Nevada Senator John Ensign, a prime GOP critic of Barack Obama's economic-stimulus plan, says he won't resign, despite the furor over his having regularly fucked one of his staffers.

The L.A. Times notes that the "silver-haired, telegenic conservative," who has been "a rising star in the Republican Party," was "grim-faced" as he apologized.

Ensign didn't identify the staffer, but she (or he) must be feeling pretty miffed that Ensign described their affair as "absolutely the worst thing I have ever done in my life."

True to form, Ensign noted that he and wife Darlene went into counseling and that their marriage is "stronger than ever."

Maybe eventually, no one will care whom he or other politicians fuck, as long as they do it on their own time and their own dime and aren't hypocritical about it.

Of course, popular butch broadcaster Rachel Maddow accurately points out that very hypocrisy: that before Ensign admitted cheating on his wife he had affirmed that he was an ardent believer in the "institution of marriage" and an adamant foe of gay marriages. Not to mention that he didn't carry on his affair on his own time: He was not only fucking one of his campaign staffers but she was married to one of his other staffers — a cuckold in his Senate office.

Anyway, Americans aren't as evolved as Europeans (who generally don't care who their politicans fuck), so this tiff over Ensign is is good news for Obama. The president's going to have a tough enough time getting his vaunted "overhaul" of the financial system through Congress. Now, a key foe of his stimulus plan has confessed to being overstimulated and has suffered a public embarrassment. Ensign is chair of the Republican Policy Committee and has been a frequent talking-head critic of Obama's economic package. He might have a tougher time getting people to take him seriously when he criticizes the other guy's package.

The senator says he won't resign, but he is thought to have quit his job as the latest driver of the GOP Pussy Wagon.

Some Nevada observers say the fuss won't hurt him locally because "he's the leading voice in Nevada and in the country for fiscal restraint." Physical restraint, however, is something else, at least when it comes to Ensign's keeping his dick in his pants.