It seems my concern that the John Ensign sex scandal would fade into the background was misplaced:

Doug Hampton spoke publicly for the first time today about the affair his wife had with Sen. John Ensign, saying the Nevada Republican continued his pursuit even after intermediaries tried to get him to stop.

Hampton said that Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and others urged him to end the affair and help the Hamptons pay off their home and move to Colorado. But Ensign was so infatuated that he continued, Hampton said.

You can watch the first installment of Hampton’s interview here – it’s positively cringe-inducing. Among other things,  we learn that the estimable Senator Coburn made Ensign send a letter to Cindy, the object of his affection, telling her that their invisible sky god didn’t approve of them having sexytime. Unfortunately, Ensign was  back fucking her the next day – he even called her and told her the letter was coming and to ignore it.

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The Las Vegas Sun had a report Sunday that fleshed out the story of John Ensign’s philandering:

When Sen. John Ensign hired Doug Hampton to be his senior aide in November 2006, Nevada Republicans were baffled.

Hampton was an unknown, without a policy profile or political experience.

According to eight Nevada and Washington Republicans, Hampton’s chief qualification: He and Ensign were best friends, as were their wives.

“It was a hire based on a relationship,” said a prominent Republican who was granted anonymity to speak freely.

“Best pals,” said another Republican. “It was ridiculous.”

Yesterday, TPM linked to the piece and asked if perhaps Ensign hired fellow Promisekeeper Hampton to help him keep his little soldier in his pants:

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Don’t think Pat Robertson and the other wingnuts want their followers to take action? Get a load of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC0qHnWsP5k

Dick Cheney won’t go away. Rick Santorum won’t go away.  And sadly, neither will the one douchebag who almost ruled them all:

Earlier today, former Republican senator George Allen officially launched his latest venture, “an industry-backed anti-regulatory group” called American Energy Freedom Center. In a webcast today, Allen claimed that he wants to “tell people the truthful story about America’s energy potential that has never been told before.”

Let me guess, he knows more about energy than anyone in the country (except Sarah Palin).

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JNOV made another video:

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Me like.

Michael Patrick Leahy:

Stephanie of Teablogging is being sued by teabagging Less Creepy Bill Whittle for going through public records and discovering that the erstwhile teabagger doesn’t like to pay his taxes until legal actions are taken against him.

Stephanie’s wonderful blog is here. You can read the first page of Leahy’s complaint here – I have no idea why you can’t see the rest of it. Here’s the whole complaint.

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Chris Cilizza, on torture:

Asked whether such tactics were justified, 53 percent of the overall sample said they wereand 34 percent said they were not. […]

On the question of whether such techniques have yielded information that has made the country safer, 52 percent of all respondents said they had while 39 percent said they had not.

It doesn’t matter if 53 percent or 100 percent of the respondents think torture is justified.  It’s a federal crime.  It’s an international crime. And we are required by treaty to prosecute everyone involved.

Cilizza Uses GOP Poll to Claim that ‘Most’ Americans Say Torture is ‘Justified’ [ThinkProgress]