Not pictured: Orange County Assemblyman Michael Duvall. (Photo: flickr.com)

Like most unscrupulous politicians, California Assemblyman Michael Duvall could have simply told Sacramento-based lobbyist Heidi Dejong Barsuglia, “Give me my cash now!” However, what was common knowledge in the California state legislature is now common knowledge to the public. Michael Duvall was having an affair with Heidi Dejong Barsuglia (as well as at least one other woman besides his wife). The “family values” politician (is that now C Street Band code for “have sex with anything that moves?”) was apparently very open about his exploits, too. So much so that he was caught describing them by a live microphone in a Sacramento assembly chamber.

Lurid and lewd stories

The Orange County News blog reports that Michael Duvall was letting the images fly during a break in a public meeting. It was vivid, it was lewd and Duvall had no shame. This is a man who had just been named to the Rules Committee that monitors ethics. Having an affair is one thing, but for a politician to have an affair with a lobbyist presents an ethical quagmire. If you’re interested, an edited version of his comments is included in the video below. I half expected him to punctuate his story with random “giggidys,” in deference to another Quagmire.

Giggidy

In referring to Heidi Dejong Barsuglia, a married 36-year-old lobbyist who works for an energy company, Michael Duvall, 55, made explicit comments about undergarments, playful discipline and various fluids. Apparently Duvall’s family values platform has room for multiple women, but no contraception. At least he had the indecency to drop clues as to who received his family emissions.

Duvall, who is vice chairman of the assembly’s Committee on Utilities & Commerce, was widely known to socialize with Heidi Dejong Barsuglia. Anonymous sources indicate Michael Duvall’s wife Susan remained in Orange County during the week while Michael was in Sacramento. Barsuglia would make public appearances with Duvall, and they would inevitably be “arm-in-arm.” It was, according to Sacramento media, “the worst-kept secret in Sacramento.”

Heidi Dejong Barsuglia is accomplished

Her background is impressive. Sempra Energy hired her as a lobbyist. She had a law degree and once worked as a speechwriter for former California Governor Pete Wilson. She also held an important post with the California Retailers Association. Her contact with Michael Duvall began when Sempra gave the assemblyman $1,500 in campaign contributions as a way of gaining favor for their desire to be able to procure electrical power from “environmentally sensitive sources,” writes the OC News. Makes you wonder what Sempra means by their Code of Business Conduct, which states, “We’ve built [the company's] rich tradition because of the emphasis we place on ethical business conduct and compliance with the laws and regulations that govern
our business. We don’t compromise on either for the sake of success.”

Once news of the affair broke on local Sacramento news, Duvall was barraged by interview requests. He’s ducked all of them so far, as has Heidi Dejong Barsuglia.

Michael Duvall, “consistent trooper for conservative values”

Giggidy! (Photo: winmatrix.com)

Assemblyman Duvall does like to put on a show. If theatricality translated into paycheck dollars for California assemblymen, then Michael Duvall would certainly be in the proper position to exclaim, “Give me my cash now!” He drives a Harley and drives his “family values” stance home in issues surrounding gay marriage, anti-war protests and more. Despite that busy schedule, he finds time to approve of bills to aid big insurance and government contractors.

The California Republican Assembly and Capitol Resource Institute (CRI) gave him a perfect 100 percent score for his “fierce” guardianship of “traditional family values,” whatever those are. When he accepted the award from CRI, Michael Duvall proclaimed that he would continue to “work to protect California families from constant assault in Sacramento.”

If you support family values

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And I say this with a straight face… then you know that sometimes it’s difficult to handle those little financial emergencies that come along. Rather than pretend that you’re committed to family values and ethics as Michael Duvall and Heidi Dejong Barsuglia have, why not make a choice that can actually HELP your family. Click the button and apply for a payday loan. You just might be saying, “Give me my cash now!”

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(Photo: pinoyspy.com)

There’s something dreadfully wrong with that. That C Street House, C Street Band, The Family, or whatever you want to call them knew that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was having an affair with Argentine reporter Maria Belen Chapur. The super-secret religious organization knew before Jenny Sanford did. But perhaps what’s even more heinous from a media point of view is that most of what we’ve heard about this “hiking the Appalachian Trail” affair has come from the perspective of Mark Sanford. Jenny Sanford has remained mostly silent, until now. She recently sat down with Vogue for an interview, and it’s telling of her inner strength during this storm.

Overheated vs. clear thinking

Vogue describes Jenny Sanford as “petite, clear-eyed, strong-willed, pious without being smug, smart without being caustic.” She wasn’t caught up in the emotional frothing at the mouth that her husband succumbed to when he spoke of soul mates and poetry. Perhaps that’s because their marriage, by her admission, was always one of friendship and comfort rather than passion. But Jenny Sanford has focused on the most important thing throughout – her legacy, the Sanford children. No secured loans or unsecured loans can buy something so valuable and irreplaceable.

Mark Sanford is the prototypical person who chomps at the bit to cast the first stone. That’s exactly what he did when he condemned President Bill Clinton’s philandering as “reprehensible.” He cut the image of wholesome, which for his wife and children was accurate. However, Mark Sanford clearly never grew up; he made the commitment to marry for friendship, believing he could find the fire elsewhere

Enter Maria Belen Chapur.

Hardly the home wrecker, Chapur lit Sanford’s fire. It also appears that she didn’t know quite what to do with such a powerful man pursuing her like a lovesick teenager. Mark Sanford decided to hike the Appalachian Trail in his pursuit of her. Perhaps it was the excitement, or the flame of passion that Mark Sanford wanted. Perhaps if Maria Belen Chapur hadn’t been there, it would have been someone else. Yet as Jenny Sanford sees it, Mark is suffering from an addiction.

“Over the course of both pastoral and marriage counseling, it became clear to me that he was just obsessed with going to see this woman. I have learned that these affairs are almost like an addiction to alcohol or pornography. They just can’t break away from them,” she told Vogue.

I see that as a weak defense of his irresponsibility

Mark Sanford has children with Jenny Sanford. You do not introduce poison into a relationship based on the upbringing of children. You act responsibly because you owe it to your children. You do not disappear “on the Appalachian Trail” (or in the case of my ex, to California). You take responsibility as a parent, because that is the most important job a human being can have.

And where’s Jenny Sanford’s comments on the C Street Band’s involvement in Mark Sanford’s passionate affair? She conveniently neglects to mention them during the Vogue interview, which indicates to me that she’s being influenced not to talk about certain things. Thus, I take Jenny Sanford’s entire interview with a grain of salt. It’s image-making, it’s theater of a sort. There’s some truth, but perhaps the heart of the matter remains obscured. And in this case, it should not be obscured. The Family (C Street Band, C Street House, etc) is involved in this crime against the Sanford children and Jenny Sanford. And while these crimes may not in themselves be punishable by law, they should be. Such harmful secrecy masquerading as religious freedom should be squashed in the interests of children. It is their right not be deceived by an important caregiver.

Midlife crisis and all that

My response to C Street House and those who "leave it in the Lord's hands." (Photo: flickr.com)

“My husband has got some issues that he needs to work on, about happiness and what happiness means. You wish it wouldn’t come to a crisis like this, but I think when a lot of men get to this midpoint in life, they start asking questions that they probably should have asked a long time ago,” says Mrs. Sanford. Maria Belen Chapur has been drawn into Mark Sanford’s crisis of maturity, and unfortunately for her, life may never be the same again. Now, is Jenny Sanford perfect? Hardly. By her own admission, “I don’t have a wild past, but I don’t have a perfect past. I worked hard, and I played hard. There are things I probably shouldn’t have done, but I was human. The question is what you learn from them.” That was her experience as a former Wall Street type, a real numbers runner.

In a nutshell, Jenny Sanford says of her marriage to Mark Sanford that “We weren’t madly in love, but we were compatible and good friends. I like to think we balance each other out. I am a conservative at heart, but I’m not passionate about ideas like he is. I am better at making the trains run on time.” Mark Sanford, as a powerful white male, mistook his station in life with the right to stomp on loved ones in pursuit of passion. Incidentally, he’s stomped on Maria Belen Chapur, too, which is something he likely didn’t intend. But his hot and heavy behavior has burned her. Not as much as it has Jenny Sanford and her children, but it has charred the earth.

She is willing to forgive

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But I wish she would have taken a harder line against him. Mark Sanford is getting off much too easily, even if it is hard for politicians to remain grounded and not stoke the fires of ego. Political enemies, commentators and comedians are taking their share of pot shots, however. Politicians need to take the lead here, because Mark Sanford’s use of taxpayer dollars to chase after Maria Belen Chapur (some of it not even itemized) is in violation of the public trust. He must be impeached, and elected officials are the only ones who can truly get that ball rolling. If money is needed to start a grassroots movement to get him out, unsecured loans and secured loans are available. Apply here by clicking the button.

Jenny Sanford says that “Mark is not a bad person,” he’s just struggling. I can see that as well as anyone else. However you may choose to forgive him (likely as C Street has directed) is up to you. However, as a politician, Mark Sanford’s career should be over immediately. Yes, Jenny Sanford may be right when she tells Vogue that “If you don’t forgive, you become angry and bitter.” For the children, however, it’s best that she moves on from this hot mess of a “friend” and do what is best for the youngsters. Invoking the Lord means that you give up responsibility for your own actions. Take action, Mrs. Sanford – don’t join those with blinders on. Make a difference for your children.

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Huh! I'm gonna be a disciple. Huh! (Photo: earthhopenetwork.net)

(Aka, we should have listened to Jefferson. CLICK HERE if you missed part one of this article)

Morality? No time. The Family says I’m going to Argentina on taxpayer bucks. Ta ta!

Yes, they reject the kind of morality that is the basis of a citizen’s trust in their elected officials. Instead of my attempt to explain it, enjoy this priceless stuff, courtesy of Sharlet’s observations. He went undercover inside The Family…

In the core of The Family, they actually reject the idea of morality for their members. They believe that morality is a secular construct, that morality is something made by man for little people like us, and that if you are part of God’s chosen, as we’ve been talking about – what The Family believes that they are the sort of New Chosen by God – morality, ethics, these things don’t apply to you. That doesn’t mean that they endorse adultery, it just means that they’re not paying attention as much to it. And then you combine that to a, frankly, fairly misogynist viewpoint. They subscribe to an idea of male headship. In some of their documents, Doug Coe, the leader of the group, was actually advising another member on what to do with his wife, who the member felt was demonically possessed, and Doug Coe said that’s quite possible. The symptoms, were, and there’s just no way to make this sound respectable, the symptoms were that the woman was complaining that she wasn’t sexually satisfied by her husband. That was, to them, a symptom of demonic possession. I mean, it sounds crazy and it would be silly, if it weren’t happening right in the middle of Washington with these men who are so powerful – who are congressmen and then lobbyists in this revolving door that seems to be facilitated by The Family.

Was Jenny Sanford demonically possessed? Was Maria Chapur Mark’s chance to avoid possession?

Oh, this is deliciously disgusting. Disgusting because these people were voted into office by thinking, mouth-breathing folks. Delicious because the folly of mixing church and state is being exposed on a larger scale than ever before in this country. If one of the greatest forefathers of America (Thomas Jefferson) understood that there needed to be a “wall of separation” between church and state, perhaps more people who bomb abortion clinics in the name of a nation they claim was “founded” by Christianity will do their research.

Tiahrt: “Abort Obama, too many Moslem children, Hitler’s a nice guy”

Speaking of abortions… Sharlet says The Family is grooming Todd Tiahrt as “a disciple?” Wow.

Following up on the their previous interview, Rachel Maddow talked to Sharlet again, this time in greater detail about Tiahrt. See the interview below. Pay particular attention to the discussion of “Christ Plus None” and the idea of “the totalitarianism of Christ.” Then see how you feel about the following, in Sharlet’s words:

(Doug Coe) said to Tiahrt what you need to do is form a covenant with your brothers in Christ, like Ensign and Coburn and Sanford. He says when you do this, when you commit total loyalty to each other, and you vow to keep up each others secrets, you can accomplish much more. And he gave to Congressman Tiahrt examples of guys who had done this very well, he thought. Hitler, Pol Pot, Osama bin Laden, and Lenin, and it just makes your jaw drop that Congressman Tiahrt thought this was very wise advice.

Take back your country from religious fundamentalism before it’s too late.

If you need money to make signs, I hear personal loans and cheap loans are available. They aren’t something The Family can “moralize” away.

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Wait, Coburn's really a deacon, not a senator! C Street confessions are protected, you sorry chumps (Photo: crooksandliars.com)

Do you feel comfortable with your elected officials belonging to a secret society that “rejects morality as a secular construct of man?” Do you find it troubling that the same officials then take it upon themselves to “moralize” on the topic of why cheap loans and personal loans are bad for their constituents, all the while seeing no problem with abandoning their publicly appointed duties and committing marital infidelity? It should bother you, because your elected officials are openly stating that they serve a power that is more important than citizens like yourself that they have pledged to serve.

Very worried

Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina. Senator John Ensign of Nevada. Congressman Chip Pickering (See: http://blog.au.org/2009/07/21/family-values-secretive-c-street-band-is-wild-and-not-so-innocent/) of Mississippi. Congressman Todd Tiahrt of Kansas. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. These politicians and others are a part of a fellowship at C Street House, where they follow the teachings of “The Family.” Their secret society apparently supersedes their obligation to the public. If they were told to aid the family in a way that would violate their commitment to The Family, these men would do it. And they are completely unapologetic of that fact. How can voters make sure a mistake about such an overall lack of character and substance? Ah, I know. They don’t pay attention when they vote, or they vote the way religious figures advise them to and give it no further thought. Baaaaaaa! Baaaaaaa! Trade your brains in for shovels, because you should bury yourselves during important times like elections. Or at least turn in your citizenship for magic Moses beans. Then the beanstalk will trip you on the way to the polls… or the mailbox… or whatever. What I’m saying is, please don’t vote without a brain… again.

They do not answer to you

Democratic Underground draws our attention to a July 16 interview on “The Rachel Maddow Show.” Jeff Sharlet, journalist and author of the book “The Family: Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power,” speaks of how the extramarital affairs committed recently by high-profile politicians were known about for months before the knowledge became public. The fellowship and The Family as a whole supposedly knew, and in some cases, a lot of money began to change hands in order to keep things quiet. And that appears to be just the tip of the iceberg at C Street House. As Sharlet puts it, “There’s a level when you are at the C Street house, It’s almost like a fundamentalist frat house. The Family sees their oath to one another as more important than their accountability to the public.”

CLICK HERE and see how Todd Tiahrt of Kansas steers this into even more dangerous waters…