By Frank Rich, commenting on the indiscretions of former GOP "family values" poster boy Sen. David Vitter and the latest examples of Republican sexual and moral hypocrisy:

Mr. Vitter first went to Washington as a young congressman in 1999, to replace Robert Livingston, the Republican leader who had been anointed to succeed Newt Gingrich as speaker of the House. Mr. Livingston's seat had abruptly become vacant after none other than Mr. Flynt outed him for committing adultery. Since we now know that Mr. Gingrich was also practicing infidelity back then... the Vitter scandal can be seen as the culmination of an inexorable sea change in his party...

The one federal official caught on the D.C. Madam's phone logs ahead of Mr. Vitter, Randall Tobias, was a Bush State Department official whose tasks had included enforcing a prostitution ban on countries receiving AIDS aid...

The G.O.P. that began the century in the thrall of Rick Santorum, Bill Frist and George Allen has become the brand of Mark Foley and Mr. Vitter.