Re: Character That Matters?

[lkeenan@norby.latah.lib.id.us (Lori Keenan)]

Vomiting seems a more appropriate response.  Lori Keenan

>Hi all --
>
>Since nobody flipped out when Briana posted an article critical of our
>commander in chief titled 'Lies that Matter' that was an opinion originally
>published in the New Republic, I'm beginning to wonder if anyone really
>cares about character and integrity in our elected representatives.
>
>Enjoy (or vomit)!  :-)  Scott
>
>Chenoweth admits to 6-year affair
>
>BOISE, Idaho - Rep. Helen Chenoweth, who campaigned on family values and
>first won office after the disclosure of her opponent's illicit affair,
>admitted having a long-term affair with a married man in the 1980s.
>
>In a story Thursday, The Idaho Statesman quoted the two-term conservative
>Republican as saying she regretted her six-year affair but finds her
>situation markedly different from that of President Clinton, whose
>resignation she has sought since April over the Monica Lewinsky affair.
>
>'Fourteen years ago, when I was a private citizen and a single woman, I was
>involved in a relationship that I came to regret, that I'm not proud of,'
>Chenoweth said. 'I've asked for God's forgiveness, and I've received it.'
>
>Her comments come less than a week after another conservative Republican,
>Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana, admitted to fathering a child from an
>extramarital relationship in the early 1980s. Burton has been a leading
>critic of Clinton, but has focused mainly on campaign fund-raising, not his
>private life.
>
>Her office in Boise did not immediately respond Thursday morning to a
>request for further comment.
>
>Chenoweth's admission came as her campaign began airing television
>advertisements in which she accuses Clinton of damaging the presidency and
>then pointedly asks Democratic challenger Dan Williams, 'Where do you
>stand, Dan?'
>
>'I believe that personal conduct and integrity does matter,' Chenoweth says
>in the ad. The newspaper, in an editor's note, said it decided to pursue a
>story about the relationship because of the ads. There had been rumors
>about the relationship for years.
>
>But in admitting her own indiscretion, Chenoweth told The Statesman, 'My
>private life was my own life. I am a single woman. After the divorce, I
>dated.'
>
>'As a member of Congress I'm concerned about the president's ability to
>lead our nation in this time of worldwide economic crisis. And I think you
>have to look at the facts squarely. You have to tell the truth. It's not a
>matter of whether one forgives the president. It's a matter of trust.'
>
>Chenoweth, 60, who has made family values a major focus of her
>congressional career, defeated incumbent Democrat Larry LaRocco four years
>ago. The election that came just a week after the disclosure that LaRocco
>had misled the public when he denied during an earlier campaign that he had
>had an affair before he was elected to Congress in 1990.
>
>Chenoweth, at the time, did not personally make an issue of the report,
>saying LaRocco's affair was none of her business. But the affair and
>LaRocco's denials were widely believed to have contributed to her victory.
>
>In defending her attacks on Clinton, Chenoweth said conduct while she was a
>private citizen is not comparable to a politician's behavior in office.
>
>'We need to draw a distinction between a person's private life' before
>holding office and what the person does while in office, she said.
>
>Chenoweth's affair was with her longtime business partner, Vern
>Ravenscroft. Ravenscroft, 78, a former state legislator and unsuccessful
>Republican gubernatorial nominee, acknowledged the affair to the newspaper.
>He said the affair ended 14 years ago when he and Chenoweth decided their
>families had to come first.
>
>His wife of 57 years, Harriett, told The Statesman that Chenoweth brought
>on the affair.
>'They were business partners, yes, and it went beyond that and it shouldn't
>have,' Mrs. Ravenscroft said. 'I want it forgotten and put behind us. I
>don't see how Helen can live with herself and do this.' Chenoweth said she
>didn't want to hurt Mrs. Ravenscroft and 'I only wish I could have learned
>the lessons sooner.'
>
>Considered one of the most conservative members of Congress, Chenoweth has
>gained national attention - and often criticism - for a number of her stands.
>
>She condemned the Oklahoma City bombing but defended militias in general as
>legal, leading critics to label her the 'poster girl for the militia
>movement.'
>
>Chenoweth also drew protests with her comments that blacks and Hispanics
>did not move to northern Idaho because it was too cold, describing them as
>the 'warm-climate community.'
>
>




Lori Keenan, Director
Latah County Library District
110 S. Jefferson Street
Moscow, ID  83843
tel: (208)882-3923
fax: (208) 882-5098
e-mail: lkeenan@norby.latah.lib.id.us