Vito Fossella: Defending Marriage

by hilzoy

Vito Fossella was in trouble already:

"The clock is ticking on Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) -- or "Vino" Fossella, as the New York tabloids have taken to calling him -- who is battling not just drunken driving charges but much more personally scandalous allegations that could damage his party's prospects in the November congressional elections.

GOP political insiders say Fossella, whose blood-alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit when he was busted at 12:15 a.m. last Thursday, stands little chance of running for reelection at this point, and their Democratic counterparts agree. Buzz on the Hill and around town Wednesday was that Fossella would be announcing sooner rather than later that he won't seek another term in what has quickly become a hotly contested seat for embattled Republicans. Fossella was not voting in the House Wednesday.

The Staten Island Republican was stopped for running a red light and charged with driving while intoxicated in Alexandria, Va., about three miles from the home of a woman who reportedly fetched him from the police station seven hours after his arrest."

Details about what preceded his arrest didn't help any:

"The Daily News reports the congressman and his buddy got kicked out of a Washington, D.C., bar hours before Fossella's arrest. Waiters at the Logan Tavern tell the paper that both men were incapable of driving and that at one point, Fossella's pal—known only as "Brian"—passed out in front of the men's room."

This, however, has to be the last straw:

"Representative Vito J. Fossella, a Staten Island Republican who was arrested on May 1 in Alexandria, Va., and charged with drunken driving, issued a statement on Thursday acknowledging that he had had an extramarital affair with Laura Fay, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, and that the two of them had a 3-year-old daughter together. (...)

The Daily News has reported that Mr. Fossella called Ms. Fay for help after his arrest and told officers that he was on his way to Grimm Street, where Ms. Fay lives, to visit a sick daughter. As speculation swirled over Mr. Fossella’s relationship with Ms. Fay in recent days, his aides said only that they were good friends.

In Mr. Fossella’s four-sentence statement on Thursday, he declined to address his political future or specify whether he would seek re-election this fall to a sixth full term:

I have had a relationship with Laura Fay, with whom I have a three-year-old daughter. My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love and I am truly sorry. While I understand that there will be many questions, including those about my political future, making any political decisions right now are furthest from my mind. Over the coming weeks and months, I will to continue to do my job and I will work hard to heal the deep wounds I have caused."

***

Rep. Fossella voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment in both 2004 and 2006. It's always so important to protect marriage from the horrid threats posed by Teh Gay, which are much, much scarier than the threats posed by drunken husbands who have entire second families.

He also voted to ban gay adoptions in DC. And that makes sense: the damage caused to a child by being adopted by two loving people of the same gender vastly exceeds the damage caused to a three year old by having a father who can only drop by now and again, when his real family isn't paying attention, or to his three other children by growing up in a home where there are secrets no one can talk about.

Makes sense to me. After all, we have to stick up for Family Values™.

***

Oh: Fossella also voted for the Marriage Protection Act, which would have barred any court from hearing questions about the interpretation or constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Because marriages need protecting, even by people who can't be bothered to protect their own.

Comments

[Q the Enchanter]

"the horrid threats posed by Teh Gay, which are much, much scarier than the threats posed by drunken husbands who have entire second families."

But have you considered that he might have been so despondent about the prospective decline of marriage and parenthood due to the onslaught of gay unions and adoptions that he was *driven* to drink booze and shag random hotties? I don't think you appreciate just how hard times are in America for white male heterosexuals.

[rea]

Well, I must apologize to Rep. Fossella, who seems to have gotten into a lot of trouble as a result of my 16-year relationship with another man.

[LT Nixon]

Fossella's pal—known only as "Brian"—passed out in front of the men's room.

You're not having fun at a bar until you pass out a couple of times. Who are we to judge?

[lemuel pitkin]

have you considered that he might have been so despondent about the prospective decline of marriage and parenthood due to the onslaught of gay unions and adoptions that he was *driven* to drink booze and shag random hotties?

Even more!

He met the hottie in question on a (taxpayer-funded) trip to Europe that included stops in Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain. Yes, the Netherlands and Spain -- where gay marriage is legal. Who among us, under the circumstances, wouldn't liase with the nearest attractive young Air Force congressional liason?

[Eric Siry]

Or maybe-- just MAYBE-- Vito has been battling a years-long attraction to this "Brian," his get-falling-down-drunk buddy, and the temptation was such that he had to start a second heterosexual marriage and procreate to suppress it.

Another fallen soldier in the Global War on Teh Ghey.

[DrDave]

When I read this story this morning, my first though was that this would make a GREAT Coen Brothers movie.

Give credit to the GOP for the creativity they demonstrate in their sex scandals. Eliot Spitzer barely holds a candle to this.

[Johnny Pez]

Who's going to protect marriage from the people who are protecting marriage? That's the question nobody seems to have an answer to.

[bc]

Give credit to the GOP for the creativity they demonstrate in their sex scandals. Eliot Spitzer barely holds a candle to this.

The unfortunate reality is that no political persuasion is immune from creepy behavior. Note the unfortunate Bernie Ward.

I actually appreciate in this instance highlighting the hypocrisy. That's fair game. But arguing against limitations on marriage simply because of hypocrisy is a "pleasant" way of avoiding the real questions.

[Chris W.]

C'mon hilzoy, you're missing the point, which is that he wouldn't have done any of this if it weren't for the EVIL GAY MIND-RAYS that forced him to sleep with another woman.

Yup. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[fostert]

Give the guy a break. He loves families so much, he has two of them.

[JanieM]

Who on earth is "arguing against limitations on marriage simply because of hypocrisy"?