During an awkward exchange on CNN’s Early Start, Ashleigh Banfield grilled Louisiana Senator David Vitter over his prostitution scandal, and compared his affairs to Republican hopeful Newt Gingrich‘s. “I want you to weigh in on Newt Gingrich and what it’s like for a politician having serious baggage trying to be elected,” she asked. “The good news is in America, it’s not up to CNN, it’s up to American people and up to voters,” Vitter hit back, comparing Banfield to John King.

A few nights ago, Bill O’Reilly surprised some viewers by noting that he didn’t see the transgressions of Anthony Weiner as any worse than that of incumbent Senator David Vitter, and that the latter should resign. While the comment seemed consistent with his views on Weiner, Rachel Maddow last night took exception to his sudden calls for Sen. Vitter to vacate Congress, as he argued the exact opposite of that during the fall of Eliot Spitzer.

The resignation of Anthony Weiner has led to a debate over whether it was his initial actions or his subsequent lying that concluded his career, but tonight, Rachel Maddow proposed it was neither. Instead, listing an exhaustive registry of Republicans who she deemed had committed worse transgressions than him, Maddow concluded it was the story of “the media’s reaction to bad behavior,” and how a double-standard against Democrats made his behavior unacceptable.

Since the initial rise of Anthony Weiner‘s sexting scandal three weeks ago, the impulse to compare his demise to that of other politicians caught in sex scandals has roped in politicians from all across the political spectrum. Now that he’s gone, some have come to the conclusion that what he did was no worse than what some politicians that stayed in office managed to do. Tonight, Bill O’Reilly proposed just this, comparing Weiner to Sen. David Vitter and President Bill Clinton.

Amidst increased calls for Rep. Weiner (D-NY) to resign from Congress in light of his recent sexting scandal, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow considered just how a Weiner resignation would, at least in theory, effect the status quo in Congress, and to some extent, the current state of political news coverage. Her conclusion? His resignation, or Weiner’s “magic wand” (pun intended), would realistically have little to no impact on improving what ails our nation.

Democratic political analyst Kirsten Powers is not afraid to call them as she sees them, and in a Daily Beast column Wednesday afternoon, she blasted her friend (and ex-boyfriend) Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) for “sociopathic lying,” misogyny, and predatory behavior. In an interview with Mediaite, Powers gives her take on liberal suggestions that Weiner’s resignation should hinge on the disposition of Republican scandals like David Vitter‘s, and the notion that Weiner’s scandal lacks the hypocrisy of Republican sex scandals.

From the strange saga that is the life of Rep. Anthony Weiner, Rachel Maddow has spent the week trying to make lemonade, using the scandal to remind viewers that there are members of Congress that haven’t resigned for much worse. Paramount among them is Sen. David Vitter, on which Maddow has been focusing for some time. And to elucidate on his actions, who better than sex expert Larry Flynt, author of a book on political sex scandals?

With all the scandals to have hit American politics in the 21st century, it’s sometimes hard to keep all these disgraced politicians straight. Luckily, Rachel Maddow put all the data together on one handy chart– the Post Bill Clinton Modern American Political Sex Scandal Consequence-O-Meter, the X-axis representing potential legal problems and the Y-axis representing the creepiness factor of their behavior.

So here we are again, America. It seems like yesterday we had just emerged from the latest political sex scandal, but it was really way back in February 2011 that “Craigslist Congressman” Chris Lee‘s career ended nearly before it began thanks to his decision to solicit sex from a stranger on the internet, but that scandal has already been eclipsed by Rep. Anthony Weiner‘s surprisingly cut chest. How the media and the public reacted to both can serve as a scale on which to evaluate the forgiveness each is willing to give a fallen public servant.

While the worst (Donald Trump) may be behind us (or not!), the fate of the Republican Party in 2012 is about as stable and certain as a moment of peace on Real Housewives of New Jersey. But unlike that reality show, almost anyone with the right resources can hop into this race, and with that [...]

Where has Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal been all week? President Obama’s birth certificate finally retired as a meme last week as the President released the long-form version and rebooted the news cycle with news of Osama Bin Laden‘s death. After the “birthers” hijacked the public consciousness for a good month, no one even knows who Donald Trump is anymore, and yet Jindal chose yesterday to release his birth certificate to make a point.

With so much noise about President Obama‘s March Madness brackets, it was only a matter of time before liberal MSNBC host Ed Schultz delivered his own Baracketology meta-bracket. Keying off of Bill O’Reilly‘s denunciation of the bracket-fueled “industry of Obama-bashing,” Schultz presented his own rundown of Billo’s colleagues engaging in an Obama bash-off.

Following the censure of Charlie Rangel, Chris Matthews spent a segment on his program comparing how the conservative and liberal press handled the story. He then compared how they handled scandals involving conservatives like David Vitter and decided that conservative politicians and pundits are always “meaner.”

Democrat Charlie Melancon has unveiled a new episode of Forgotten Crimes, his hit reality series/ad campaign of which Republican opponent David Vitter is always the star. This edition, titled “Lawmaker/Lawbreaker,” highlights Vitter’s sexual scandals and even features a “crime scene re-enactment” of the senator’s encounter with a hooker.

“Voters can make up their own minds.” That’s Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal‘s response to whether or not he will endorse fellow Republican Sen. David Vitter, who keeps mysteriously gaining in the polls despite having a well-documented affinity for prostitutes and hiring a “women’s issues” associate accused of assault. Did Jindal throw Vitter under the bus, or is this common sense conservatism?

It took long enough, but Democrats are finally capitalizing on the fact that Louisiana Senator David Vitter is mostly known for trysts with prostitutes and employing a domestic abuser (to be fair, he sometimes legitimizes the birthers, too). Following up on “SeriousSins.com,” the Democrats have now released a suspense thriller called “Forgotten Crimes,” also about Vitter’s extramarital misadventures.

It seems that Louisiana Rep. Charlie Melancon‘s attack ad against Republican Senator David Vitter have reawakened long-dormant attacks on Vitter for his various ethics infractions. Last night, Rachel Maddow brought up the ad in the context of how little criticism Vitter has received for his previous behavior, noting that Melancon had “crossed the Rubicon” in leading the charge against it. But why did it take so long?

What does Louisiana Sen. David Vitter have to do to lose his Senate seat? His reelection campaign so far had enjoyed a relatively positive campaign from his opponent, Democratic Rep. Charlie Melancon until yesterday, when the Melancon campaign launched a website, “SeriousSins.com,” to point out a few minor problems Vitter has had to deal with during his tenure. Yes, he means the prostitutes.

FOX News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace was praised here for his tough interview with Rep. Mike Pence yesterday, but it is his interview with Sen. David Vitter that has gotten the most attention.

It was an oil spill segment, but Wallace did not ask a single question about politics – which Vitter has been in the news a lot for lately. We asked Wallace why.

Louisiana Senator David Vitter appeared yesterday on Fox News Sunday and made the rather striking claim that President Obama is effectively trying to conceal the BP Oil Disaster rather than focus on cleaning it up. When asked by host Chris Wallace if the White House was trying to “sweep it under the rug,” agreed that he believed that was Obama’s “political motivation.”

I guess just add this to ever-growing list of repellent things Sen. David Vitter has done while in elected office. While appearing on a conservative radio show out of New Orleans yesterday, Vitter had a good laugh with the hosts over an old picture of Rachel Maddow “looking like a woman.”

Why is the Republican party refusing to use its brain, Chris Matthews wants to know. On his show last night Matthews looked at recent surge of “yahoos” in the Republican party: “I think the Republican party is making a happy home for these folks.”

The Associated Press reports that in a town-hall meeting with constituents on Sunday, Sen. David Vitter stated that he supports lawsuits from “conservative legal organizations” challenging President Barack Obama’s citizenship. So Sen. Vitter is a birther now?

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter is the definition of teflon tough. Having been caught patronizing a DC prostitution ring and made to apologize before the press, Vitter put his head down, plowed through his Senate term, and got through it without resigning. But the trouble isn’t over for the Republican senator, who has now been revealed to employ a domestic abuser as his liaison for women’s affairs and has sixteen challengers in his primary election.

Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) has already survived one brush with scandal after it was revealed in 2007 that he has once frequented a prostitute, and chances are he will survive this latest round if only because the story will likely get buried underneath McChrystal’s visit to the Oval Office today.