Vitter's Discretions Continue to Come to Light

This blogger wrote yesterday about U.S. Sen. David Vitter [R-La.] and his acknowledgement of a propensity to use the services of alleged D.C. madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey. The New Orleans Times-Picayune added more fuel to this potentially explosive fire earlier this week with a report the social conservative -- and so-called defender of family values -- frequented a Big Easy brothel before voters first elected him to Congress in 1999.

"Canal Street Madam" Jeanette Maier told the newspaper Vitter spent time with several women at her New Orleans brothel. This revelation -- and other local and statewide media reports -- prompted the National Lesbian & Gay Task Force to issue a press release yesterday which blasted Vitter as a hypocrite for his sponsorship of the Federal Marriage Amendment and other anti-LGBT legislation.

“It is the pinnacle of hypocrisy for Senator Vitter to be thundering about ‘family values’ and the ‘sanctity of marriage’ and doing everything possible to deny the freedom to marry to same-sex couples while apparently paying for sex behind his wife’s back," NGLTF Executive Director Matt Foreman said. "If his wife and family want to forgive him, fine, but this far surpasses a personal transgression. He owes all Americans, particularly those of us who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, an apology.”

Vitter, as this blogger noted yesterday, is certainly not the first social conservative to taint himself with scandal. His now public discretions remain, however, the pinnacle of hypocrisy in light of his Congressional career arguably built upon an anti-LGBT agenda. Vitter made an attempt to come clean sort-of-speak with his public apology earlier this week but his 'family values' and pro-sanctity of marriage credentials remain significantly -- and perhaps irrevocably tainted -- by this scandal. He has a huge hill to climb if he seeks to reclaim any of the platform he once enjoyed.