As If They're Brangelina: Nina Totenberg and Mark Shields Mock the Sex Appeal of Disgraced Republican

May 21st, 2010 10:09 PM

They say people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. But that saying didn't stop NPR's Nina Totenberg and PBS pundit Mark Shields from making fun of the sex appeal of conservative Rep. Mark Souder of Indiana, who resigned this week after admitting an affair with a female staffer.

On the local PBS talk show Inside Washington, Totenberg mentioned the abstinence video Souder made with his lover, and added "I don't know why anybody would want to not abstain with him."

Shields joined in: "Who was it? Henry Kissinger, who said 'power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.' Mark Souder is the real test of that, because a George Clooney look-alike he is not." As if Mark Shields could compare. Shields is just about to turn 73. Totenberg is 66.

When asked if he would pile on, Charles Krauthammer said he didn't want to kick the man when he was this down. He said at least Souder resigned quickly and didn't drag his wife into the public eye. He was also mystified that adultery was still politically ruinous. He thought that era was over after the Clinton intern scandal.