May 20, 2010
By now the profile should be all too familiar: a "family values" politician, a self-styled evangelical Christian. An adulterer who cheats on his wife with a staff member and is forced to resign or in some cases stay in office with diminished support.
Mark Souder, the Indiana congressman who says he is quitting tomorrow, is all of these things. His staffer was a married woman whom he delegated to work on abstinence issues. You can't make this stuff up.
Souder blamed Washington's "toxic atmosphere" for his problems, but plenty of people live and work in Washington who don't cheat on their spouses.
At least liberal Democrats aren't hypocritical about their affairs. They don't preach family values while cheating on their wives.
Souder and his other woman appeared on a Fort Wayne Christian radio station at the same time they were having liaisons in a local park and a boat landing, according to media reports.
As I often say, if you're putting much faith in politicians to impose morality on the country, you're looking in the wrong place.
Cal Thomas is a nationally syndicated columnist based in Washington, D.C,
