SELF-PIOUS PHONIES
Let me state it openly. Bill Clinton, Teddy Kennedy and John Edwards did things that were reprehensible. They cheated on their wives, and they took advantage of the good will placed in them by many fine people. But none of those men presented themselves as saints, neither used piety as a self-proclaimed persona. Nevertheless I must openly state that I am critical of them for this lapse in moral character. But I am in no position to judge them beyond that statement.
However there are far too many self-pious, Bible-toting, halo-polishing right-wingers who make me sick to my stomach. Pat Robertson, that right-wing pentecostal who encouraged the U.S. government to have the C.I.A. kill Caesar Chavez, the democratically elected leader of Venezuela. Yuck. Some Christian this moral charlatan is.
Jimmy Swaggart, that right-wing pastor was caught soliciting prostitutes off the highway outside of Shreveport, Louisiana. Though he cried on the air as he asked for funds, he hinted that he never had vaginal intercourse with the prostitutes and somehow that made it less damning.
Jerry Falwell, that "saintly" right-wing leader was an atrocious homophobe.
Rush Limbaugh, the sanctimoneous right-wing mouthpiece, has been married how many times? And he was caught smuggling pain-killers from Mexico into the U.S. But he struts his "purity."
Newt Gingrich, trying as hard as he can to be the Republican nominee for president, openly told us how horrible Bill Clinton was for cheating on his wife with a young intern. Newt was a leader in the Congress to impeach Clinton. Meanwhile, and by the way, Newt was telling his wife, who lay in a hospital bed just having been diagnosed with cancer, that he wanted to end the marriage. Good timing, Newt. And we now find out Newt was fooling around with young staff himself in Washington. Oh, how Newt loves to parade around as above all the sinful ways of others.
When Newt was forced to step aside as Majority Leader in the House, it was hard to find a replacement because the guys nominated from the right-wing to replace him began to admit they cheated on their wives. And the man in the House who led the impeachment trial of Clinton, Congressman Henry Hyde, was found to have committed adultery himself. But he called it a "youthful dalliance" [he was in his forties when that occured].
And then there were the other right-wing leaders like Mark Sanford, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Bob Allen, John Ensign, Michael Duvall...must I go on?
Need I mention how many times George W. Bush outright lied to Americans?
I am sick and tired of all the pious right-wingers prancing around like saints as their private lives, one by one, are revealed in a sleazy fashion. These guys are scum.
Frankly, I don't give two hoots about what goes on in the private lives of elected officials as long as they do not break the law or compromise their office. But please stop criticizing others for doing the same thing the amazing number of right-wingers are doing. This two-faced, double standard makes me sickest of all.
