Doug Hampton

So when a creepy congressman who has a sexting disorder becomes a distraction and liability, fretting Democrats line up to defenestrate him. But when an even creepier senator has an affair with a staffer, reveals himself to be a world-class hypocrite and importunes supplicants to hire the cuckold, Republicans say nothing.Because proportionality is so often lost in politics, especially in the 24/7 Web world where every gesture and expression is analyzed in microscopic detail, the differences between Anthony Weiner, who seems headed for resignation, and John Ensign, who has fled the capital ahead of an expulsion, are lost.

There's something titillating about a sex scandal with a Las Vegas connection. No matter how often it is said that prostitution is illegal in the city, no matter how much officials try to hide racy billboards that promote naughty nightclubs, no matter what services "adult entertainment bureaus" in the Yellow Pages say they provide, Las Vegas cannot outrun its image as America's playground for grown-ups. ¶ You can blame it on slogans such as "What happens here, stays here," but Las Vegas became synonymous with sexual indiscretions long before marketing gurus shaped the city's image. Rep. Anthony Weiner, the disgraced New York Democrat who reportedly traded explicit Facebook and text messages with 40-year-old Las Vegas blackjack dealer Lisa Weiss, is simply the latest VIP to land on the city's list of sexcapade all-stars. Here are some others:

The federal indictment that is due any day now for former presidential candidate and Sen. John Edwards, who fathered a child with a campaign staffer and then tried to cover it up, is raising speculation around Washington about another similarly scandal-ridden senator: If Justice goes after Edwards, would it be more likely to go after John Ensign?The circumstances of Edwards' and Ensign's cases are eerily similar. Both had been charting a course toward the White House; both took up affairs with campaign staffers; and both have since been haunted by accusations that they misspent campaign money to cover their tracks. (Both also have the same initials, J.E., and an obsession with their own, admittedly impressive, heads of politician hair.)

(Reuters) - It was one of the most high-profile investigations of a senator in years: John Ensign of Nevada had conducted an affair with his campaign treasurer, Cynthia Hampton, the wife of his closest friend and chief of staff. His family later paid $96,000 to the couple, and suspicions arose that the payment amounted to hush money in the form of an illegal campaign contribution.

Testimony buys him legal immunity but not professional. WASHINGTON ? When John Ensign departed the Senate amid a flurry of speculation about the investigation into his well-publicized affair, he indicated he hoped to stay in public life.

WASHINGTON - The people named in the Senate Ethics Committee's probe of former Sen. John Ensign's actions in the wake of his affair read like a who's who of Nevada's power elite.

1. Celebrity preview: Birthday girls Angel Porrino, Audrina Patridge ? and pickles.

Former US senator John Ensign on Thursday faced possible criminal prosecution in connection to a sex-and-corruption scandal that led the Republican ex-lawmaker to resign on May 3.

The details of the John Ensign saga are uniquely Nevadan, a grotesquerie of small-state politics with a former casino executive bringing the amoral industry culture to a place where such an ethos is prized and then being undone by his own narcissism and superficiality.But this excruciating, consistently sickening tale, finally ending as it had to with Ensign's resignation, is hardly sui generis as it reinforces every pejorative stereotype about politicians at every level.

Resignation from the Senate caps a scandal that was ugly and drawn out. Republican Sen. John Ensign announced his resignation Thursday rather than face the Senate Ethics Committee's continued investigation into his conduct. The investigation started soon after his admission nearly two years ago to an affair with an aide.The affair, which launched investigations by the Ethics Committee, the Justice Department and the Federal Elections Commission, hampered Ensign's effectiveness in the Senate. Once an up-and-coming Republican leader, he was pushed to the backbenches of the Senate after he announced the affair in June 2009.

Nevada's soon-to-be vacant Senate seat creates many questions for governor, potential candidates and constituents. Washington -

Embattled US Senator John Ensign announced Thursday he will resign in May after getting embroiled in a sex and corruption scandal that saw him become the subject of an ethics probe.

Embattled US Senator John Ensign announced Thursday he will resign in May after getting embroiled in a sex and corruption scandal that saw him become the subject of an ethics investigation.

Nevada Senator John Ensign announced on Thursday his resignation from the Senate. Nevada Senator John Ensign announced on Thursday his resignation from the Senate, the AP reported. The two-term Republican who opposes gay rights, including giving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry, acknowledged in June, 2009 that he had a nine-month affair in 2008 with Cynthia ?Cindy? Hampton, a former member of his Senate campaign staff. He also admitted having helped her husband, Doug Hampton, a member of his Congressional staff, get lobbying work. The 53-year-old Ensign, who was considered a rising star of the GOP and possible presidential material, is under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee. Ensign, however, didn't admit to any wrongdoing ? ?I didn't break any of the ethics rules. I didn't break any of the laws. I didn't do any of those things? ? in announcing his departure. ?I just came to the conclusion that I couldn't put my family through it,? he said. In 2004, Ensign urged Co

On New Year's Eve 2009, showing the generosity of spirit his family always had toward the Hamptons, Sen. John Ensign had this to say when asked about potential violations of a cooling-off law by the best friend he had betrayed:"That's his problem," Ensign dismissively said of Doug Hampton. "That's not my problem."

Some succulent Carson City leftovers to munch on at week's end, with an Angle morsel for dessert:¥ Click on our juice, gamers: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the state's gaming industry are against the PokerStars bill to open up Web poker in Nevada. So what do you do if you are a company worth billions and you need to get something through the Legislature?

As I fight off "State of the State" fever and get ready to play the "No new taxes" drinking game Monday, I need to empty out the political notebook from a busy week of activities crying out for insight and commentary. Much to cover:The alternative universe: There is at least one when it comes to the state budget. The Nevada Values Coalition, which now combines the essence of the state's fairly small progressive movement, has produced its own State of the State, with longtime liberal gadfly Bob Fulkerson doing the honors.

Cleared in investigations, Ensign still faces an ethics complaint ? and voters. Nevada Sen. John Ensign's office said last week that the Republican is no longer a target of a Justice Department investigation into whether he broke the law in the wake of an ugly affair.That was certainly a relief for Ensign, who is planning to run for re-election in 2012, and it is the second bit of good news he has received in recent weeks. The Federal Election Commission dismissed a complaint against Ensign stemming from money paid out over the affair.

John Ensign has always been a true believer, especially in himself.But after the past two weeks, he really must think God has blessed him with invincibility as two investigations have ebbed and he surely sees his re-election prospects brightening.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. John Ensign got a partial reprieve from his legal woes Wednesday with the news that the Justice Department will no longer be breathing down his neck - but the question remains whether dodging a reckoning for his past dalliances will be enough to salvage his political future.