I think we may have reached some kind of turning point. Progressives are starting to drive some narratives and are getting some response. The ultra-conservative Family Policy Network has responded to the growing clamor from the left about the Weiner/Vitter hypocrisy.
“There are a lot of people that I think are committing outright hypocrisy and are forced to do so as long as he (Vitter) remains in office,” said Joe Glover, the president of the Family Policy Network, based in Forest, Va. “I don’t think the senator should put those folks in the untenable position of having to pragmatically defend his presence in the Senate.”
Glover noted, for example, that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, had called on Weiner to resign, but had also contributed to Vitter’s 2010 re-election campaign.
An article that will be posted on the group’s website tomorrow asks, “So what did Republican leaders do about Senator Vitter? They let him off the hook.” The article continues, “[T]he public’s perception of Vitter as a sleazy, hypocritical Christian only served to tarnish the name of Christ among unbelievers.”
This will be probably the first time I’ve ever agreed with the FPN. V
Failure to condemn Vitter for much worse offenses does look like hypocrisy (IOKIYAR). Vitter is not so essential to the conservative movement that he can’t be sacrificed. Why not show their seriousness by kicking Vitter to the curb?
It’s not just the FPC that is criticizing Vitter. Prominent conservatives are criticizing Vitter, like Andrew Breitbart, Greta Van Sustern and Bill O’Reilly.