You should definitely read it while waiting for the pathetic output from the blog you're currently reading.

John and Cynthia Plus An Illiterate

Doug Hampton reveals the right-wing cabal who threatened his family's lives:

The unethical behavior and immoral choice of Senator Ensign has been confronted by me and others on a number of occasions over this past year. In fact one of the confrontations took place in February 2008 at his home in Washington DC (sic) with a group of his peers. One of the attendee’s (sic) was Senator Tom Coburn from Oklahoma as well as several other men who are close to the Senator. Senator Ensign's conduct and relentless pursuit of my wife led to our dismissal in April of 2008. I would like to say he stopped his heinous conduct and pursuit upon our leaving, but that was not the case and his actions did not subside until August of 2008.

The actions of Senator Ensign have ruined our lives and careers and left my family in shambles. We have lost significant income, suffered indescribable pain and emotional suffering. We find ourselves today with an overwhelming loss of relationships, career opportunities and hope for recovery. Our pursuit of justice continues to place me and my family in harm’s way as we fear for our well being (sic).

It's heartbreaking to see someone mourn the loss of the gravy train with such sincere emotion. If my math is correct, Dougie and Cyn collected from the Senator for at least two months after the Coburn confrontation, and their kid collected a check for five months, all before Ensign's actions subsided.

Given all the grammatical errors (not all of which the Sun caught), the following statement by Doug should shock no one:

I have great respect and affection for Fox News and many of your collages (sic).

Signed, "Glenn Beck's No. 1 Fan (And Shepard Smith Can Blow Me)."

Hampton Inn and Out

In Las Vegas on Wednesday, lawyer Daniel Albregts issued a statement that said "Doug and Cindy Hampton can confirm that they are the individuals referenced by Senator Ensign during his press conference."

"It is unfortunate the senator chose to air this very personal matter, especially after the Hamptons did everything possible to keep this matter private," the lawyer said. "It is equally unfortunate that he did so without concern for the effect such an announcement would have on the Hampton family. In time the Hamptons will be ready and willing to tell their side of the story." (Emphasis added)

Of course, Albregts' statement also contradicts Ensign's fallback fable that Doug was just threatening to go on Cheaters with some grainy night-vision footage of the Silver Fox in action. Either way, it seems Ensign's failed coverup is worse than his non-crime.

I'm just glad the story doesn't involve a Democrat. If it had, the police would be recovering Mickey Kaus's body in very David Carradinean circumstances.

Ensign Pulverized

John Ensign's dirty little secret keeps getting dirtier. While he was screwing around with mom and paying dad more than $100K per annum, Ensign also found a job for Hampton Jnr.:

The 19-year-old son of a woman who reportedly had an affair with Nevada Sen. John Ensign was being paid by the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the relationship, federal election records show.

Brandon Hampton, who shares an address with former Ensign staffers Doug and Cynthia Hampton, was paid $5,400 between March 2008 and August 2008.

The payments, for "research policy consulting," ended the same month as the affair, which was said to begin in December 2007.

If there's anyone whose research and policy skills the NRSC needs, it's that of a teenager whose mom has questionable taste in congressmen.

Republican Family Values: The Moisture Seekers Edition

Really, how hard can it be to identify John Ensign's staffer/lover? Mickey Kaus would have already sussed this one out with both hands tied inside his pants, but for the fact that Ensign's a Republican.

The NYT reports:

An aide said the consensual affair took place between December 2007 and August 2008, and that the woman worked for both Mr. Ensign's campaign operation, Ensign for Senate, as well as a conservative political action committee, Battleborn PAC, from December 2006 to May 2008. Mr. Ensign is honorary chairman of the PAC. The woman's husband was a member of Mr. Ensign's official Senate staff. Neither has worked for the senator since May 2008, the aide said.

Mr. Ensign, 51, is married and has three children. During college at Colorado State University, he became a born-again Christian and he and his wife, Darlene, were active in the Promise Seekers, an evangelical group.

Mrs. Ensign stands by her man:

Mr. Ensign's wife also issued a statement, reaffirming her commitment to her husband: "Since we found out last year we have worked through the situation and we have come to a reconciliation. This has been difficult on both families. With the help of our family and close friends our marriage has become stronger. I love my husband."

I'd say John "found out" more than a year ago, but maybe he's a little slow about such things.

Hearing reports that blackmail is involved, Michael Steele hopes to blame the affair on President Obama.

Update (6/17): Ensign was allegedly summering in the Hamptons. Since Ensign has reportedly charged Mr. Hampton with the crime of extortion, this should be interesting.

Crippen

A remarkable story of an American railroaded by the British courts and his possible vindication:

The case of one of the most notorious murderers in British history, Hawley Crippen, is to be referred to the Court of Appeal, where the infamous doctor may secure a posthumous pardon 99 years after he was hanged.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission has been secretly examining the safety of Dr Crippen's conviction and officials believe that senior judges should now decide whether he is innocent of the murder of his wife in 1910. Cases are referred to the appeal court if the commission feels there is a "real possibility" that the conviction will be ruled unsafe and quashed. At the centre of the case is DNA evidence that may establish the innocence of the American-born Crippen.

Lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano and leading QC James Lewis, acting for Patrick Crippen, a relative of the doctor, said they were told last Friday that the case would be referred to the court in a development that may make Crippen the victim of the longest miscarriage of justice in British history rather than a name that is a byword for murder most foul. Crippen was hanged and buried in the grounds of Pentonville prison after a jury found him guilty.

According to prosecutors at his Old Bailey trial in 1910, the homeopathic practitioner poisoned his unfaithful wife, Cora, dissected her body and buried the remains in the cellar of their north London home. Police found a corpse with no head, bones or genitals. Preparations are already under way to begin the exhumation of Crippen's body at Pentonville. Descendants of Crippen said yesterday that they were "90%" certain that the body would be ferried back to Michigan in the US, where the Crippens have a family burial plot. Lawyers claim that such a development might also reveal the contents of a series of letters apparently buried in his coffin and which purportedly reveal the "truth" behind the body in the cellar.

...

The chief justice, Lord Alverstone, directed the Old Bailey jury in 1910 with concerns over the gender of the corpse by saying: "Of course, if it was a man ... the defendant is entitled to walk out of that dock."

Lewis, whose prosecution cases include ex-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, has agreed to represent Crippen in court. Crippen's place in criminal history is cemented by the fact that he booked a passage on a ship to Canada taking his mistress, Ethel Le Neve, disguised as his teenage son. The pair were recognised by the liner's captain, who famously used the new Marconi telegraph system to alert Scotland Yard.

A compelling case against the death penalty, if the evidence is accurate.

Update: But apparently not breaking news.