A midsummer night's dream, Indiana-style

Concerned Women of America, the bluestockings of the Christianist right, blames Washington DC for corrupting resigning Rep. Mark Souder. The trouble is that Souder's squeeze worked in his district office back in Indiana, and they preferred discussing abstinence late at night in Indiana state parks.

Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) conducted a years-long extramarital affair with a staffer whilepreaching traditional family values, sponsoring a "Marriage Protection Amendment" to the Constitution, and even filming a pro-abstinence video with his girlfriend.

But it turns out Souder had no agency in the matter after all, according to the president of a leading conservative women's group.

"Those of us who have worked with Mark over the years know him to be a kind and thoughtful legislator. If Mark Souder is capable of sexual misconduct, it could happen to anyone," said Concerned Women for America CEO Penny Nance in a statement Tuesday. "The frat house environment on Capitol Hill does nothing to encourage accountability."

The rest is here.

(h/t Weigel)

Late Update: Somehow we missed this earlier, but Nance also explains the happening of the affair by noting the lack of office door windows on Capitol Hill:

"Most Members do not live with their families while they are working in D.C. during the week and have even ditched common rules of etiquette that even major corporations follow such as office doors with windows or careful examination of employee/boss interaction."