Sex is the least interesting aspect of the Ensign adultery story
If a showing of hands at a luncheon meeting is any indication, Las Vegas women are tired of stories about U.S. Sen. John Ensign’s infidelity.
The ladies of the Las Vegas Towne Club are a fun-loving group who like to have lunch at a new restaurant every month and hear from a speaker. On Tuesday, as I often do, I started my talk with a question for them. I asked how many were tired of the Ensign story and how many still had unanswered questions.
My expectation was that more would say they were tired of the story. But I didn’t expect the overwhelming lack of interest.
Out of 75 Southern Nevada women of all ages, less than 10 percent were still interested. (There were gasps from the other women when one elderly member asked: “What John Ensign story?”) Thankfully, I hadn’t planned to talk about Ensign, although I anticipated there might be questions about him.
One woman in the minority told me later she wants to know more about Ensign’s affiliation with “The Family,” the religious group that owns the house that Ensign lives in when he’s in Washington, D.C.
Sorry Ladies, I can’t promise I’ll quit writing about Ensign, because now it’s a story about money (the propriety and legality of Ensign’s parents paying $96,000 to the family of his mistress) and religion (Ensign’s ties with a secretive religious group of men who believe they are “chosen” by God).
There must still be some interest. There are 66 people waiting behind me to read the library copy of “The Family” by Jeff Sharlet. Sharlet investigated the group of elite and powerful Christian fundamentalists, a group that includes Ensign, and if the book is accurate, sex is now the least interesting part of the Ensign story. The affair is trumped by money, religion and power.