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From Think Progress-- Rape Victim Confronts Vitter Over His Vote Against Franken’s Amendment Holding Contractors Accountable:

Last month, Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) proposed an amendment to the 2010 Defense Appropriations bill that would withhold defense contracts if companies “restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court.” Although the amendment passed, 30 Republican senators voted against it.

One of the Republicans singled out for especially harsh criticism following the vote was Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), who has a track record of siding against women’s rights. The Huffington Post’s Sam Stein reports that at a town hall meeting this past weekend, a constituent confronted Vitter about his vote. The woman, a rape victim, demanded that he explain why he opposed Franken’s amendment. Vitter refused to give her a straight answer.

As Sam Stein noted at the HuffPo--"The exchange was contentious, heart wrenching, and potentially damaging."

WOMAN: It meant everything to me that I was able to put the person who attacked me [behind bars]. And what allowed me to do that was our judicial process. I showed up in court every day to make sure that happen.

VITTER: And I'm absolutely supportive of any case like that being prosecuted criminally to the full extent of the law.

WOMAN: But there are rape victims who are being kept silent.

WOMAN: But how can you support [a law] that tells a rape victim that she does not have the right to defend herself?

VITTER: Ma'am The language in question did not say that in any way shape or form.

WOMAN: But it is unconstitutional to have a law that says a woman does not have a right to defend herself.

VITTER: You realize Mr. Obama was against that amendment that his administration was against that amendment

WOMAN: But I'm not asking Obama. I'm asking you.

VITTER: Do you think he's in favor in rape?

WOMAN: I'm asking you Senator. What if it was your daughter who was raped? Would you tell her to be quiet and take it? Would you tell your daughter to be silent?

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David Shuster reporting that David Vitter is refusing to comment on the justice who refused to marry an interracial couple in Louisiana. Shuster wonders if the Senator is worried about losing support from his base.

From Think Progress- Vitter dodges question about interracial marriage in Louisiana.:

Although both Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) have publicly condemned Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell for refusing to issue marriage licenses to interracial couples, Sen. David Vitter (R) has stayed noticeably silent. (ThinkProgress contacted his office, but we did not receive a response.) Blogger-activist Mike Stark caught up with Vitter and asked him about his position. “Have you commented? What did you have to say about it?” asked Stark. Vitter simply smiled, stepped into the elevator, and allowed the doors to close.

Update: Greg Sargent finally received a response from Vitter's spokesman, but the senator still refuses to condemn Bardwell's actions: "First, Sen. Vitter thinks that all judges should follow the law as written and not make it up as they go along. Second, it would be amazing for anyone to do a story based on this fringe, left-wing political hack’s blog — he’s been handcuffed and detained in the past over his guerrilla tactics."

Shuster said MSNBC called Vitter's office three times asking if the Senator supported the statements by the justice and that they would still not comment.

Soon we'll find out if the Senate is really going to buck President Obama on the deal he cut with Big Pharma. I wonder how serious this is:

North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, a member of Democratic leadership, isn't a party to that bargain. "Senator Dorgan intends to offer an amendment to the health reform bill and his expectation is that it will be one of the first amendments considered," his spokesman Justin Kitsch told HuffPost in an e-mail. "Prescription drug importation is an immediate way to put downward pressure on health care costs. It has bipartisan support, and has been endorsed by groups such as the National Federation of Independent Businesses and AARP."

U.S. patients pay far more than the rest of the world for prescription drugs. The Canadian government keeps prices down by using its purchasing power to negotiate for lower rates. Dorgan wants American consumers in on the deal.

A bill to allow re-importation -- S. 1232 - has 30 cosponsors, several Republicans among them, including Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, John Thune (S.D.) and David Vitter (La.).

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill would result in $50 billion in direct savings over the next decade, with $10.6 billion of that being savings to the federal government.

[...] The amendment threatens to blow up the deal Baucus and the White House cut with the drug makers. According to the deal, re-importation would not be part of comprehensive health care reform. And if the measure does save $50 billion, that will come from Big Pharma revenue and take it above the $80 billion in cuts it agreed to over ten years. It puts Congress on a collision course with its trade association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

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Max Blumenthal at The Daily Beast has a damning expose of Louisiana Sen. David Vitter's incredible hypocrisy in dealing with the health-care teabagging crowd.

First, Vitter crows to the press that, unlike some of his fellow congresscritters, he's not afraid to have teabaggers at his town hall meetings:

“Please know that this and any other angry mob is welcome at my town-hall meetings whenever you want to come,” Vitter declared, bringing the audience to its feet with a raucous ovation.

But what he apparently is afraid of is dealing with any Democrats who favor health-care reform -- because he excluded them from his town halls:

At a town-hall meeting on August 10 in Jefferson Parish, many local constituents were reportedly turned away while Tea Party activists were allowed to enter. When the event concluded, Vitter rushed out of the back door and away from the press and his constituents, guarded by a phalanx of police officers.

But the most disturbing part of the piece featured Vitter actually promoting the effort by right-wing extremists -- which has been similarly encouraged by both Glenn Beck, Neil Cavuto, and Sean Hannity -- to advocate "state sovereignty" as a means of defying the federal government:

Vitter earned even more enthusiastic cheers with a not-so-subtle appeal to states’ rights. When an audience member asked him if Louisiana could withdraw from Obama’s health-care plan if it passed, Vitter proclaimed, “The first thing we need to do is elect members of Congress who respect the Tenth Amendment.”

Invocations of the Tenth Amendment, which reserves “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution” to the “states respectively, or to the people,” have become common among secessionists seeking a veneer of constitutional legitimacy.

As I explained when Beck did this, these "10th Amendment" theories are not only highly dubious, they actually originated in the 1990s with the black-helicopter/militia crowd:

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Countdown's Best Person's segment for Aug. 12, 2009 with winners Investor's Business Daily, Gregg Jarrett and Sen. David Vitter.

Olbermann: These stories ahead, but first time for Countdown's top three best persons in the world. Theme warning, best liars about health care reform tonight.

Dateline, Los Angeles, number three, "Investor's Business Daily," home of fascist editorials that would make Attila the Hun blush. But this is priceless. It is an explanation the British system of national health which has been in place since 1945. "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the UK, where the national health service would say the life of this brilliant man, because his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless."

You geniuses do know that Stephen Hawking is from the UK, right? He's actually been treated by the British national health service, right? With its services, he's lived through about 45 years of ALS, right? The goof-balls at "Investor's Business Daily" were presumably confused by the fact that his voice synthesizer did not have a British accent.

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I wonder if the South really appreciates Vitter's defense of them since he's been linked to hookers and diapers. I also have to wonder who had a hand in firebombing the car of Stormy Daniels' political adviser. She's Vitter's opponent for his Senate seat. Mr. Family Values and a regular customer of the D.C. Madam, Sen. David Vitter came out in defense of the south after Sen. Voinovich criticized the Republican Party for being way too Southern-fried.

Sen. George V. Voinovich, Ohio Republican, reignited the debate about the direction of the struggling party when he told a newspaper Monday that the biggest problem for Republicans right now is conservative Southerners, particularly Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

"They get on TV and go 'errrr, errrrr . . .' People hear them and say, 'These people, they're Southerners,'" said Mr. Voinovich, who is not seeking re-election in 2010. "The party's being taken over by Southerners. What they hell have they got to do with Ohio?"

The hooker-loving Vitter shot back with this:

"I'm on the side of conservatives getting back to core conservative values," said Mr. Vitter, Louisiana Republican and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "There are a lot of us from the South who hold those values, which I think the party is supposed to be about. We strayed from them in the past few years, and that's why we performed so badly in the national elections."

...Mr. Vitter also criticized Mr. Voinovich for voting last week against a failed amendment sponsored by Mr. Vitter and Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican, to expand Americans' ability to carry concealed weapons.

"He's a moderate, really wishy-washy," Mr. Vitter said.

Let's see who has it right---a moderate, or a diaper dandy?

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The Fox talkers were out trying to spin past the gruesome wreckage of Mark Sanford's political career yesterday, partly by claiming that Republicans always give the boot to such cases of gross immorality, while Democrats are so lascivious that they naturally tolerate such behavior within their own ranks.

First there was Faux Liberal Mort Kondracke on Brett Baier's afternoon show:

Kondracke: But look. You know, multiple affairs did not stop Bill Clinton from being elected president. But that's because the Democratic Party is a lot more tolerant of licentiousness than the Republican Party is. And that's the rub for poor old Mark Sanford here.

Then Ann Coulter attempted more or less the same claim later that day on Sean Hannity's show:

Coulter: But he's a Republican, so he will be gone. Unlike John Edwards, with all of his staff knowing that he --

Hannity: He may not be governor by the end of a couple of weeks.

Coulter: That's right. And even if he is, Republicans vote these guys out, generally.

Oddly enough, Coulter kept bringing up John Edwards, whose political career is pretty much toast -- so it's not a point that actually supported her claim. Moreover, she and Kondracke are glossing over the long history of other Democrats' careers being derailed by sexual hijinks: Gary Hart, Eliot Spitzer, Brock Adams, Jim McGreevy are just a few of the names that come to mind.

Meanwhile, it's not hard to come up with Republicans whose infidelities have been glossed over and "forgiven" (by the pundit class at least). Some of them are major figures in the party even today. To wit:

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Rachel Maddow notes what the script is for a disgraced GOP Senator returning to the Senate. Apologize, no further comment, and get a round of applause from your fellow Senators.

John Ensign follows the likes of Larry Craig, David Vitter and Ted Stevens with a show of support from his fellow family values Republicans. It's so nice to see the Republicans are at least being consistent with their hypocrisy when it comes to protecting their own.

Fresh off his foray into the world of diaper-based prostitution, Sen. David Vitter still thinks he's above the law. We all know how difficult it is to fly these days and security does not mess around, but this bozo thinks airport security doesn't apply to himself.

He missed his flight and tried to open a jet way door after the gate had been closed and then got into a confrontation with airport security, trying to intimidate the security person with his importance: "Do you know who I am?" (Would've been funny if the security worker had replied: "Sure, you're that senator who likes to wear diapers with hookers, right?")

He says he walked through the wrong door and it was all a big misunderstanding. That's a joke, especially for someone who flies as much as he does. If it was anyone else the police would have been called in and he would have been taken away in handcuffs.

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Sen. David Vitter (R-Diaperland) is the subject of David Shuster's Hypocrisy Watch for his double talk on earmarks.

Think Progress has more here: Vitter Stands By His $249 Million In Earmarks While Complaining That The Omnibus Bill Is ‘Bloated’

Last week, when we first heard that Baton Rouge porn star Stormy Daniels was going to tackle Louisiana obstructionist Senator David "Diapers" Vitter, we thought it was one big joke.

Then the plot thickened as it started to appear that Republicans even further to the right than Vitter -- if that's possible -- were looking to take him on in Louisiana's newly modernized primary next year.

Suspicion for recruiting Daniels fell on Family Research Council head Tony Perkins, a former Louisiana senatorial candidate who thinks Vitter's serial sex scandals make him unfit to serve in the Senate.

Now that Daniels is doing interviews, however (above on CNN) with Rick Sanchez and here with Max Blumenthal, it's becoming apparent that she's one smart cookie with huge charisma and a far more sensible outlook than Vitter.

From ProgressIllinois.com:

Last night, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) introduced an amendment to the stimulus package that would prohibit the "direct or indirect use of funds to fund the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)." This is the latest example of the GOP's ongoing effort to demonize ACORN, which reached its zenith with their ridiculous "voter fraud" accusations last fall.

Thankfully, Sen. Dick Durbin stepped up to smack Vitter down, noting ACORN's good works and, more specifically, the assistance they provided to Louisiana residents following Hurricane Katrina (indeed, the organization is based in New Orleans).

In news that surprises exactly no one, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today voted nearly unanimously in favor of appointing Hillary Clinton to be the next Secretary of State. The only thing left is a full Senate vote, expected to take place shortly after President-elect Obama is sworn in next Tuesday. The lone holdout on the committee to vote against HRC? Diaper David Vitter of Louisiana.

AP (via HuffPo):

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted overwhelmingly on Thursday for Hillary Rodham Clinton to become the next secretary of State, endorsing President-elect Barack Obama's promise to take U.S. foreign policy in a new direction.

The 16-1 committee vote paves the way for a full Senate vote after Obama takes office on Jan. 20. Clinton is not expected to hit any major roadblocks, with Republicans and Democrats alike praising her acumen on the issues.

But concerns about her husband's charitable fundraising overseas remain. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, who was among several Republicans who raised the issue at her confirmation hearing earlier this week, cast the lone opposing vote.

January 13, 2009 C-SPAN

Republican Senator David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, on Tuesday introduced a measure to disapprove the release of the second half of the $700 billion financial bailout package, his aide said on Tuesday.
The massive rescue program was approved last October to bolster the financial industry as it reeled under the stress of bad mortgage debts and several major institutions were threatened with collapse.