WaPo: Indiana Rep. Souder Resigns Over Affair

[Bliz]

This story broke this morning. Can't believe it didn't make it here yet.

Lots of politicians have affairs, but how many have done an abstinence PSA with the girl they’re banging on the side? :ols: Classic.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/18/AR2010051803059.html?hpid%3Dtopnews⊂=AR

Indiana congressman Mark Souder's resignation, announced Tuesday, came after anonymous tipsters called his aides and his opponents in a Republican primary to say he was having an extramarital affair with a part-time staffer, according to sources familiar with the calls.

The conservative Christian congressman's chief of staff, Renee Howell, confronted him last week over the rumored affair with Tracy Meadows Jackson, according to a source in the office. On Tuesday morning, two weeks after winning the primary, Souder publicly admitted the affair -- without naming the staffer -- and said he would resign effective Friday.

The affair began after Jackson was hired in 2004, according to the source in the office. Jackson, who is married, was to be a guest host with Souder for a daily radio spot he recorded for WFCV, a Christian radio station in Fort Wayne, Ind. Jackson also at one point played host for a local cable-access show that served as a platform for Souder to discuss conservative issues, and she helped produce numerous videos of Souder's speeches and positions, including one in which they discussed his strong support for teen abstinence.

Souder, who was elected in the GOP wave of 1994, said in a statement Tuesday: "I sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part time member of my staff. . . . I am so shamed to have hurt those I love."

Jackson did not respond Tuesday to repeated e-mails and calls. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to freely discuss the sensitive matter.

More at the link

[Burgold]

These guys don't seem to learn. You can't get away with it anymore.

[Destino]

Now that is hilarious message for kids. "Wait until marriage, it's not like I'm asking you to just sleep with one person forever."

[Corcaigh]

I feel sorry for the staffer:

[Burgold]

I feel sorry for the staffer:

Geez... power must be an aphrodisiac

[thebluefood]

Geez... power must be an aphrodisiac

Well, hell, everyone knows that, Burgold. Howdda think J. Howard Marshall got Anna Nicole Smith?

[Burgold]

That wasn't power... that was money (though you might argue it's the same thing in certain ways) Otoh, Smith may have been so permanently stoned that she really thought he was awesome looking all the time.

[FanboyOf91]

He voted to impeach Bill Clinton, didn't he?

[alexey]

Who could have thunk it, people who talk anti gay are gay, people who talk about family values are cheaters, people who talk about small government are big spenders...

[Special K]

That's hilarious. What a moron.

[ACW]

I know that Souder's one of Congress's biggest drug warriors, so :ciao: and :finger:

[Redskins Diehard]

He voted to impeach Bill Clinton, didn't he?

Did Souder perjure himself also? Or do you not realize that Bill Clinton wasn't in fact impeached for the affair but instead the whole "not telling the truth under oath" deal?

[Burgold]

Did Souder perjure himself also? Or do you not realize that Bill Clinton wasn't in fact impeached for the affair but instead the whole "not telling the truth under oath" deal?

You say potato

I say Idaho

You say...

No, I didn't just call you a ho

C'mon. Don't be like that!

The fact is that the investigator went on a wild witch hunt and Clinton wound up perjuring himself about an affair. Was that bad and wrong? Surely, but the fact is that the investigation went so far beyonds its initial scope that it's insane. An incredible waste of tax payer money that came down to someone lying about having an affair... and being blistered by outraged hypocrites, many of whom like Souder and Henry Hyde who are blissfully engaged in their own wrongdoings and have almost assuredly lied about it as well.

[Redskins Diehard]

You say potato

I say Idaho

You say...

No, I didn't just call you a ho

C'mon. Don't be like that!

The fact is that the investigator went on a wild witch hunt and Clinton wound up perjuring himself about an affair. Was that bad and wrong? Surely, but the fact is that the investigation went so far beyonds its initial scope that it's insane. An incredible waste of tax payer money that came down to someone lying about having an affair... and being blistered by outraged hypocrites, many of whom like Souder and Henry Hyde who are blissfully engaged in their own wrongdoings and have almost assuredly lied about it as well.

If you want to talk about an investigator gone wild then that is a different discussion. Have Souder and Hyde lied about it under oath? Do you really not get it either? Maybe he shouldn't have ever been asked the question after he swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And maybe after he was asked he should have refused to answer. He definitely should not have given an untrue answer while under oath. But I guess you think that type of behavior is acceptable.

[Larry]

and being blistered by outraged hypocrites, many of whom like Souder and Henry Hyde who are blissfully engaged in their own wrongdoings and have almost assuredly lied about it as well.

and Newt.

[Burgold]

If you want to talk about an investigator gone wild then that is a different discussion. Have Souder and Hyde lied about it under oath? Do you really not get it either? Maybe he shouldn't have ever been asked the question after he swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And maybe after he was asked he should have refused to answer. He definitely should not have given an untrue answer while under oath. But I guess you think that type of behavior is acceptable.

Yup and yup. Lying under oath is unacceptable. The prosecution was too. Lot of ugliness. I'll also say that Clinton sullied the office of the Presidency.

He was a good President and a pretty icky human being.

Okay, back to Souder's transgressions.

[JimboDaMan]

If you want to talk about an investigator gone wild then that is a different discussion. Have Souder and Hyde lied about it under oath? Do you really not get it either? Maybe he shouldn't have ever been asked the question after he swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And maybe after he was asked he should have refused to answer. He definitely should not have given an untrue answer while under oath. But I guess you think that type of behavior is acceptable.

I don't get the fascination with "under oath". Where I come from, lying is just as wrong whenever you do it. Under oath is prosecutable as a crime, and just plain regular lying is not. But I find no moral difference between the two.

[mistertim]

I know that Souder's one of Congress's biggest drug warriors, so :ciao: and :finger:

It would have been even more hilarious if he was caught getting it on with her while smoking a joint.

[thebluefood]

I know that Souder's one of Congress's biggest drug warriors, so :ciao: and :finger:

HA! These moral warriors in congress crack me up. I'd get more joy out of it if they weren't hiding behind the cross. They hare hypocrites of the highest order. I only hope he repents.

[Larry]

It would have been even more hilarious if he was caught getting it on with her while smoking a joint.

The **** set me up!

[Redskins Diehard]

I don't get the fascination with "under oath". Where I come from, lying is just as wrong whenever you do it. Under oath is prosecutable as a crime, and just plain regular lying is not. But I find no moral difference between the two.

It isn't a fascination. But it does seem you get the difference. Lying under oath is prosecutable while just plain lying is not. An impeachment is a prosecution. Moral difference? Never really thought about it that way. But I guess I could see how it would be slightly less moral to lie after you have just told someone that you promised you were telling the truth.

[Bliz]

Did Souder perjure himself also?

He may as well have.

When you set up your entire political persona as a "Christian conservative", an evangelical hell-bent (pun intended) on restoring good Christian morals to a nation going down the wrong path, you are subjecting yourself to a higher standard.

[Burgold]

Well, he surely did perjure himself to his wife. Afterall, he swore an oath before God to be true to her. Unless it was an open marriage, I'm pretty confident he lied to her.

[Busch1724]

Good one more a-hole down. How many more to go?

[Redskins Diehard]

He may as well have.

When you set up your entire political persona as a "Christian conservative", an evangelical hell-bent (pun intended) on restoring good Christian morals to a nation going down the wrong path, you are subjecting yourself to a higher standard.

Okay, but you aren't prosecuted for that. And the comparison was that he voted to impeach Clinton for perjury...he is a phony, a fake, a bad husband, poor father...but none of those are impeachable offenses

Well, he surely did perjure himself to his wife. Afterall, he swore an oath before God to be true to her. Unless it was an open marriage, I'm pretty confident he lied to her.

Okay so now you are advocating that we impeach everyone that lies to their spouse? Or breaks a promise they make to God? Really? Grasping here.

The guy is a bum and I have no respect for him. But what happened to the "what goes on in his own bedroom is none of our business" that usually comes from the people that are outraged over this. Seems like plenty of "hypocrisy" to go around in this thread.

The guy resigned...if not he should have been voted out if his constituents did not want his representation anymore. I personally would not vote for a known adulterer whether it is Bill Clinton or Souder...however only one of them committed an impeachable offense as our laws are currently written. And I find it hard to believe that either of you are advocating a "impeach people that sleep around" adjustment.