Less Information, Please

Conservative family values Republican David Vitter, who was one of a group of Republicans pushing for the FCC to OK the AT&T/Bell South merger last fall, is in the telephone-related news once again.

Vitter, who sits on the powerful Senate Commerce Committee that oversees the FCC and telecommunications policy–has publicly apologized for the apperance of his phone number on the just-released records of Washington "Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey.

Vitter says it is a past sin that he been forgiven for by family and clergy. That may or may not put the matter to rest. In this town, where "payback and recrimination" are our Romulus and Remus, it is doubtful, though affairs are hardly reputation-killers in this town, unless they become too public and unavoidable..
 
Vitter is a favorite of the Concerned Women of America for his "pro-family" stands on various sins, including gambling. He also voted for cracking down on indecent broadcasts while in the House back in 2004, but so did virtually everyone else–the vote was something like 325 to 22 (don’t hold me to the numbers, but that was the ballpark).

According to financial disclosure statements , Vitter continues to hold a little stock in AT&T, but has sold off his Verizon stock.

The phone records were released, say Palfrey’s representatives, because she was afraid they had been stolen and could be altered.

It could take weeks for sleuths to uncover more prominent names around town and in the suburbs, including Alexandria, Silver Spring, and Columbia, Md., to name a few, but there are likely to be a lot of nervous people in nice suits looking for forgiveness or a good explanation.

Stay Tuned.

By John Eggerton