelling at times, was there, too. Mr. Coburn, an ordained deacon, took the lead in questioning Mr. Ensign, who acknowledged that Mr. Hampton's accusation was true.
“I said, ‘No. 1, you're having an affair, and you need to stop,' ” Mr. Coburn recounted. The senator said he also advised Mr. Ensign to make the affair public and to work to reconcile the two families.
Mr. Coburn warned Mr. Ensign that if the affair did not end, he would “go to Mitch” — referring to Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, Mr. Hampton said.
At the urging of foundation leaders, Mr. Ensign agreed to write a good-bye letter to Cynthia Hampton and send it by overnight mail. “What I did with you was a mistake,” he wrote in longhand. “I was completely self-centered and only thinking of myself. I used you for my own pleasure.”
But immediately after the confrontation, the senator called Ms. Hampton and told her to disregard the letter, Ms. Hampton said. The relationship would continue for six more months.
I've asked for one, but thus far, no reaction to the story from Ensign's office.
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1
From the official website:of one Senator John Ensign:
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link to Senator John Ensign's Official WebsitePress Releases
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February 25, 2004
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ENSIGN BACKS AMENDMENT ON SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
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Washington, D.C. – Senator John Ensign said today that he will support an amendment to the United States Constitution defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman only. Ensign said such an amendment is necessary to protect the institution of marriage in America.“Sadly, the effort to redefine marriage against the wishes of a majority of the people is, with help from activist judges, succeeding,” Ensign said. “In order to defend the institution of marriage, uphold the rights of individual states, and maintain the will of the people, I believe we are compelled to amend our country's constitution.”
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Ensign said he still believes that amending the constitution should never be done lightly and that tolerance for gay people and their privacy must be maintained.
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“The effort to pass a constitutional amendment reaffirming marriage as being between a man and a woman only is being undertaken strictly as a defense of marriage against the attempt to redefine it and, in the process, weaken it,” Ensign said. “Marriage is an extremely important institution in this country and protecting it is, in my mind, worth the extraordinary step of amending our constitution.”Senator John Ensign is terribly concerned about the institution of marriage, you see.
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1.1
But Stuart, if only the same-sex marriage Constitutional amendment had passed, don't you see that the Ensign Affair would never have happened? DOMA just wasn't enough. "The gays'" made them do it.
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
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2
Me at 8:03pm: "But seriously, abstinence funding, kiddy-porn priests, DC comics, and texting while driving! Joe's pulling his weight, though no one has much enthusiasm for foreign policy of late. How about a HCR post, Kate, KT, Bueller?"
KT to the rescue at 8:08pm w/ "But the article has lots of new, dishy details"
Thanks so much KT! Hypocrisy is always irresistable, I know, but whether it's WJC, Newt, John Edwards, Roman Polanski, Ensign, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, must I continue ... I don't care. This is tabloid pap, period. And you guys think we're cranky now--wait until HCR falls apart.
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2.1
DC Comics? Someone posted about DC Comics here and didn't tell me about it?
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3
Can John Ensign survive this story in the New York Times?
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Why yes he can. See because he is a republican and other than this blog post, no one in the main stream media and your colleagues Kt, will see this as a story worth pursuing. That is a fact of life that we all have to accept.-
3.1
gunny: you can't say the MSM is not paying attention. this is a very extensive story that i suspect will be on the front page of the NYT tomorrow.
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3.2
Meanwhile this slimebucket will keep casting "principled" votes to keep ordinary people from having reliable, affordable health care. And there will be Democrats voting with him.
Ain't the U.S. Senate great? -
3.3
Thank you so much for responding to commentary, KT.
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3.4
A whole entire day on the front page of the NYT? Ensign is sure in for it now!
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3.5
Hi KT- Thanks so much for pointing that out. But my point just to be clear. is that Ensign as a republican is treated different. There will be no Fox News, Rush, Beck, Hanity, Michele, Ann, Joe, Drudge fire fueling this story. And despite my appreciation of your efforts, that is what now matters in this country.
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3.6
It's the lead story of the NYT, with a two-column headline, two full pages (in dead-tree speak, a "double truck") inside. Suspect this is not the last you'll hear of this story.
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3.7
KT-Do me a favor and review your notes on who has been ridden out of town due to a scandal perceived or real, in the pass 9 months. Whose lead has the media followed in covering those stories? Was it the NYT? I don't think so. As a matter of fact I predict this will not turn out well for the NYT if they get one fact wrong. We all know the NYT is a partisan liberal rag that no one respects.
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3.8
Gunny is right.
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All these details mentioned in this post (save some quotes and color from Mr. Hampton) were made public months ago. This story adds the detail about Ensign working to get a job for him.
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As with the US Attorney firings, and torture, and yellowcake, and Plame, the details of the scandal are public. The MSM pooh-poohed all of those scandals.
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I used to trust the MSM more than, say, Josh Marshall or Atrios, simply by virtue of its position in society. By the time of the US Atty scandal, I'd learned my lesson. Marshall was, of course, right, and Time was, of course, wrong. As it ever was.
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We will have more coverage of Letterman and of whichever random dude in the Obama administration Fox is trying to get fired than of this bona fide, lawbreaking scandal. Mark my words.
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Don't mean to be complaining about you, Karen, just, as is Gunny, describing the way the world works. The MSM <3 Drudge and Beck and Politico.
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Senator John Ensign has very deeply held principles about the need for politicians guilty of breaking marital trust to step down, as evidenced during this Nevada Senatorial debate with Harry Reid in 1998:
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link toSparks fly at Reid-Ensign debate
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Las Vegas Sun
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By Steve Kanigher
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Monday, Sept. 28, 1998 | 10:49 a.m.
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Clear differences emerged during a series of questions from the audience. Ensign repeated his call for President Clinton's resignation in light of his admitted affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Reid called the affair immoral but said he would "keep an open mind" and let the process proceed before deciding whether to impeach Clinton.Senator John Ensign has made it quite clear that such a disgraced individual must immediately resign his office.
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5
Sex scandals & little blonde abductees
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Racial discord & xenophobia
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He said/she said
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False equivalence
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Polarized debate (2 CW solutions to any given problem)
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A pathological inability to privilege correct information over false
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Incestuous reluctance to take on their own (see WaPo ed. board/Polanski)=
MSM
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Epic fail (likely for them and us)
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6
Pavlov's blog?
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By the way I hope I'm wrong. But I don't think so.
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8
Are you kidding, another Republican Senator wears diapers and prances around in front of prostitutes. He's never felt any heat to step down.
Besides, who is going to keep us safe from ACORN, Valerie Jarret, and various other black people if Ensign and or his pimp Tom Coburn steps down? -
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anyone else notice this is the same title used in the mccain-vicki story?
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10
Diaper Dave Vitter did not resign. Craig did not resign. Ensign won't either.
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11
85 year-old leftist pervert David Letterman, who fantacized about the rape of Sarah Palin's 12 year-old-daughter at a New York Yankees game, has knocked up half his staff. Did Letterman attempt to move in on his staff's children, too? http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/01/letterman.allegations/index.html
Do a search for that 85 year-old leftist loser's so-called "wife". WARNING: It ain't a pretty site. Can't wait to see that leftist loser cry again like he cried when he was exposed for fantacizing about the rape of Sarah Palin's 12 year-old daughter.
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11.1
Try to figure out the difference between telling a joke about the older, already knocked-up daughter, & "fantasizing (note sp.) about raping" a 12-yr.-old, you moron.
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12
You'd think this would sink him, but I guarantee you the republican establishment will find a way to defend him.
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13
Well, since the Dem establishment is protecting Rangel, you cannot whine about the GOP.
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By the way, speaking of sickos, what is up with Kevin Jennings?-
13.1
I can and I will.
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14
Gunny is exactly correct. A) this is an old (and mostly ignored) story that Rachel Maddow covered extensively back in July and B) the smoking gun is that Ensign's parents paid off the mistress with cash, like $100K of it (not that your "dishy details" aren't late and irrelevant). If Ensign were a Democrat, he'd be strapped to a pitched rail on his way out of town by now.
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15
Want to know what is REALLY missing from this story? The C Street Connection.
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When this cult tells their members not to resign under any circumstances you had best believe they won't and Ensign will still run for reelection and cross his fingers that people in Nevada will forget by then. -
16
OK, apparently I'm way outnumbered here, in not giving a f@ck. But let me clarify why I don't.
It's not that I fail to see the incredible hypocrisy of such politicians (espec. god's chosen vessels, GOP congressmen: i.e. closeted "promisekeepers"). I also see the far more intense media scrutiny/consequences when a dem gets caught w/his knickers down.
The problem I have with this is 1) it's a f'ing distraction from, well, 44,000/year dying, or debates over Afghanistan et al, and 2) it's a question of scale. B/C Mark Sanford got jiggy with a foxy Argentine concerns me not a lick more than John Edwards' redolent cretinism. That Sanford or Ensign made questionable moves of influence/public $, well, nope, I still can't get worked up, and I'm trying.
Cuz here's what we play into when we leap like poodles for KT's 'dish.' We validate their b-s shiny-object-over-there coverage. When they spend as much time on this piffling 'abuse of power' or public trust but Blackwater or Halliburton or a president who authorized torture get a pass! While this hypocrisy and deceit is fair game for puritan navel gazers, Baucus cashing millions from the parasites gets nary a whisper from KT (think her quote back a few mo's is "there's more to it than that"). Case closed, no further investigations. Or how Wall St. just reeled in a trillion $. Oh yeah, for our benefit, uh huh.
Seriously, JFC, let Huff-Po handle this sh!t--they're 1/2 tabloid already.
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16.1
Hard to argue with this.
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16.2
It matters only because it illustrates the double-standard by which establishment elites tilt the playing field in favor of "conservatives", to try to generally undermine any possible progress by anyone considered remotely anti-elite-interest.
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The entire country was brought to distraction and shame for years when the last Democratic president was impeached over an extra-marital affair. No need to list here the shocking high crimes and misdemeanors of the last Republican president that are so incredibly unremarkable within our current impression of journalism. Get why this matters? -
16.3
Oregon JC:
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You know that I completely agree with you on everything you've said.
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The only thing that I was trying to accomplish by adding the those data points was to suggest that, if there is going to be tabloid reporting on these scandals, then the reporting must include the politicians' positions on these issues.
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"Get why this matters?"
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Shep, compare what you wrote with what I acknowledge above? WTD? I'm not denying anything you've said--I'm simply saying in the larger scheme of things it's utterly inconsequential.
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Here's what I'd say: How does a public lynching of Ensign (which will never happen BTW, as you'd surely admit) advance the progressive agenda, well, as if that agenda is getting a lick fo advancement anyway. How does it help the dying cause when progressives spend their time doing this sh!t? How does it recalibrate attn. where it should be paid? -
18
The only thing this proves is that sex-scandals sell. Anything with the word, "sex", in it will get the un-informed's attention. Those who are habitual porn site visitors, and sex addicts. The afternoon soap opera fans. To me it seems that pulling these stories out of the cobwebs and exploiting them now only serves to desensitize the real issues and problems facing our Country. People are now so desensitized with stories like this that they simply click past them and say to themselves, "oh another politician or entertainer has been caught with their pants down around their ankles again.” “Big deal, now when will we see the Stimulus start to create jobs, and not continue with today's report that another 263,000 THOUSAND people have lost their jobs and are first time unemployment claimers?”
”October 02, 2009
Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in September (-263,000), and the unemployment rate (9.8 percent) continued to trend up. The largest job losses were in construction, manufacturing, retail trade, and government.”http://www.bls.gov/
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They are all adults. Adults make mistakes or poor choices. Some even find their "soul mates", and choose to act on their desires. I am not judge and jury for them, God will one day have them atone for their sins of adultery
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Do you have a sex addtiction KT? I can provide you with a 1-800 number you can call to get help. Then perhaps you can report on what is REALLY upsetting Americans. That they are losing their jobs, barely surviving in this economy, and Obama is jet-setting across the Atlantic to “secure a bid for the Olympics”. Who gives a rat's a$$ if Chicago gets the Olympics or not in 2016?-
18.1
Oh rusty, rusty, rusty, sometimes you can't see the trees for the forest. No one here gives a rats $ss about who Ensign shtupped...he can knock himself out for all we care. But he's the jack$ss who's gone on record about impeaching Clinton for his affair, and none of us are blatant hypocrites trying to pass legislation dictating who can do what to whom. Nope, that would be Ensign, but of course, he certainly has no problem sticking his peepee into people who are not his wife.
But really what's bad here is; didn't you just yesterday post this ridiculous rant about corrupt Dems and all of their ethical violations. Hmm, funny, didn't see any GOPers; and unlikely you would see anything wrong with what Ensign did for Hampton. Sure, it was just one friend helping another...after helping himself to his friend's wife.
I know I shouldn't egg on the trolls, but sometimes the obvious has to be stated.
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18.2
...pulling these stories out of the cobwebs and exploiting them now only serves to desensitize the real issues and problems facing our Country.
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I completely agree.
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We have more important problems facing our beloved country than Ensign's or Spitzer's marital failures.
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We have systemic problems.
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One of those systemic problems is the lack of appropriate proportionality that characterizes press corps' content with respect to...important problems facing our beloved country.
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"How does a public lynching of Ensign (which will never happen BTW, as you'd surely admit) advance the progressive agenda, well, as if that agenda is getting a lick fo advancement anyway."
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In "the larger scheme of things", the constant application of double-standards to hamstring or defeat Democratic/liberal politicians is one important way the progressive agenda is stymied. It's not about lynching Ensign, it's about pointing out the double-standard. -
20
Digby explains it:
There is simply no doubt that Taylor Branch is correct --- the media turned into a bunch of gossipy scandalmongers eager for any right wing piece of dirt they could smear on Clinton and the Democrats, all the while protesting that they had nothing to do with it. Matthews doesn't even know the most basic facts and he was reporting it at the time. (And he is paid five f@cking million dollars a year!)
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I'm sorry, but this is so disturbing. It isn't just Matthews. It's the whole village, which constructed this alternate universe that is, as Branch went on to say, still with us today. They turned politics into a scandal machine and rewrote the story to their own liking as it was happening. It was the most frustrating thing I ever lived through. it led to the excoriation of Gore, and the eight years of George W. Bush and the legacy of failure and debt he left behind. I blame them as much as anything for this. -
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I think his affair will only help him. It shows that he is SOOOO heterosexual that one woman simply can't fill the bill. It's a triumph for family values and demonstrates what a manly stud Ensign is. That'll show those pansy democrats what a REAL man is like.
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