The only surprise is that it’s a woman, because you know the old axiom about dead girls and live boys:
WASHINGTON — Saying he “sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff,” Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, said Tuesday he will resign from Congress.
“I am so ashamed to have hurt those I love,” he said in a written statement. “I am so sorry to have let so many friends down, people who have fought so hard for me.”
(…)
“In the poisonous environment of Washington, D.C., any personal failing is seized upon, often twisted, for political gain,” he said. “I am resigning rather than to put my family through that painful, drawn-out process.”
He said his wife and children “were more than willing to stand here with me. We are a committed family. But the error is mine, and I should bear the responsibility.”
Of course, as a “Fam’ly val-yews” Republican Evangelical, as long as he goes and repents really nicely, it’ll all be okay, and then they’ll give him a certificate for a free small fry or McNuggets (his choice, for being such a good boy), and it’ll probably never dawn on him what a flaming hypocrite he is for daring to have this sort of voting record, via Joe Jervis:
Souder’s anti-gay voting record: NO on hate crimes (2009), NO on ENDA (2007), YES on constitutional ban on gay marriage (2006), YES on gay adoption ban (1999).
Souder in 2004: “I believe people can have a propensity to alcoholism. I believe they can have a propensity to look at pornography on [the] Internet. I believe they can have a propensity to be homosexual. But I believe that it’s wrong and it’s controllable. That is a fundamental, biblically based view that doesn’t leave a lot of room or comfortability in a society where they don’t want you to have absolutes.”
Awww, and now he got caught with his pants down, unable to stay faithful to his wife of thirty years. I guess he just has a “propensity” for sexytime with staffers when his wife isn’t looking. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: part of the patriarchal white Christian wingnut belief system is that the rules only apply to those they think they’re better than, but never to them. That’s part of why this happens with such hilarious frequency. Sure, he’ll apologize and resign, and then in a couple months, another prominent Republican will be caught screwing something he’s not married to.
So, here’s something else you should know about Mark Souder. He made a video in 2009 with his mistress, whose name is Tracy Jackson, about (get this) abstinence. Of course, my first thought when I saw this video was “Hands where we can see them, folks!”:
(h/t Talking Points Memo)
Sexy.
I want to be fair and balanced here, of course, so here’s Jesus’ General’s defense of Souder:
