It's sex scandal Friday! We're taking a break from health care to discuss the increasingly dismal situation facing John Ensign, who clearly did not pay attention to the adage "It's cheaper to keep ." Ethics violations and adultery, ahoy! When we last left John Ensign: Unlike most philandering politicians, Ensign and his wife were separated at the time that he began an affair with Cynthia Hampton - one which her husband now swears resulted from a relentless pursuit of his wife, since obviously she has no autonomy or sexual desires of her own. It is similar to the affair that San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom conducted with his former friend-and-staffer's wife in which the politician is the single one, and the husband the cuckold. There's no official word on why the Hamptons stopped working for Ensign before the affair ended, though the New York Times reported that Ensign reconciled with his wife shortly before Cynthia Hampton left his employ. Now, thanks to the New York Times, we have the gory details. Apparently, Ensign began putting feelers out for a new role for Douglas Hampton, top Washington aide who was suddenly in need of a new position. Ensign asked around, but neglected to provide the reason why: The job pitch left out one salient fact: the senator was having an affair with Mr. Hampton's wife, Cynthia, a campaign aide. The tumult that the liaison was causing both families prompted Mr. Ensign, a two-term Republican, to try to contain the damage and find a landing spot for Mr. Hampton. In the coming months, the senator arranged for Mr. Hampton to join a political consulting firm and lined up several donors as his lobbying clients, according to interviews, e-mail messages and other records. Mr. Ensign and his staff then repeatedly intervened on the companies' behalf with federal agencies, often after urging from Mr. Hampton. So what's the problem? In Washington circles, you quickly start to find that everything is political. Especially when you do something stupid and try to cover your tra...