John Ensign should have resigned in disgrace back when his affair was made public. It isn’t that he cheated; it’s who he cheated with and what he tried to do to keep it a secret. We didn’t need an Ethics investigation to know that Ensign is a dirtbag unworthy of high public office. We will now get a demonstration on whether our system of justice is capable of treating the powerful with the same harshness it metes out to ordinary citizens. Fmr. Sen. John Ensign must be prosecuted. A jury can decide his guilt and his punishment (if any), but he must face a jury.
As for Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), it appears that he has lied about his role both in the press and to the Senate Ethics Committee investigators. I remember way back when this all started to leak out that Sen. Coburn tried to invoke doctor/patient confidentiality to keep his conversations with Ensign secret. Tom Coburn is a gynecologist. Not to be crude, but John Ensign doesn’t have a vagina, uterus, ovaries, or fallopian tubes. I knew right then that Coburn had committed some kind of major ethical lapse.
To be fair, Coburn tried to be a good friend by making a strong effort to get Ensign to stop pursuing his staffer and close friend’s wife. Coburn tried to help the cuckolded husband, too, as was only fair under the circumstances. There was probably an element of basic decency and friendship that motivated Coburn’s actions. I recognize that. But, that doesn’t change the fact that he actively negotiated a hush-money package for Doug and Cynthia Hampton and then lied about it to investigators. He should be facing potential perjury changes, and possibly obstruction of justice charges, too. But, even if prosecutors want to cut him some slack, the good people of Oklahoma should be disgusted and hold Coburn accountable the next time he faces reelection. Of course, that won’t be until 2016, and Oklahoma is so conservative that they won’t lightly consider a Democratic alternative. It’s probable that Coburn will never face any consequences for his ethical lapses.
The citizens of this fair country are getting used to that kind of outcome. Petty drug-dealers face decades in prison. Corrupt senators get reelected. Wall Street banksters get a pass.
