I guess the silver lining for Republicans is that this can be the year they can clean house and pull themselves up from moral and intellectual bankruptcy. New York Rep. Fossella faces calls for his resignation By DEVLIN BARRETT – 1 hour ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Embattled and embarrassed by the confession he fathered a child from an extramarital affair, New York Rep. Vito Fossella is facing public calls for his resignation. Secluded with his family, he must decide if he wants to keep his job badly enough to grapple with the lingering questions and fallout from the scandal. In admitting the affair and a secret child Thursday, the Republican lawmaker indicated he planned to stay in Congress for months to come, but there are signs he could be out much sooner: House Minority Leader John Boehner pointedly said he expected Fossella to make a decision about his future this weekend. Fossella's personal life came apart at the seams after police stopped him for running a red light last week and charged him with drunken-driving. The arrest fueled scrutiny which led to revelations of an affair with a former Air Force officer, and a 3-year-old daughter with her. Political consultant Mike Paul, a former aide to Republicans including former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, said the pressure will be intense on Fossella to make some sort of decision by Monday. "This weekend for him is a lot of soul-searching," said Paul. "Blood's thicker than water, but even blood sometimes takes a walk: Your wife can walk, your children can say they don't want to be with dad anymore," he said. The Staten Island Advance, the paper that speaks directly to the bulk of Fossella's constituents, declared Friday that he "is finished" and must resign immediately. The New York Post declared it's "time to go." But go where? Back to the home he shares with his wife and three children on Staten Island? Or back to his other child and her mother in Virginia? If Fossella tries to hang on — as many lawmakers have done in recent scandals — he will still have some hard questions to handle, like: _ If convicted of drunken-driving, does he end up serving jail time under Virginia's tough anti-DWI laws? A sitting congressman sitting in a cell is not a pretty sight for the Congress or Fossella's Republican Party. _ Did his wife know he had a child with another woman, and even if she did, will she stay with him now that the world knows? _ Did the congressman mix business with pleasure? The New York Daily News reported the other woman, Laura Fay, was part of a government trip to Europe with Fossella and other lawmakers years ago, raising the question of whether taxpayer dollars were in any way used to pursue the romance. Fossella's spokeswoman said Friday he was in Staten Island with his family, and provided no further details. If Fossella did step down, and that resignation took effect before July 1, New York's Democratic governor David Paterson would have the option of calling a special election to fill the seat for the rest of the year. That would force the financially struggling House GOP campaign committee to plow a large amount of money into an extra election in New York City, one of the most expensive places in the nation to campaign. If Fossella made his resignation effective after July 1, then there would be no special election, the seat would be empty for the remainder of the year and the normal primary and general election process would take place. Yet there are plenty of recent examples of lawmakers who didn't leave Congress after a scandal. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., has stayed on after being linked to a D.C. prostitution ring; Larry Craig, R-Idaho, remains after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct resulting from a sex sting in a Minneapolis airport bathroom; and Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted in a bribery investigation.
I'm really sick of people's sexual misconduct being made into political issues. Lets all just elect some nuns then.
It becomes an issue when a party or politician gets elected based on a platform of preaching against certain types of sexual misconduct only to turn around and do it in private. Republicans need a new platform. Small government and taking the moral high ground are not their thing.
I agree with both of you. It's true that members of the Republican Party have been hypocritical on this -- trying to legislate morality while violating their own self-prescribed rules, but... There is no man without sin (including the sin of hypocrisy) and I just don't think this stuff belongs in our politics or even our newspapers. I don't even think this guy should be forced to resign over it. These sorts of scandals have nothing to do with the people's business. I don't care who's having sex with whom or really even who's driving drunk. We have cops and rightfully pissed off wives to take care of all that. Let's talk about the issues.
Unless Fossella sponsored legislation outlawing adultery or having out of wedlock children, I disagree. Even if he did, he would speaking for his constituents, not for himself.
At this point do we still even consider them hypocritical anymore? Everyone on both sides does crap like this, and ALL politicians act like they are on a moral high ground, Republican or not. This story isn't even interesting from a gossip standpoint; it's not like he got busted in a gay bathroom sex sting. That's a story. On a side note, could anyone here actually vote for a guy named Vito? I'm biased like that.
