Ensign's Sex-Scandal Enabler? [View All]

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Ensign's Sex-Scandal Enabler?

by Max Blumenthal


Senator Tom Coburn knew of John Ensign’s affair 16 months ago—and concealed it from the public. But what, Max Blumenthal asks, did the conservative moral crusader tell his friend in private?

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The disclosure of Coburn’s role in the scandal not only raises questions about the extent to which he participated in a cover-up, but may also prove damaging to his reputation as perhaps the staunchest advocate of conservative sexual mores in Senate history. Coburn is the senator who denounced NBC’s broadcast of Schindler’s List as “an all-time low, with full-frontal nudity.” He has warned of “rampant” lesbianism in Oklahoma public high school bathrooms. And he has battled to discredit condom use. Elected to the Senate in 2004 after serving eight years in the House of Representatives, Coburn has demonstrated an uncanny ability to transform zealous and occasionally very weird moral crusades into headlines.

“Our culture that too often glorifies promiscuous sex without consequences should not be surprised by this scandal,” Congressman Coburn declared at the height of impeachment proceedings targeting President Bill Clinton for lying about his affair with Monica Lewinsky. “The tragic consequences of the president's behavior should prompt us to reassert the high moral standards that form the foundation of our freedom.”

During his time in the House during the late 1990s, and then as co-chair of President George W. Bush’s Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS, Coburn (who is an anti-abortion obstetrician from Muskogee) spearheaded a campaign to undermine public confidence in condom use. The campaign culminated with a press release he headlined, “Condoms Do Not Prevent Most STD’s. When Coburn ran for the Senate in 2004, he campaigned on a hardcore anti-abortion platform, declaring in a debate against his Democratic opponent, Brad Carson, that he favored the death penalty for “abortionists.”

Four months after being sworn into the Senate—he won the cliffhanger election thanks in part to a last-minute race-baiting ad blitz—Coburn hosted an event for young staffers called “Revenge of the STD’s.” Theme music from the Star Wars film, “The Phantom Menace” blasted as staffers filed into a darkened room in the Senate basement, while Coburn’s aides furnished them with fliers portraying Yoda and C3PO shrieking, “Oh, how dreadful!” Once they were seated, Coburn projected graphic images of diseased, wart-infested genitalia on the wall while describing the ghastly consequences of engaging in sex with multiple partners. According to a press release for the event, staffers were treated to “a free pizza lunch” while they watched Dr. Coburn’s slideshow.

In October 2007, when Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) announced he would finish his term after pleading guilty to soliciting sex with an undercover cop in a bathroom stall, Coburn joined Ensign and a number of other Republican senators in calling for Craig’s immediate resignation. “He ought to keep his word,” Coburn rumbled. Now, with Ensign is at the center of an embarrassing sex scandal, Coburn has affected an unusually tolerant tone. His transformation from anti-sex crusader to adultery enabler has been overnight.

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-06-21/ensigns-sex-scandal-enabler/full/