I'm so glad the Republican party is the defender of American Morality. I'm so glad they were able attend to the important business of Impeaching Clinton in order to protect America from philandering politicians, drug users, homosexuals, child molesters. Thank goodness that they have a monopoly on purity of mind and actions. Don't you think that there should be mandatory sentencing for preachers that snort meth and have sex with male prostitutes? politicians that have pornographic chat-room conversations with congressional pages? cross-dressing congressman who pick-up boys at x-rated video stores? Priests who molest young boys?Senators who pick up men in airport restrooms????? "Family values" Senators who pay for prostitution services while ranting about the decline in Family Values??

Nevermind that they licked George Bushes boots for 7 years. They will pay in the next election. Count on it!

There was a time when blatant hypocrisy like Vitter's would have been enough to result in his hasty resignation. Ditto for his gay partner in crime, Craig, of course. Sigh. Time's have changed, and not for the better. No one has any shame at all anymore.

I appreciate the fact that the Sleuth is keeping us up on our favorite Republican, David "Diaperman" Vitter.

That the GOP tolerates this creep says it all about the party of family values. One thing is for sure--you never have to use "hypocrite" and "Republican" in the same sentence . . . they're synonymous.

I don't think this should destroy him politically. I think this is his personal business but the hypocrisy sure stinks.

When we elected him, we in Louisiana knew this old boy was a human and that he was getting off some way or another. We are tolerant of that as long as they are discrete since we all have the same hormones. He will be just fine politically in Louisiana as long as he doesn't get caught with a dead woman or a live man in his bed.

Palfrey and Vitter are both liars. She's a madam and ran a pay for sex prostitution service and Vitter paid for sex. If the man can't even show his face in public and do his job, he's really been compromised and has no one to blame but himself. SO much for republican family values. Louisiana is rife woth corruption and always has been, Their representatives are liars, theives and hypocrites. As someone posted: "We are tolerant of that as long as they are discrete since we all have the same hormones." That about sums up Louisiana. Keep it in the closet and don't tell anyone. Talk family values and then crap on it but make sure that when you leave the bathroom, it's not hanging out of your butt for all to see. Yes, we all have hormones but most of us have a conscience and aren't hypocrites.

Of the many things I have to worry about, David Vitter is at the bottom of my list. But I am concerned about the state of standard American English, so this comment is for the writer of the headline. Senator Vitter lies low, not "lays low." There's a difference. "Lay" is a transitive verb meaning to put or place something; it requires a direct object--lays what, or in Vitter's case, whom. "Lie"--to rest or recline, usually in a horizontal position--is an intransitive verb. If, as I suspect, the goal of the headline was to offer up a sly double entendre, then "Sen. Vitter Lies Low Amid Escalating Madam Problem" is funnier, bringing on visions of the poor man stretched prostrate in the middle of an ever increasing gaggle of madams or maybe one madam who just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I've wondered for some time why today's editors and writers seem so determined to confuse "lie" and "lay." Aside from the obvious--ignorance--my guess is that the growing public use of "lie" meaning to tell a falsehood has made the Fourth Estate skittish. The Post doesn't want to be accused of accusing the senator of speaking falsely. But correct grammar is really an editor's friend, so take a risk. I recommend "Sleeping Dogs Don't Lay: Practical Advice for the Grammatically Challenged" by Richard Lederer and Richard Dowis. It's easy to read.

It's "Senator Vitter LIES low." Don't you understand the basics of English grammar? If not, why does The Washington Post allow you to blog for them?

Sen. Vitter may lie low; but unless he is a hen, he doesn't lay low.

Ms Akers, correct grammar is not rocket science. If you're going to write for the Washington Post, couldn't you take the time and effort to get it right?

For Hillbilly, who posted a comment at 6:46 a.m.: Yes, we all have the same hormones; but what sets us apart from the lower animals is that we also have morals. For every man whose hormones are stronger than his morals (such as Sen. Vetter and you?) there are thousands of real men, even in Louisiana and among politicians, whose morals are stronger than their hormones.

Don't sell us all for a price you can afford.

Isn't Christianity wonderful. Sin and be saved by asking for forgiveness.

They realize not what eternity holds for those who do not confess their sins now. God will not have those that care not for their fellow man while alive.

Confess now ye political sinners!

Sounds like the madam is counting on Vitter to claim there was no sex involved. Wonder what the woman he was involved with has to say about that. I guess Hustler knows.
As far as toleration of sex scandals is concerned, though, we have had them all along. Don't forget that J. Edgar Hoover used to dress up in fancy dresses for parties and that Abraham Lincoln slept with a man throughout his White House years.
What is different now is that the newspapers and other media report on it. Frankly I appreciate their reporting it, but I don't think they need to dwell on it as they do. It is nice, though, to know who is a hypocrite and who isn't. I expect lots of voters want to know.

Oh you skeptics. Don't you know that Vitter hired the hooker to get her undivided attention in a hotel room to tell her, uninterruptus, that Jesus died for HER sins.

It's time Sen. Vitter and Sen. Craig form a front against the moral oppression of the hypocrites.(FATMOTH)

Ms. Akers:
I see nothing wrong with you using the colloquial term "laying low". After all this is a blog and not the front page of the newspaper!
The grammar police are not as smart as they imagine themselves to be. It is not only hens who can "lay". A human lays every brick that is laid at any construction site. Futhermore a bricklayer can lay low as well as lay high without violating the English language.
That's just one example, but I feel sure there are many cases in which a person can "lay low" quite properly.

WOW.. who turned on the bat signal and summoned all the grammar nazis?

It appears to me that the beloved Bill Clinton has set a new standard for morals and ethics in politics. Unfortunately for Republicans they spout rhetoric that comes back to bite them when they succumb to human foibles. The only thing Dems have going for them (being liberals personal behavior is bad only when they can be prosecuted for it) is that they generally don't behave "holier than thou". They are however very quick to cast the first stone at their political opposition, which is good strategy on their part. When they get caught behaving badly their constituency is not particulary upset. It could be the same for Vitter if those LA responders are correct.

Vitter should become a democrat so he can do everything he is accused of in public and be rewarded

Hysterical. I wonder what the prosecution would do with Vitter? I'm betting they'll have some folks from down in LA ready to come up to testify and counter any testimony he gives suggesting that there was no sex. This is just funny. My favorite is quote from his wife about Hillary Clinton from way back when, when Mrs. Vitter insisted she wouldn't just "stand by her man" like Hil did. Oops.

"Vitter should become a democrat so he can do everything he is accused of in public and be rewarded"

Notice this poster didn't have the guts to give a name, even a fake one.
You site Democrats being rewarded? You're kidding, right? Let's see: Scooter Libby, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Delay, Alberto Gonzales, that sleazebag David Vitter, Newt Gingrich, probably George Bush... need I go on?
As one of the first posts said, "Republican" and "hypocrisy" are synonymous. How true that is.

Of course, Democrats are not without faults, and no one condones their bad behavior. The difference is they don't go on RANTING about the "family values" they DPN'T practice. Get a clue, anonymous poster!

As soon as Jindal is sworn in and Louisiana has a Republican Governor, look for Vitter to resign in order to spend more time with his family and working hard to repair his marriage.

Why can't we just let this woman alone? Yeah, she provided women for powerful men. So what. It was a deal that apparently everybody found okay.

I've got to assume she's got some big name on the list who wants her to shut up. She should be careful, or she'll find herself in Iraq.

"I did 'er Vitter" claim he wasn't diapered and breast fed during his assignation? OH, I don't think so, might be some pics on this, LOL. How's that tuff talkin' wife of his doin' these days? Gotta be shunned by all those freaky Southern Belles, at least behind her back!

NONE OF THIS SHOULD SHOCK US THE REPUBLICANS HAVE PROSTATUTED ALL OF US OVER THE LAST 8 YEARS AND NOW WE HAVE TO PAY FOR TAKING A SCREWING

The big question in all of this is who is Ms. Low? When the transitive verb "lay" is used without a direct object, it means only one thing, as in "get laid." So when the teenage nymphette squeals, "I just love laying on the couch, " her mother might ask he to do it only when her parents are out of the house.
We can only assume that Ms. Akers was taught no grammer/usage either in high school or journalism school--that of course assumes that she went to either/both.
As long as such gross errors are used by the Washington Post's elite columnists and allowed to pass the tone deaf editors, can we ever expect our children to learn the difference between lie/lay; fewer/less; affect/effect. Of course that's from an effete, intellectual snob. I expect that this will bring out all those who see no need fon standard English and want to transliterate the Declaration of Independence into eubonics.

(I'll take on all comers, including Ms. Akers and the WP's editors at jkrice63@hotmail.com.)

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"Grammar Nazis" is right. "Lay low" is a common expression if not exactly in line with Buckingham English, and often repeated common usage trumps correctness and finds its way into the dictionary and grammar books. If these folks are more concerned about grammatical minutia than with corruption and hypocrisy in their elected officials, then they are probably Republicans, and we can certainly see where their priorities "lie". I won't get into the other meaning of "lie", which GOPs are already well acquainted with. I say lay off...

And BTW jkrice63, what does "fon standard English" mean?

Sure must have been a small time "madam to have only one name in her "book of johns".
Anyone except me asking if there were no other names in it and if so, why only one
politically useful Republican name has been published? Is that Democrat media bias? Huh. What a blatent hypocracy you have so willingly admitted to with your posts!