If somebody were to have asked us to make a list of the members of Nevada’s state Senate who we thought would park illegally in a handicapped space, we’d have ranked Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford pretty close to the bottom. He’s a bright, intelligent guy who’s been an advocate for the disabled in his career. (BTW, top of our list of would-be parking violators? Maurice Washington. Definitely.)

So imagine our surprise when KNTV Channel 13 investigative reporter Darcy Spears reported a story Monday in which Horsford was caught in the act: The senator’s white Ford Expedition — bearing Nevada “state senator” license plates — is clearly parked immediately adjacent to a handicapped space, in an area marked clearly by white diagonal stripes as a loading zone for people with disabilities. The vehicle was parked outside a youth football game for more than five hours, according to the mother of a little girl who uses a wheelchair but was unable to find parking at the game.

Let’s do a quick look at what’s wrong here:

1. It’s totally ass to park in or around handicapped spaces without a legitimate permit. We suspect even Horsford agrees with that. (A written statement he issued though the executive director of the Democratic Senate caucus says Horsford “inadvertently” parked in the space, but that he promised not to do it again. We put in a call to get a copy of the statement for ourselves, but didn’t immediately hear back. If, in fact, the statement contains the word “inadvertently,” we’d also have to classify that as “ass,” since the markings are impossible to miss.)

2. But the felony stupidity here is to park in or around a handicapped space with your state Senate license plates on the car! Seriously, who does that? People already think politicians believe they belong to a special, privileged class that doesn’t have to follow the same rules as the rest of us. Why prove it by cramming a hulking SUV into a space reserved for handicapped people to unload their cars? And why broadcast your identity (the owners of those plates are a matter of public record) and risk losing the votes and support of people who are disabled and who advocate for the disabled? If you’re going to use those special plates on your vehicle, you’d damn well better drive (and park) as if you were Miss Manners on her best day!

Now, we know Horsford and we like him. He’s a smart guy, and he doesn’t make a habit of doing things like this. Perhaps the lot was full and he was late, or something. But that cannot excuse what’s not only an act of incivility, but also a crime punishable by a big fine. (Drop off your kids and go find a parking space somewhere else, for God’s sake!)

If we were Horsford, we’d figure out what the fine is for parking illegally in a handicapped space, and donate that amount immediately to a group that advocates for disabled people. And then we’d resolve to park only in authorized spaces from now on. Or at least take the damn “state senator” plates off your car and use regular ones!

Never has U.S. Sen. John Ensign cheered for The Tonight Show and Late Night with David Letterman more than on Monday, when ABC’s competing Nightline aired its interview with Ensign’s former best friend and top aide, Doug Hampton.

Most of the details in the interview were not new — Ensign had an affair with Hampton’s wife, Cindy, who worked for his campaign; he covered it up; he got caught; he said it was a mistake; he continued the affair; he got caught again; he said it was a mistake again; he fired the Hamptons; he continued the affair; his parents paid hush money/severance to the Hamptons; Doug Hampton finally went public; Ensign confessed.

But there were a couple of interesting tidbits:

• When Doug Hampton first confronted Ensign about the affair around Christmas 2007, he was “like a kid” and “scrambling.”
• On Christmas Eve 2007, with both families at Ensign’s home, Ensign “cries like a little boy” about the affair. Did Doug Hampton see remorse in those tears? “Yeah, panic,” Hampton replies.
• Ensign forced the Hamptons to return to Washington D.C. after they’d been fired, so he could throw them a going-away party so that no one would be suspicious about the real reasons for their departure from Ensign’s employ.
• Hampton flatly rejected the obviously false explanation for the $96,000 check cut to his family from Ensign’s parents, part of a “pattern of generosity” to the Hampton family from the Ensign family. “Pattern of generosity? ‘Oh, hey, listen, we realize our son is having an affair with your wife, maybe some money will help?’ It’s ridiculous,” Hampton said.

Notice anything? The common thread running through all of this — as well as a letter Ensign was forced to write after that now-famous confrontation with fellow U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn at the C Street house both senators shared — is lying.

At every turn, Ensign lied, whether through his tears, his words, his pen or his parent’s checkbook, Ensign did whatever it took to achieve what seemed to be his only goal: getting alone time with Cindy Hampton. The only time he got angry, according to Hampton’s repeated statements, was when Hampton dared to confront him, and to induce others to do so as well.

It’s entirely possible, we think, that Ensign has never felt a single ounce of human remorse for what he’s done in this tawdry affair, despite his tears and his grit-jawed confession before the media this summer. It’s entirely possible that he cares not a whit for his own family, Hampton’s family, his friends, his Christian roommates or even Cindy Hampton. Why else would he so recklessly and remorselessly manipulate everyone around him to his own twisted end?

All that mattered to Ensign, it seems, was getting what he wanted. And to do that, he exercised his preexisting (and almost preternatural) talent for prevarication. Could it be that lying is not just something Ensign does, with great skill and ease? Could it be that, in the end, lying is something Ensign simply is?