Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Ethics Awards that Look Bad in Retrospect

California Assembly Member Mike Duvall, a conservative married Republican moralist, was -- as pretty much everyone knows by now -- accidentally caught on tape discussing two simultaneous extramarital affairs he was conducting, in some rather ungentlemanlike detail. According to the latest report, Duvall has resigned his seat following the publicity around his hypocritical caddish behavior. He had already been removed from a utilities committee he sat on in the Assembly, because, well, apparently both of the women with whom he was misbehaving were utilities lobbyists.

But wait, it gets better.

As KCRA 3 News notes at the end of its report:

According to Duvall's Assembly Web site, Chapman University awarded him the Ethics in America Award in 2000 for his "demonstration of the highest standards of ethical integrity" while a member of the Chamber of Commerce team.He was also named Legislator of the Year in 2008 by the California Attractions and Parks Association, according to his campaign Web site.

Oops. Can you retract an ethics award after it's been given?

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