{"id":568602,"date":"2010-05-18T13:05:14","date_gmt":"2010-05-18T17:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/washingtonindependent.com\/?p=85048"},"modified":"2010-05-18T13:05:14","modified_gmt":"2010-05-18T17:05:14","slug":"the-rambling-word-salad-that-is-mark-souder%e2%80%99s-resignation-statement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/568602","title":{"rendered":"The Rambling Word Salad That Is Mark Souder\u2019s Resignation Statement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tangled up in extramarital affairs, politicians tend to be contrite, remorseful, apologetic — any number of things designed to make them appear humble in the face of the intense public scrutiny they inevitably face. (“If there was ever anything I could take back in my life, this would be it,” Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.)\u00a0said<\/a> last year after finding himself in a similar pickle.)<\/p>\n

So it was odd to see the statement<\/a> this morning from Rep. Mark Souder, the “family-values” Republican from Indiana found today<\/a> to be not as committed to his family as he’d have us believe.<\/p>\n

It’s not that he doesn’t start well:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

It has been a privilege to be a part of the battle for freedom and the values we share.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But then he immediately moves on to imply that the strains of the job — and the sacrifices he’s made for his constituents — led him astray.<\/p>\n

\n

It has been all consuming for me to do this job well, especially in a district with costly, competitive elections every two years.<\/p>\n

I do not have any sort of “normal” life — for family, for friends, for church, for community.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That’s followed by a brief shift back to humble-servant mode:<\/p>\n

\n

To serve has been a blessing and a responsibility given from God.<\/p>\n

I wish I could have been a better example.<\/p>\n

I sinned against God, my wife and my family by having a mutual relationship with a part-time member of my staff.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But then he’s back to blaming external factors for the position he’s put himself in:<\/p>\n

\n

In the poisonous environment of Washington, D.C., any personal failing is seized upon, often twisted, for political gain.<\/p>\n

I am resigning rather than to put my family through that painful, drawn-out process.<\/p>\n

Diane and my family were more than willing to stand here with me.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Finally, he accepts responsibility:<\/p>\n

\n

But the error is mine and I should bear the responsibility …<\/p>\n

I am so ashamed to have hurt those I love.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

But that’s followed by the claim that his resignation is a heroic gesture designed to salvage the policies he advocated in Congress.<\/p>\n

\n

By stepping aside, my mistake cannot be used as a political football in a partisan attempt to undermine the cause for which I have labored all my adult life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If there’s a message in all of this contradiction, he doesn’t make it easy to glean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tangled up in extramarital affairs, politicians tend to be contrite, remorseful, apologetic — any number of things designed to make them appear humble in the face of the intense public scrutiny they inevitably face. (“If there was ever anything I could take back in my life, this would be it,” Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.)\u00a0said last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4315,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-568602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4315"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=568602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/568602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=568602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=568602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=568602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}