FPN calls on Sen. Vitter to follow Weiner’s lead and resign

[FPN] – The daily newspaper in New Orleans, Louisiana reported on Family Policy Network’s call for U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-LA) to “follow the lead of former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., and resign rather than leave Republicans and conservatives open to charges of hypocrisy.” According to the article, which appeared on June 20, 2011 in The Times-Picayune, “Until now, calls for Vitter’s resignation have come from liberals.”

Here is an excerpt from the article:

“Christian conservative group calls on Sen. Vitter to follow Weiner’s lead and resign”
The Times-Picayune – June 20, 2011

..

WASHINGTON — The president of the Christian conservative Family Policy Network sent Sen. David Vitter, R-La., a letter Monday calling on him to follow the lead of former Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., and resign rather than leave Republicans and conservatives open to charges of hypocrisy.

Vitter admitted to a “serious sin” in 2007 after his phone number was found in the 2001 client records of a woman accused of running a prostitution ring. Vitter was a member of the House of Representatives when the calls were made.

Weiner announced his plans last week to resign after first lying about and then admitting to “inappropriate” Internet communication with various women.

“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.

“I think their credibility is at stake,” said Glover. “I know a lot of times in Washington, pragmatism reigns supreme, but there are some things that are more important than politics and integrity is one of those things.”

Vitter’s office had no immediate comment.

In an article that will be posted on the group’s website Tuesday, policy analyst Alexander Mason writes that: “Almost four years ago, a very similar scandal to Weiner’s was unfolding on our television and computer screens. Louisiana Senator David Vitter, who fashions himself as a Christian, pro-family, conservative Republican, had just been exposed as a client of a high-profile prostitution ring in our nation’s capital. Vitter, who had once called for President Clinton’s resignation over the Lewinsky scandal, was now mired in his own tawdry sex scandal. So what did Republican leaders do about Senator Vitter? They let him off the hook.”

“Furthermore,” Mason writes, “the public’s perception of Vitter as a sleazy, hypocritical Christian only served to tarnish the name of Christ among unbelievers.”

< end of excerpts from article >

Read the entire news article here:
http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/06/christian_conservative_group_c.html