The first lesson you learn in public life — or working in a radio or TV station — is always assume that every microphone is on. Some people never learn. Yet another family-values anti-gay-marriage conservative gets busted for having an affair.

Michael Duvall is a conservative Republican state representative from Orange County, California. While waiting for the start of a legislative hearing in July, the 54-year-old married father of two and family values champion began describing, for the benefit of a colleague seated next to him, his ongoing affairs with two different women. In very graphic detail.

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Duvall’s sophomoric braggadocio, of course, was picked up by the microphone in front of him, and wound up on a tape for the legislature’s in-house TV station. From there it was sent to a local news station, KCAL, which ran this full report last night.

Cutting to the chase, Mr. Duvall has resigned from office.

Insert the usual caveat here: yes, people in both parties have affairs. Yes, we’re all human. But the simple fact is that people who stand up staunchly for “family values” and get 100% ratings from church groups and then screw around with two women, neither of whom is his wife, deserve all the scorn we can heap on them. Mr. Duvall’s only saving grace is that less than 12 hours passed between the revelation and his resignation. Get a clue, David Vitter, John Ensign, and Mark Sanford.