A Touch of Crass

[NanceGreggs]

By Nancy Greggs

It was obvious from David Vitter’s little dog-and-pony show today that he just doesn’t get it.

After a week spent in reflective seclusion (called ‘hiding’ if you’re a Democrat), Vitter offered his apology, perfunctory and well-rehearsed, to those he had disappointed – not for his sexual transgressions, but for getting caught.

It is apparent that Vitter is truly sorry – sorry that he has been publicly humiliated, sorry that his party members are pissed-off at him over yet another Republican sex scandal, sorry that his wife is going to make his life a complete misery by hanging this little episode over his head – probably until death do they part.

But Vitter has yet to own up to the real sin that will stain his reputation and haunt his career; his own hypocrisy. Instead, as we have seen time and again with his ilk, he still feels compelled to point out that he is and was a good Christian family man who just happened to fall off the marital fidelity wagon once or twice – or maybe a few times, and with a loud resounding thud.

As far as Vitter is concerned, this unfortunate and embarrassing episode was just a momentary lapse in good judgment, and he’s not going to let it deter him from judging others as he always has. Besides, as he was quick to point out, his political enemies must shoulder their share of responsibility in this debacle – you know, the ones who forced him to commit adultery with prostitutes.

The real tragedy is that the senator had a golden opportunity today to do what any truly decent man would do in this situation; publicly apologize to Bill Clinton.

During the Lewinsky scandal, Vitter wasted no time in suggesting that the president should resign, being unfit to hold office. He held himself out as a man of morals and family values, and pointed at Clinton as someone who had no morals or values whatsoever, someone who was beneath contempt for having broken his marriage vows and disgraced his family.

Vitter could have acknowledged that now finding himself in the same situation, he has come to understand that a good Christian doesn’t cast the first stone when someone else’s private life is exposed – in fact, a good Christian doesn’t cast any stones at all. He could have expressed his regret for having called another man’s fitness for office into question, as he asked his constituents for the same support he once felt should be denied the man in whose uncomfortable shoes he now walks.

Yes, he could have said any of those things. But he didn’t. Because to acknowledge his own hypocrisy and accept responsibility for it would have taken statesmanship, a sense of honour, and a touch of class – virtues which Vitter has now proven he is totally bereft of.

And it’s not like his our-marriage-is-stronger-than-ever wife is made of any better stuff than her pitifully remorseless spouse. As she berated the media for the impact their salacious stories are having on her children, she never once acknowledged that she can now sadly appreciate what life was like for Chelsea a few scant years ago, and how difficult it must have been for Bill and Hillary to shelter their own child from glaring headlines and behind-the-hand snickers.

She simply reminded everyone that this episode should have been treated as a private matter between husband and wife – an opinion she very obviously did not hold when it was the Clintons' marriage that was being discussed, analyzed, and ultimately declared an utter failure in every newspaper and on every news network for months.

I don’t think there is anyone heartless enough not to feel sympathy for the Vitter children. They, like the children of any politician, should not have to suffer for the sins of their father.

But perhaps, as they mature, they will look back and understand that admitting your own hypocrisy and sincerely apologizing to those you have wronged is the true measure of a man’s integrity.

God knows it’s not a lesson they are likely to learn from their parents.