Six Of The Worst Conservative Moral Hypocrites

Scandals are nothing new in politics but as of late, the purveyors of indecent acts have often been those who had previously most vociferously demonized and chastised others for their ‘immoral’ behavior. Here’s a list of seven of the worst “do as I say but not as I do” offenders:

6. Larry ”Happy feet” Craig

While serving as a Republican senator for Idaho, Craig was arrested for attempting to solicit some man lovin’ in a bathroom stall from an undercover police officer at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Craig was a long-standing opponent of gay rights and gay marriage, and voted against homosexuality being included in hate crimes legislation. Even funnier (and weirder) in retrospect is the quote he offered to Tim Russert in 1999 in the wake of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal:

“The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy – a naughty boy. I’m going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.”

5. Bishop Eddie Long

Oh, the irony. Bishop Eddie Long is the senior pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a megachurch in Georgia. Apart from taking several millions of dollars a year from his ‘non-profit’ church and charity, Long has frequently denounced homosexuality and has sponsored several ‘sexual reorientation’ programs that attempt to ‘cure’ gays of homosexuality. In 2007, the Southern Poverty Law Center identified Long as “one of the most virulently homophobic black leaders in the religiously based anti-gay movement.”

Then the lawsuits started. Turns out, Bishop Long was having sex with other men, then using his influence in the church to provide them with jobs, jewelry, cars, and expensive vacations in an effort to keep them quiet. As of today, four different men have filed lawsuits against Long, claiming he coerced them into unwanted sex.

4. Ted “I’m not a homosexual but I play one in real life” Haggard

Ah, Ted Haggard. If there were a playing deck of absurd evangelical hypocrites, he’d be the Queen. Haggard spent the first part of his life as an evangelical preacher, eventually founding the Association of Life-Giving Churches and became leader of the National Association of Evangelicals. He was your typical fire-breather who spent a significant portion of his life denouncing homosexuality and liberalism.

And then in 2006, Mike Jones — a Denver area escort — came forward with allegations that for over 3 years, Haggard paid Jones for sex, which often would be fueled by meth purchased by Haggard. Haggard would eventually acknowledge the charges and resigned from all leadership positions. Jones explained that he came forward after he learned of Haggard’s leadership role in outlawing gay marriage in Colorado, “”It made me angry that here’s someone preaching against gay marriage and going behind the scenes having gay sex.” We couldn’t agree more.

3. Mark Foley

Mark Foley was your standard socially-conservative Republican: after spending 10 years in the House of Representatives, Foley developed a long-standing record of supporting anti-gay legislation in addition to chairing the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.

Notice a pattern here? In 2006, an investigation by ABC revealed that Foley had sent sexually suggestive emails and instant messages to an underage male page who worked in the US Congress. More male pages would come forward, leading to the following IM conversation being released between Mark Foley and a 16 year old male page (Maf54 is Mark Foley):

Maf54 (8:08:31 PM): get a ruler and measure it for me
Xxxxxxxxx (8:08:38 PM): ive already told you that
Maf54 (8:08:47 PM): tell me again
Xxxxxxxxx (8:08:49 PM): 7 and 1/2
Maf54 (8:09:04 PM): ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Maf54 (8:09:08 PM): beautiful

2. Chris Lee

While former Republican representative Chris Lee isn’t the worst offender on this list, he may be the stupidest. Less than two years into serving as the Republican representative for New York’s 26th congressional district, Lee responded to a woman’s Craigslist ad by sending her a topless photo of himself.

The real kicker? He used his actual name. The recipient of Lee’s steamy photo Googled his name and upon learning he was a married politician, forwarded the email and picture to Gawker. Lee resigned from the House of Representatives the same day.

1. John Ensign

John Ensign, the outgoing Republican Senator from Nevada, has been a stalwart social conservative since he was elected in 1994 to the House of Representatives. In 1998, after Bill Clinton admitted to an extra-marital affair with Monica Lewinsky, Ensign called for Clinton to resign the Presidency saying “he has no credibility left.” Ensign was also a forceful supporter of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would outlaw gay marriage across the United States, and delivered these remarks on the Senate floor:

Marriage is the cornerstone on which our society was founded. For those who say that the Constitution is so sacred that we cannot or should not adopt the Federal Marriage Amendment, I would simply point out that marriage, and the sanctity of that institution, predates the American Constitution and the founding of our nation.

Apparently, Ensign knew a thing or two first-hand about the sanctity of marriage, as he conducted a long-term affair with Cynthia Hampton, the wife of his top Congressional aide, Douglas Hampton. When Douglas Hampton confronted Ensign about the affair, Ensign tried to bribe his way out by having his parents pay Cynthia over $96,000 in hush-money and having several of his top donors provide lobbying jobs to Douglas.

Ensign is currently under investigation by both the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics and the FBI, and has subsequently announced he will no longer run for reelection in 2012.

Honorable mention: J. Edgar Hoover, who as director of the F.B.I. broke more laws than were written and undertook the largest surveillance and monitoring program of citizens in history, illegally breaching the privacy of thousands of Americans. Oh, and he liked to dress in drag.

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At some point one has to discern which is more immoral; conspiring to convince a contingent of the populous who genuinely believe in their cause that you stand in solidarity or having the congressional authority to legislate against these causes while secretly ascribing, merely to appease swing voters, lobbyist and constituents. One fact is, was and always will be certain: No one likes a hypocrite.

 

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