Sen. Ensign: "He has no credibility left?"

The following post is by my friend, Peter, who is the author of The Kaintuckeean. You can also follow his tweets @kaintuckeean. He writes here in pursuit of targeting an audience of Nevadans.

John Ensign, in 2004:

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. Marriage, as a social institution, predates every other institution on which ordered society in America has relied.

Sen. John Ensign today announced that he violated the sanctity of marriage by having an affair. It is certainly undisputed that people make mistakes (Christians would cite Rom. 3:23, "for all fall short of the glory of God") and politicians are no exception.

I will not admonish Sen. Ensign for his adultery. Rather, I am more concerned with his hypocrisy. When President Clinton was in the middle of Monica-gate and impeachment, Sen. Ensign stated that President Clinton "has no credibility left."

After fellow Republican Senator Larry Craig was caught in a Minneapolis airport restroom soliciting another man for sex, Ensign stated that "whether it's a Republican or Democratic senator — we certainly have had plenty of Democratic scandals in the past — we need people who are in office who will hold themselves to a little higher standard."

Admittedly, both Clinton and Craig did have criminal liability at stake, and there is no evidence that Ensign did anything criminal. Perhaps an analogy to former Republican Senator David Vitter would be a fit? [Vitter was the Senator whose number was in the D.C. Madam's phone book.] To that scandal, Ensign did not suggest resignation because the infidelity "happened before he got into the United States Senate, and there were no laws that were broken as far as anybody knows."

These quotes show Sen. Ensign's history of casting stones [John 8:7] at fellow politicians who err in their personal lives -- those who do not "hold themselves to a little higher standard," as he would put it. John Ensign has fallen below that personal standard by both his acts and through his hypocrisy.

His hypocrisy is exacerbated by his organizational ties. According to the New York Times, Ensign is a "born-again Christian" and is active in the evangelical group Promise Keepers. Promise Keepers pledge to keep Seven Promises, including "#3: A Promise Keeper is committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity" and "#4: A Promise Keeper is committed to building strong marriages and families through love, protection and biblical values."

Again, I will reiterate the message of Rom. 3:23, "all fall short." But those that "hold themselves to a little higher standard" should -- in the interests of your family, your faith, your state and your country -- not remain in the United States Senate.

Please, Sen. Ensign, resign.