Since this has shaped up into “religion day,” I’m going to post some reads that speak to that in a general way … because we’ve BECOME religious, in a general way. It’s our “flavor of the decade,” dammit.
I was talking to a friend about polls the other day — he mentioned that he’d given up on them because they could be used to prove anything. True enough — but the problem is in the intent of the pollster; how the questions are framed tell the tale. How often have you taken a quiz … a multiple choice, for instance … where NONE of the answers reflects your choice? That’s what clever polls do — they frame the question without the nuance required for a candid answer.
Take the religious question. America is vaguely religious, most raised in or around the Christian church. I was baptized, not christened — in my denomination, you had to have completed a study and made a decision to accept the “invitation” … this is the “lest ye be born again” business. Being baptized, accepting Christ, then, rendered you “born again.” So, should a pollster have asked me [and probably the majority of people on my block] back then, the “born again” question, I would have said yes. The polls tell us that over 50% of the country considers itself “born again” and that number has been used as a sledge hammer against the progressive movement — but that means something different entirely than what the Holy Rollers [as me Mum would have called them] mean. Entirely. So — generally speaking — this nation is Born Again … but specifically, only 3 or 4 percent of the population is Charismatic/Pentacostal; the Evangelicals make up the rest of the Religious Right and many of them are rethinking the Bushie cause.
Another thing that has marked this last decade is the stunning inability of the press to report from an unbiased platform. I suppose when you’re being fed a steady diet of lies, you find yourself in a position of either becoming a stenographer, which our press has done, or an investigator. The early “patriotism” problems of this decade seemed to immediately morph the Fourth Estate into a cowardly lot, seldom questioning — and where did the investigators go? Enter the web.
A few canny reporters are beginning to come around to the power of the blog — good thing, because they’re behind the curve. Those interested in news hit MSM last. The blogs are calling the administration on their lies, doing the vetting and fact finding, and setting the tone for the political conversation. We wouldn’t have turned the tide … and we have … if it hadn’t been for the internet.
So, credit where it’s due, first read — and pieces about the state of our state, Chertoff’s “gut feeling” about a summer of possible terrorism, and other Bushie fractured fairy tales. Four of the five pieces are by bloggers — potent statements, funky language. I’d rather read them than any of the stilted, unconfrontive pap coming out of print [and if I actually posted Bush's speech from today, you'd agree these reads to be superior and well worth your time.]
Jude
Shooting the Messengers: The blogs are the new Fourth Estate
Alan Bisbort
Jul 12 2007
George W. Bush and Dick Cheney are the lunatic fringe now. The only people who will still stand in the same room with them are Sen. Joe Lieberman, whose reelection in 2006 was the worst mistake Connecticut voters have ever made, and the Beltway pundits. This latter group is, like Lieberman, comprised of brain-dead panty-waists (David Broder, Joe Klein, Cokie Roberts, George Will, Sally Quinn, Robert Novak, Larry King), all of whom grovel at the feet of power because they’ve been around it for far too long and are, thus, incapable of separating politics from friendships.
The most recent proof of the corrupting influence of power can be found by scanning the list of people who wrote letters to Judge Reggie Walton to spare the convicted felon I. Lewis Libby prison time: everyone from James Carville to Richard Perle, Henry Kissinger to Sen. Alan Simpson. For the full 373-page printout of the “Scooter Libby Love Letters,” go to www.thesmokinggun.com. This sobering litany offers one letter after another from lobbyist, ex-elected official, corporate CEO, Beltway consultant and, like Carville, “pundits,” all singing the same tune about what a great guy “Scooter” is. This group is so ghoulishly reminiscent of the cliques in high school as to be nauseating. Apparently, it sickened Judge Walton — a true American hero — and he sentenced Libby to 36 months in the slammer.
Bush’s approval rating now stands at 26 percent (and, seriously, you have to wonder about the sanity of this true-believing “core”), members of his own benighted party are abandoning him, GOP 2008 presidential candidates dare not mention his name on the campaign trail, even the Fourth of July celebrations seemed curiously muted, all because of Bush and his dirty little war.
But, even without the commutation of Libby’s sentence, it had already dawned on 75 percent of Americans that Bush must be stopped. The pardon will only harden this view. Because the Beltway pundits — most of whom regularly shared cocktail wienies with Scooter — dictate the overarching “theme” of the mainstream media, where would the American people have gotten such an idea if not from the usual outlets? That is, where did they find the truth?
Blogs.
Just look at the political stories that have dominated the past two years. During that time, print and broadcast journalists got their asses kicked by the new voice of the people — vox bloguli. The two biggest national news stories — the Plame case/Libby trial and the mass firings at the U.S. Attorneys’ office — were both driven by the doggedness of blogs. The late, lamented Steve Gilliard was so dead-on accurate in his forecasts about Iraq that you wonder how so-called “experts” could be so consistently wrong if some guy in a small room in Harlem with a modem and a clip file could be so damn right.
Members of the media based in the Nation’s Capital have themselves to blame. Now, not only are their jobs at stake, their very profession is in tatters. Why? They suck.
Firedoglake owned the Libby trial coverage and now owns the Libby pardon fallout story. Talking Points Memo (www.talkingpointsmemo.com) owned the prosecutor purge story, which the mainstream media dismissed as a partisan fishing expedition (because that’s what David Broder & Co. told them it was). Only TPM’s Joshua Micah Marshall tenaciousness kept the story alive long enough for the mainstream press to get off its collective barstool, stagger over to their laptops and do a Google search or two.
Bottom line: support your favorite blogger. They are the Sons and Daughters of Liberty. ++
24 Hours of American Liars
The Rude Pundit
7/11/2007
Here’s what we’ve learned in the last 24 hours or so, none of it terribly surprising in and of each separate thing, but in the aggregate, quite, umm, bowel-releasing frightening. We’ve learned there’s different kinds of lies:
Lies of Omission - The Surgeon General of the United States was ordered by the White House to lie to America about everything related to, you know, health. When Richard H. Carmona was the Surgeon General from 2002-2006, Carmona wasn’t allowed “to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues” and to water down a report on secondhand smoke (something he actually resisted). He was discouraged from attending the Special Olympics, for chrissake, because of Ted Kennedy’s involvement in it. Also (and this is the Rude Pundit’s favorite part), Carmona “was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches.” Apparently, George W. Bush is such a needy little bitch that he gots to get his props whenever he can force people to do it.
Let’s not give too much credit to Carmona here. He was a complicit pussy for four years. Someone who cared less about his own hide would’ve said, “Kiss my Vietnam vet ass, Karl Rove,” and spoken for science, and not the World According To Bush. Fired or quitting after that, at least he’d have some self-respect and not be like every other career-fearing demi-loyalist who stayed in the administration because - why? Because they thought they could do good? Or because they feared getting Paul O’Neilled? Shit, C. Everett Koop finally told Ronald Reagan to suck his Amish beard and sent out the HIV/AIDS pamphlet to every household in America. Yeah, it was a few years too late, but at least Koop decided not to be a liar.
Lies of Bureaucracy - Alberto Gonzales was shown, again, again, again, to have lied to Congress. In 2005, when he was testifying on the renewal of the Patriot Act (aka the “Let’s Strip Search Grandpa” Act), he told Congress, “There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse” under the Act. And that’d be true, except that he had been told, repeatedly, of, well, shit, civil liberties violations by the FBI acting under the Patriot Act. But, according to a Justice Department lackey douchebag, it depends on what you mean by “abuses.” See, if it’s intentional, it’s an abuse. If not, it’s just - what? A meaningless fuck-up? If the FBI agents know you’re not a terrorist and still beat the shit out of you for fun, that’s an abuse. But if they just get your name wrong and beat the shit out of you, that’s an innocent mistake. Par for the course for this administration. No one is accountable for “errors.” Mistakes are made, don’t you know? They just appear in the ethereal realm and inflict themselves on us. Shit, next thing you know, Gonzales will claim the Devil made him do it. But don’t worry, America, there’s a-gonna be a hearing.
Just Plain Fuckin’ Lies - When President Bush spoke in Cleveland yesterday regarding the war in Iraq and a bunch of other shit on which no one cares what he thinks, he not only told Republicans to go fuck themselves, he lied, “[B]y the way, al Qaeda is doing most of the spectacular bombings, trying to incite sectarian violence. The same people that attacked us on September the 11th is the crowd that is now bombing people, killing innocent men, women and children, many of whom are Muslims, trying to stop the advance of a system based upon liberty.” As not nearly enough reports tell us, this just isn’t true of about 90% of the attacks in Iraq. And, despite his feints at differentiating, really, “al Qaeda” is shorthand for “filthy Muslims” in Bush’s lexicon.
In a “Fact Check” document put out by the White House, not only does the administration torture the details to make the case that we’re fighting al Qaeda, it actually cites as progress “Signs of normalcy in Baghdad like professional soccer leagues, amusement parks, and vibrant markets.” Now, the Rude Pundit’s not totally sure on this, but he’s pretty sure that we’re not talking Disney World Ramadi here. In Iraq, an “amusement park” is just a glorified playground. Don’t expect an “It’s a Small World” ride any time soon. If you can’t get electricity to power your A/C, you sure as shit don’t want it wasted on Space Mountain.
So here we are: the Surgeon General, the Attorney General, the Commander-in-Chief, all lying to us. Add the “Lies of Necessary Fears” by Michael “Gut-Feeling” Chertoff, and you’ve got a government that is actually functioning to bring harm to its citizens. If this was a real democracy, we’d be out in the streets shutting the nation down until Bush resigned, taking Cheney with him. The unions would call for general strikes, as would immigrant rights groups, poverty groups, families of soldiers. All seventy percent of us. Clogging the cities and towns, demanding that we take back the country from the people who want to harm us.
But this is not a real democracy. It is a group of geographically tied together people with pretense to democracy, fearful of actual power because it means actual responsibility for themselves, for each other. ++
The Dud
Ed Naha, Smirking Chimp
Jul 11 2007
When a firework fizzles instead of sizzles, it’s known as a “dud.”
Which brings us to our President. As I write this, he’s giving his “Iraq is hard” speech for the 270th time. Last week, though, on the 4th of July, I believe he reached the zenith of his nadir, comparing the Iraq invasion with our own Revolutionary War. Yes, he did.
At this point, Bush is so far removed from any Earthly reality, that national news pool reportage is done via the Hubble Telescope.
Appearing before an invite-only audience of West Virginia Air National Guard troops and their families, Bush immediately awed the crowd by stating: “This isn’t the first time our country has celebrated the 4th of July.”
There was a stunned silence from all in attendance who thought they were there to celebrate a very loud Easter.
Bush donned his historian hat, pointing out “Our first Independence Day celebration took place in a midst of a war - a bloody and difficult struggle that would not end for six more years before America finally secured her freedom. More than two DECADES later, it is hard to imagine the Revolutionary War coming out any other way…”
In the audience, people with calculators blew out their batteries. Those with command of the English language got migraines. Several children began sniffling, imaging the Easter bunny in a bloody and difficult struggle.
Undaunted by facts, Bush continued: “Those who wear the uniform are the successors of those who dropped their pitchforks and picked up their muskets to fight for liberty. Like those early patriots, you’re fighting a new and unprecedented war - pledging your lives and honor to defend our freedom and way of life. In this war, the weapons have changed, and so have our enemies, but one thing remains the same: The men and women of the Guard stand ready to put on the uniform and fight for America.”
Clearly, if Bush were in charge during our Revolutionary War, he would have battled the British by taking a flotilla of troops across the sea and attacking Sweden. (Thus teaching Sweden an important lesson - the ocean will no longer protect you.)
I cringe whenever Bush goes near a microphone. You never know what crap he’ll spew. “Everything changed after 9/11!” “Remember the Maine!” or “Who stole my strawberries!?”
Yet, still he persists.
For anyone not paying attention, the Iraq fiasco has been compared to the American Civil War, World War II, post-war Germany, post-war Japan, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Somehow, World War I has been left out of the mix, presumably because Bush thought the term “fighting doughboys” had something to do with belligerent biscuits from Pilsbury.
For all his raucous rhetoric, Bush has seen his popularity sink like a stone. If Bush’s poll ratings were transformed into Fahrenheit degrees, he’d be dog sledding instead of biking down in Crawford.
With over 70% of Americans against the Iraq invasion, perhaps it’s time Bush went to his speechwriters and asked them to make his Iraqi comparisons a little zippier. I mean, the guy will say anything these days.
He could try appealing to the young hunks of the country, by doing a Frank Miller spin. “Our men and women in uniform, today, are like the 300 Spartans who stood their ground against thousands of Persian troops led by Xylophone or somebody. They fought bravely until the end and would have won if the Democrats in Athens had allowed another surge. There’s a lesson to be learned from this. Democrats are wieners.”
Maybe he could appeal to film buffs. “The situation in Iraq reminds me of the movie ‘Godzilla Vs. the Thing.’ Now, the ‘thing’ was really Mothra. Some suit in Hollywood changed the Japanese title. Anyhow, like we were attacked on 9/11, Japan was attacked by Godzilla.
Admittedly, we didn’t tangle with a 2,000-foot tall lizard with radioactive breath, but you catch my drift. Our troops are a lot like Mothra, a giant moth that spit out goop and was peaceful, like America. Goaded into battle, Mothra was only supported by two six-inch Jap gals who sang a lot. They’re like the Republican base. Seemingly outmatched, Mothra flew into battle and spit out all this goopy stuff and eventually K.O.’d Godzilla. It reminds me of World War II when Winston Churchill said: “I laugh at danger and spit in the eye of fear.” Or, maybe, it was “I spit at danger and laugh in the eye of fear.” Anyhow, he laughed and spit a lot. Wait a minute. It might not have been Churchill. Might’ve been Woody Allen.”
He could try dredging up the memory of 9/11 one more time, too. “Now, a lot of people say that there’s a civil war going on in Iraq. That our troops are battling both Shiites and Sunnis. They’re wrong. We’re battling al Qaeda. The same people responsible for 9/11. They’re everywhere. Underground. Up in trees. Hiding in hampers. We know they’re al Qaeda because they wear name tags and distinctive beanies. And they mock us. Not only do they assault us with IEDs, but with sarcasm. A lot of ‘yo’ mama’ stuff. They want us to cut and run. They want us to leave. Then, they’ll follow us home and really start dissing us. And what will our other enemies in the neighborhood think if we cut and run? Evildoers like Iran? The Iranians will pull down their pants and laugh at us. Of course, Democratic homos would love that. But that’s not going to happen on my watch.”
Or, he could keep it simple. “I had lunch with God today. It’s in the bag.”
And, so, with God on his side, Bush digs his heels in and leaves our troops to fend for themselves. As of this writing, 30 Americans have died this month and 3 British troops. The “official” tally of American troops slain is 3609, with 112 of those being suicides. Attacks on America’s “Green Zone” are up. Nearly 250 innocent Iraqis died this past weekend. How many tens of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children will never live to pick up a pitchfork, let alone throw one down?
As Bush stays the course and Neo-Cons prepare for the ‘08 election by revealing that Nazis and Fascists were really Liberals (I’m not kidding.), and Iraq continues to crumble, may I offer my own humble advice to our Commanderer-in-Grief? Next time you come across a pitchfork? Sit on it. ++
‘Gut Feeling’
A. Alexander, Progressive Daily Beacon
July 11th, 2007
A new USA Today-Gallup Poll revealed that more Americans than ever, are opposed to the Iraq War. The same poll found Mister Bush’s approval at a new low. Too, recent reports described the White House as being in a panic over the prospect of Republicans abandoning the President’s Iraq policy. On top of all that, Democrats are going to be holding a series of Iraq War-related votes designed to pressure Congressional Republicans and the President into changing course in Iraq. Oh, and Congress issued several subpoenas to the administration, which Mister Bush refused to comply with. Not surprising then, Michael Chertoff, Director of Homeland Security, started sounding the “terror-scare” alarm.
Only days ago, former Republican Senator, Rick Santorum, appeared on Hugh Hewitt’s radio program and went on record with what was either a prediction, or the hope, or a personal threat of a coming terror attack on the United States. The onetime Senator insisted that once the attack happened, people would see the wisdom of George W. Bush’s Iraq War. Not that the one has anything to do with the other, but that is how administration friends and apologists play the game: Iraq equals 9/11, equals terrorists killing American women and children, equals Iraq, equals 9/11, equals….
With each passing day another administration crime is exposed and more Congressional Republicans publicly renounce the President’s war strategy. And, with each incident, the White House and its shrinking circle of supporters become more shrill and desperate with warnings regarding terror attacks, like those of Santorum, that come across as either what they desperately hope will happen or as a macabre threat. Chertoff’s “warning” was little better. He based his terror-scare epiphany on a “gut feeling.” That’s right; the Director of Homeland Security is now basing his terror threat assessments and warnings on his “gut feeling.”
This is how Chertoff’s warning was reported by the AP: “On Tuesday, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the editorial board of The Chicago Tribune that he had a ‘gut feeling’ about a new period of increased risk.”
The people of the United States are dealing with the single most desperate group of thugs to ever have governed the country. As everything the Neoconservatives have worked for comes unraveled and the administration faces more legal and war-related political pressure, don’t be surprised, in the very near future, to discover that their terror attack warnings weren’t really warnings at all, but rather threats. Punishment, perhaps, for a population that lately refuses to support their war of madness. Either that or Santorum is begging Baby Jesus for a terror attack and Chertoff’s “gut feeling” is a bad case of constipation.
Regardless, the administration and its apologists will have to tread lightly. After all, the people know now, that in 2005, the US could have captured al Qaeda’s senior leadership. Indeed, Navy Seals were on their way to either capture or kill the terrorist organization’s honchos and Donald Rumsfeld called them off. These same al Qaeda leaders currently thrive in the Afghan-Pakistan border region. A reality that probably would not have been possible had Mister Bush and the Neocons finished the war in Afghanistan, before invading Iraq under false pretenses.
Sure, the Bush administration and its supporters like Santorum and Bill Kristol, would like to see a terror attack on US soil. They believe it would increase support for the Iraq War, but the reality is that they would be seen, all things considered, as something of accomplices to the travesty. Why didn’t they kill al Qaeda’s leadership when they had the chance? Rather than finish the fight in Afghanistan, why did they invade Iraq? Why, nearly six years on, haven’t they fully implemented the 9/11 Commission’s recommendations? Why have they played politics with anti-terror funding?
Here’s a “gut feeling” for the White House and its supporters to ponder: If there is another attack, everything that needs to be done will be done - AFTER the entire Executive Branch is impeached. ++
I Believe for Every Drop of Rain That Falls, A Flower Grows
Marty Kaplan, HuffPo
July 11, 2007
“I wouldn’t ask a mother or a dad — I wouldn’t put their son in harm’s way if I didn’t believe this was necessary for the security of the United States and the peace of the world. I strongly believe it, and I strongly believe we’ll prevail. And I strongly believe that democracy will trump totalitarianism every time. That’s what I believe. And those are the belief systems on which I’m making decisions that I believe will yield the peace.”
~ George W. Bush, Cleveland, July 10, 2007
Who gives a flying fig for what you believe, Mr. President? You believed trading Sammy Sosa to the White Sox was a good move. You believed Saddam was making nukes from Nigerien yellowcake. You believed Senators of both parties would acclaim Harriet Miers as a “superb choice” for the Supreme Court,” an American of “unwavering devotion to the Constitution and laws of our country.” You said you had faith in General Casey (until you fired him). You keep telling us you have faith in Alberto Gonzales. We know you believe in a Higher Power, Mr. Bush — hey, if AA works for you, you go, guy — but why should any American mother or dad let you put their son in harm’s way just because you “strongly believe” that his being wasted by a roadside IED in an Islamic civil war makes the world more peaceful and the United States more secure?
This “belief” thing runs alarmingly deep. In his Cleveland speech, he said “I believe” 75 times. Here are some of the other things he said he believes:
He believes “it’s in this nation’s interest to give the commander a chance to fully implement his operations,” that “Congress ought to wait for General Petraeus to come back [in September] and give his assessment of the strategy that he’s putting in place before they make any decisions…. And that’s the way I’m going to play it, as the Commander-in-Chief.” (Tell that to the swelling ranks of Senate Republicans scared witless that they’ll be booted from office if the playa-in-chief doesn’t immediately change course.)
He believes in “rule of law.” (Tell that to Valerie Plame Wilson and the fired US Attorneys.)
He believes that the economy is “robust.” (Tell that to the people whose real wages haven’t risen since he’s been President.”)
He believes that “we can balance the budget without raising taxes.” (Tell that to the fuzzy math fairy.)
He believes the best way we can improve health care is “to enable more people to have private insurance.” (Tell that to the people weeping and cheering at Sicko.)
He believes “in information technology” (you know, the internets and the Google).
He believes that “some Americans don’t believe we’re at war, and that’s their right” (you know, Americans in a persistent vegetative state).
“That’s what I believe.” Six times, to punctuate a point, he said it; “that’s what I believe.”
I can’t help thinking that it’s not just a rhetorical tic. In Bush’s faith-based epistemology, the strongest possible justification for any action he takes is that he believes in it. Not that it’s true; not that it’s supported by evidence; not that it’s consistent with the Constitution; not that it enforces the law; not that it’s desired by the vast majority of the American people — but that, like the Nicene Creed, he believes it.
Republicans often complain that Democrats want to criminalize policy differences. The truth is that the President has aggressively theologized policy differences. “Un roi, une loi, une foi” was the French monarchy’s formulation of this anti-democratic idea: one king, one law, one faith.
It would be too generous to call Bush an ideologue; his beliefs (unlike Cheney’s, or the Project for the New American Century) don’t aspire to the poisonous coherence of neoconservatism. Instead, what Bush possesses is a narcissism that he markets as a civic religion. He believes he was elected as the Defender of the Faith, and that it is we who are accountable to him, rather than he who is accountable to us.
It was Thomas Jefferson who best described what’s most pernicious about belief-based leadership: “It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.”
That’s what I believe. ++
“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”
~ Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
July 12th, 2007
… that I had high hopes for the DC Madam’s phone list of clients, earlier this year — a couple of heads rolled, back then … with speculations that Uncle Dick was among the many who took advantage of the services her employee’s provided. ABC gave us a peek at this issue, then closed the [appointment] book; a judge then closed it entirely, but it has recently opened again to haunt WaDC. They’re in a lather. As they should be.
So here’s what I think — I don’t care who hires whom for what sexual act, but if they have to do it in secret, in the dark [and with diapers on] they probably SHOULDN’T be telling me, America’s children or the world what to do next. And would they all PLEASE stop telling me that the “majority of American’s” are with them, on this — the majority of American’s consider them up-tight and repressed hypocritical prigs and Religious wingnuts.
Friend Keith does a fine job of defining this story for us, in the video, first — an amusing conversation, as well. Then bits and pieces, including the homophobic candidate for Surgeon General being grilled in Congress today, a snip from the Progress Report on the HHS website for parents [delusional ones,] and a piece about virtual-cartoon Bill O’Reilly, who fears lesbians in the dark of night. Last, Dr. Susan Block has some pointed commentary, as usual.
Clearly, if these people weren’t so afraid of sexuality, all this would be a non-starter — but when you’ve been told something is “wrong” it will ever and always call your name until you’ve demystified it.
The Madam’s list is being combed through now for other tell-tale clients — we will likely hear more, at least if Larry Flynt has his way; if a Liberal gets nailed for same, s/he will shrug, beg the parties and constituents pardon, and live to fight another day — we don’t suffer the same should’s and have to’s the conservatives do. Maybe that’s because we can make love with the lights on — what you have to do under cover is shame based; and leads to the kind of moralistic pap we’ve had to suffer from the Right for years now … as embarrassing a debacle, in my mind, as those resurrected clips of Jimmy Swaggart weeping and groveling because he got caught “watching” and wanted to be spanked.
Note to the Right: get a LIFE, will you please?
Oh, and — I know there’s ‘real’ news out there regarding Iraq — administration smoke and puff regarding the newly released interim report, Congress yelling back that it’s all a ridiculous sham. But … hey … we’ve heard it before, yes? It won’t go away … we’ll just get another iteration tomorrow. Getting the lights turned on permanently is a long, uphill slog.
Jude
Keith Olbermann on Senator Vitter
Sen. Vitter’s Diaper Fetish and Another Republican Caught Solicting Sex…From a Man in a Toilet
The Vitter scandal has touched off new anxiety among Republicans over whether their party will pay the price for members who fail to live up to their moral principles.
Howie Klein, Alternet
July 12, 2007
This Vitter thing just doesn’t want to go away. One of the Madams he was working with to procure women for him says he should be prosecuted (it is true that what he was doing actually is a crime) while another Madam says he “wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary” with her girls over the years (except that he was into a diaper fetish, just like Holy Joe).
The whole thing is certainly an embarrassment for the Louisiana Family Values Republican Party. Mike Cromartie a far right wing former chairman of the Commission on International Religious Freedom isn’t taking this as lightly as Vitter’s political cronies– who all say, basically, “Well, if God has forgiven him, who am I to hold a grudge?” Cromartie’s comment today was more in touch with a less forgiving branch of religionists: “It’s the hypocrisy that people can’t stand. It’s not the fact that people are frail and given to sinful behavior. It’s when they try to pretend to be morally upright and end up being self-righteous because they preach one thing and live another.”
Preacher and GOP presidential contender Governor Mike Huckabee doesn’t seem too proud to have Vitter’s hypocrisy making a statement about GOP phony-baloneys either.
“Many of us became a part of the Republican Party so that we could find a home for traditional beliefs regarding marriage and family and the sanctity of human life. If those things really don’t exist in the party, then we have to ask, ‘Why are we here?’”
One guy who is really embarrassed is Vitter’s political protégé, Bobby Jindal, who has Vitter’s old congressional seat and is currently running for governor of Louisiana. Jindal is in the same awkward position of so many Louisiana Republicans– Vitter included– who have been clamoring for William Jefferson to step down. Will they hold Vitter to the same standards?
The local papers seem filled with despair about the cesspool-like politics of the Bayou State. In Alexandria Town Talk summed it all up: “We’ve got a Democratic congressman caught with $90,000 in cash in his freezer and facing federal bribery charges, and a Republican senator caught with his pants down and facing a wife who… compared herself to the knife-wielding, libido-snipping Lorena Bobbitt. Welcome to Louisiana.”
Meanwhile, up the road apiece the Republicans are having another sex scandal. This time it’s Florida State Rep. Robert Allen of Merritt Island. The 48 year old Republican Representative was arrested today on second degree misdemeanor charges for solicitation for prostitution. And the twist is that he’s a married many and was asking an undercover cop in a men’s room if he could pay him to give him a blowjob. It’s so GOP!
Allen was out for a little afternoon delight and got nabbed at noon in Titusville, Florida. “Officers say they noticed Allen acting suspicious as he went in and out of the men’s restroom 3 times. Minutes later, he solicited an undercover male officer inside the restroom, offering to perform oral sex for $20.” He was first elected in 2000 and lists “water sports” as a hobby on his official state website. He also uses a 10 year old photo– a sure sign he’s gay.
The picture above is what he looks like today. The Christian Coalition loves loved Rep. Allen. Like Vitter (and Foley) and the rest of the Republican hypocrites, he was strong on the family values bullshit. In the last session of the Florida legislature, the Christian Coalition commends him for supporting their (extremist, hateful) positions 92% of the time. The Rainbow Democratic club also rates all the elected officals in the area. Allen? “Wicked Witch: Worst of the Worst.”
There is a difference between Allen and Vitter. Vitter likes women prostitutes and supports the cross-dressing candidate for president. Allen’s into the male variety and supports the most senile of the GOP contenders.
UPDATE: LARRY FLYNT SAYS STAY TUNED
He claims there are 20 more elected officials who he’s investigating.
“If someone’s living a life contrary to the way they’re advocating … then they become fair game,” Flynt told reporters. “I don’t want a man like that legislating for me, especially in the area of morality.”
…The Vitter scandal has touched off new anxiety among Republicans over whether their party will pay the price for members who fail to live up to their moral principles. Flynt, an unabashed Democrat, acknowledged that the GOP provides him with easier targets.
“Republicans are more fun because they get caught so easily,” Flynt said. “They’ve been living a repressed life all their life. Democrats are liberal - they wear it on their sleeve. Their sex life is what it is. They don’t spend their whole life trying to cover it up.”
Howie Klein was president of his freshman class, drove to Afghanistan and Nepal, became the president of Reprise Records and started a blog called Down With Tyranny! He’s always hated tyrants.
Hustler Magazine Investigates 20 Washington Sex Scandals
According to Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, “If somebody’s living a lie … they become fair game.”
Nick Juliano, Alternet
July 12, 2007
Hustler publisher Larry Flynt said Wednesday that investigators working for the magazine are involved in more than 20 investigations relating to his recent call for information on Washington sex scandals.
The investigations include “high ranking Republican and Democrat members of the Senate and the House,” Flynt said at a press conference in Los Angeles, in which RAW STORY participated via conference call.
“We’ve got some really good information here,” he said.
Sen. David Vitter, R-La., revealed Monday night that he had been a client of alleged “DC Madam” Deborah Jean Palfrey after reporters working for Hustler called him about the allegations.
“If somebody’s living a lie … they become fair game,” Flynt said, referring to Vitter’s “family values” stances and opposition to same-sex marriage.
Flynt said his investigations were not meant to be witch-hunts against frisky members of Congress — “I don’t care what their sex life involves,” he said — rather the goal is exposing hypocrisy.
“Unfortunately we have too many of these guys in Congress, and I’m going to do my part to get them out,” Flynt told reporters, adding that he doesn’t mind spending his own money to do so.
An ad that ran in the Washington Post last month offered $1 million from Flynt for information about people who had an illicit affair with elected officials. Flynt said Wednesday he paid $150,000 to run the full-page advertisement.
The exposure of Vitter came from Flynt’s cooperation with Palfrey in securing a complete list of her phone records, not in response to the Post ad, Flynt said.
Referring to his past court battles over indecency charges, the hardcore magazine publisher said the government “did everything it could for 15 years” to put him behind bars.
“This is payback time,” he said. “And payback’s a bitch.”
Vitter Screws One Person and It’s News?
How about the entire city of New Orleans? Look at the Corps of the matter.
Harkavy, The Village Voice
July 12, 2007
So Senator Dave Vitter screwed one person in New Orleans and won a million headlines. No one noticed when he, his fellow war supporters in Congress, and the White House repeatedly screwed the city’s entire (former) population before and after Hurricane Katrina hit.
In early September 2005, Vitter entered the official White House photo album by pointing out flood damage in Louisiana to President George W. Bush. But as I pointed out at the time, Vitter was gesturing in the direction of Iraq, which was soaking up funds diverted before Katrina:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is mighty proud of its $100 million water project in Erbil, in the Kurdish area of northern Iraq. But that’s just one of its thousands of reconstruction projects in Iraq.
In contrast, the entire 2005 construction budget for all Corps of Engineers projects in its New Orleans District was $94.3 million.
In June 2005, the Corps budget for New Orleans was slashed by $71.2 million, the heaviest cut the flood-prone city had ever experienced.
Two months later, Katrina hit, and water flooded into New Orleans. The Bush regime, with the support of Vitter, who was on the House Appropriations Committee before he became a senator in 2005 and was more ardent about big missiles than big levees, had been blowing its load of money on flood protection in Iraq. The Corps even established a “Gulf Region,” but it was the Persian Gulf, not the Gulf of Mexico, and the Bush regime poured billions into building hospitals and health clinics in Iraq while letting New Orleans hospitals die.
What a drag. And that’s what Rudy Giuliani’s aides are thinking. As Time pointed out July 10, Vitter is the Southern campaign director for Giuliani’s presidential bid. An outspoken social conservative closely tied to the Family Research Council, Bible-thumper James Dobson’s D.C. arm, Vitter combined with Giuliani to make “strange bedfellows,” as Gambit Weekly’s Jeremy Alford noted this past April.
Until Vitter was exposed as a brothel client, he had been obsessed — except when it came to New Orleans — with preventing the release of precious bodily fluids.
Pushing hard for abstinence education, Vitter has been quite the missionary. In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee leaders just three weeks ago, Vitter pleaded for the re-authorization of $50 million to spread abstinence education to the nation’s youth. Vitter wrote:
These programs provide teens with a clear message of health and help them develop personal boundaries and refusal and leadership skills in order to negotiate teen pressures.
No doubt a person will pay a higher price for sexual conduct without such negotiations.
Vitter’s letter added:
These funds help communities implement quality abstinence education programs and teach their children important lessons about health and character that will impact them their entire lives.
Or at least the rest of his term as a senator.
He co-wrote the letter with Kentucky senator Jim Bunning, the former Detroit Tigers pitcher. Quite a battery of pitcher and catcher.
Speaking of which, the moralists should say an extra prayer of thanks that Vitter was involved with the D.C. Madam instead of being just another AC/DC mister like so many other rigid right-wingers. Unlike evangelist Ted Haggard, Vitter is being criticized for screwing a woman.
To top it all, Vitter was escorted into Congress by someone else’s peckerdillo, and Hustler’s Larry Flynt was the key figure in that episode as well as in outing Vitter’s hypocrisy. As Think Progress noted July 10:
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) first got his start in Congress after replacing former Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA), who “abruptly resigned after disclosures of numerous affairs” in 1998.
At the time, Vitter argued that an extramarital affair was grounds for resignation:
“I think Livingston’s stepping down makes a very powerful argument that Clinton should resign as well and move beyond this mess,” he said. [Atlanta Journal and Constitution, 12/20/98]
Vitter wants to clean up such messes? Pass the Kleenex.
RADICAL RIGHT — GOVERNMENT WEBSITE: ABORTIONS MAKE WOMEN FEEL ‘SAD,’ RESORT TO ‘DRUGS’ AND ‘ALCOHOL’
American Progress Action Fund
7/12/07
Yesterday, NARAL discovered that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had revised a government website, 4parents.gov, with biased, misleading, and ideological claims about abortion. For example, the new website says, “Abortions can have complications. There may be emotional consequences, as well: some women say that they feel sad and some use more alcohol or drugs than before.” The American Psychological Association reports that, in fact, “[f]or most women…the time of greatest distress is likely to be before an abortion; after an abortion, women frequently report feeling ‘relief and happiness.’” Though the previous version of the site contained factual information about rates of teen pregnancy, this is not the first time 4parents.gov has put forth misleading ideological claims. When the site launched in 2005, it told parents “to convince their teens to stop having sex by telling their children that they are ‘worth it.’” But no resources were provided for “parents whose teen remains sexually active, implying that these youth are not ‘worth it.’” Additionally, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt a letter with reviews by scientific experts who concluded that 4parents.gov’s content appeared “to have been guided by ideology.” Waxman also noted that the website was not created by government scientists, as the administration claimed, “but rather through a no-bid contract to the National Physician’s Center for Family Resources, an obscure organization that has taken positions against scientific agencies on important matters of public health.” Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona’s testimony before Congress this week shows that this pattern of manipulating or ignoring science for political reasons is standard practice for the Bush administration. “Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological, or political agenda is ignored, marginalized, or simply buried,” said Carmona.
Bush surgeon general nominee defends views on gays
Will Dunham, Reuters
Thu Jul 12, 2007
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush’s surgeon general nominee, Dr. James Holsinger, disputed claims by critics that he holds “anti-gay” views during a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday.
But a senior Democrat expressed grave concerns about Holsinger.
“Questions have been raised about my faith and about my commitment to ensuring the health and welfare of all Americans, including gay and lesbian Americans,” Holsinger said in written testimony to a U.S. Senate committee.
“I am deeply troubled by these claims, which do not reflect who I am, what I believe or the work I have accomplished in over 40 years of practicing medicine.”
Holsinger, chosen by Bush in May to be the nation’s top doctor, testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which considers his nomination before any vote by the full Senate.
Gay rights groups also have opposed Holsinger’s nomination, faulting a document he wrote in 1991 titled “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality.” Written to a United Methodist Church panel studying homosexuality, Holsinger offered exhaustive anatomical details to describe anal sex as unnatural.
U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, the committee’s chairman, said in a statement Holsinger’s paper was “ideological and decidedly not an accurate analysis of the science then available on homosexuality.”
“The misuse of science gravely concerns me,” Kennedy said.
Bush nominated Holsinger on May 24, saying he would focus on childhood obesity. He was nominated to succeed Dr. Richard Carmona, who finished his term last year. Carmona has accused the Bush administration of preventing him from speaking out on stem cell research and other controversial issues.
Carmona said views differing with the ideological, theological or political agenda of administration political appointees are “ignored, marginalized or simply buried.”
Holsinger, a cardiologist, has served as Kentucky state health chief and University of Kentucky Medical Center chancellor. He served more than 30 years in the Army Reserve.
Holsinger’s two home state senators introduced him at the hearing and spoke glowingly on the nominee.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called Holsinger inspiring and impressive. “I can’t think of a finer choice,” he told the hearing.
The American Public Health Association, made up of 50,000 U.S. public health professionals, on Wednesday urged senators to vote against Holsinger because his views on homosexuality “put his political and religious ideology before established medical science.”
Gay rights groups also criticized his actions as a senior United Methodist Church official opposing lesbian ministers.
~ from Act For Change:
Tell Your Senator to Reject Bush’s Homophobic Surgeon General Nominee
http://actforchange.workingassets.com/campaign/stop_holsinger
Watch Out Bill O’Reilly!
There Are Roving Lesbian Gangs O’Reilly has done it again. This time the made up story involves pink pistol-packing dykes indoctrinating youth.
Tara Lohan, Alternet
July 11, 2007
As if there wasn’t enough to worry about these days, apparently all over the country — from New York to California — the streets are being terrorized by lesbian gangs. At least, according to Bill O’Reilly and Fox’s “crime analyst” Rod Wheeler.
On a June 21 episode of the “O’Reilly Factor” on Fox, Wheeler claimed that as many as 150 lesbian gangs prowled the Washington DC area and across the country these gangs (some known as Gays Taking Over or Dykes Taking Over) were responsible for beating people, raping girls, and indoctrinating children as young at 10. Oh, and they also carry pink pistols. Of course.
At one point during the segment — which was as hilarious as it was painful to watch — O’Reilly asked incredulously, “Now, when they recruit the kids, are they indoctrinating them into homosexuality?”
To which Wheeler answered with the utmost certainty, “Yes. As a matter of fact, some of the kids have actually reported that they were forced into, you know, performing sex acts and doing sex acts with some of these people.”
Thanks to the intrepid folks at the Southern Poverty Law Center, who were not satisfied to simply laugh off O’Reilly for the lunatic that he is, they did a little fact checking on his story and his source. Shockingly, the whole thing is crap.
As the Intelligence Report makes clear:
Nine-millimeter Glocks painted pink? Dykes taking over? More than 150 lesbian gangs in the Washington, D.C., area alone? These claims are, as Wheeler suggested, “very, very interesting.” They’re also very, very flimsy. Gaithersburg, Md., Detective Patrick Word, president of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Gang Investigators Network, an intelligence-sharing organization of 400 criminal justice professionals in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, said there is no evidence whatsoever of a lesbian gang epidemic in his region. “Our membership reports only one lesbian gang,” Word told the Intelligence Report.
Sgt. Brett Parson, a member and former commander of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, also questioned Wheeler’s numbers. “We have 150 to 175 total gangs in the D.C. area, and out of those only nine where the predominance of members are female,” he said. “You simply can’t make the jump that they are lesbians. I think it is fair to talk about violence and female gangs. But to sensationalize or marginalize a community by making a statement like that seems irresponsible.”
What’s also irresponsible is referring to Wheeler as a “crime analyst” and “detective” as O’Reilly did. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that Wheeler is a member of Jericho City of Praise, “a conservative Christian megachurch in Landover, Md., whose leadership publicly advocates against equal rights for gays and lesbians.”
And his professional credentials aren’t much better. “Wheeler told the Report that he spent seven years in professional law enforcement before going to work as a corporate security officer for McDonald’s Corp., a job he has since left. These days, Wheeler is a ‘food defense specialist’ for the American Institute of Baking. Just this spring, he publicly warned that the Big Mac is vulnerable to bioterrorist attacks at ‘250 points’ during production.”
The LGBT advocacy organization GLAAD went on the defensive and sent Rashad Robinson, their Senior Director of Media Programs, to face off against O’Reilly on his show. But of course Robinson got little chance to actually say anything. The organization did issue this statement:
The O’Reilly Factor segment essentially reported a national epidemic of lesbian gangs preying on young girls without offering one solid statistic or credible source. This type of inaccurate tabloid journalism perpetuates dangerous stereotypes about lesbians and feeds a climate of homophobia, anti-gay discrimination and violence. That’s the real national epidemic, but not one you’re likely to see reported with such zeal by Bill O’Reilly.
Perhaps next time GLAAD should send a lesbian. And she should be packing.
Hookergate II: The Senator and the Veep
Will Mrs Vitter Honor Her Campaign Pledge and Chop It Off?
Dr. SUSAN BLOCK, CounterPunch
July 12, 2007
Providing comic relief in a Democrappy Congress that doesn’t have the filibustering balls to Just Say No to Perma-War or the wit or wisdom to impeach the Bush Crime Family for their multiple murderous atrocities Brothers & Sisters, Lovers & Sinners, please put your hands together for Republican Senator David Vitter of the Great State of Louisiana, caught with his hand in D.C. Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey’s delicious yummy cookie jar.
Threatened with being exposed by investigative hypocrite-hunter Larry Flynt who found the conservative southern junior senator’s phone number (he used his own phone?) on Palfrey’s notorious DC John List, Vitter shrewdly decided to go ahead and expose himself, issuing a press release confessing to “a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsibleSeveral years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there — with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way”.
If Senator Vitter were not such a rabid social conservative, I would say leave the poor sorry schmuck alone with his God, his wife and his hookers. But this particular poor sorry schmuck is mightily trying to impose harsh, inhumane restrictions upon the sexual freedoms and rights to privacy of the rest of us, and he’s been doing it for years.
In the back alleys of the French Quarter, Vitter might be a tomcat, but in Congress, he’s a vociferous crusader for “family values.” He was an aggressive Clinton critic during the Lewinsky scandal, calling for the President’s resignation to “preserve the moral fabric of the country.” The New Orleans Times-Picayune quotes Vitter saying that “infidelity, divorce, and deadbeat dads contribute to the breakdown of tradition.” Vitter has also vowed to outlaw abortion in almost all cases, even when the pregnancy results from rape or incest (wonder how he’d feel if he learned he’s knocked up one of his hookers?). Senator Dave is a stern master with the kids too; he’s sponsored legislation to federally finance abstinence-only programs at the expense of real sex education. Of course, “abstinence education” has been proven to be spectacularly ineffective, in part because the kids simply lie about whether they’re having sex, having learned this behavior handily from their elders like Vitter.
The Senator has been particularly colorful in his metaphor for same-sex unions, having called them “the crossroads where Katrina meets Rita,” gaily mocking the agony of his own home state in the wake of the actual hurricanes. Vitter is so vehement in his condemnation of all things homo that he has introduced legislation calling for a Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage, stating that this is “the most important issue” of our time.
Vitter sounds like an Evangelical, but he’s Catholic. He’s also Southern regional campaign manager for the Giuliani campaign and was rumored to frequent French Quarter prostitutes even before his phone number appeared on Palfrey’s published records). Interestingly, Vitter first ran for Congress to fill the seat of Speaker of the House Bob Livingston, who resigned after his extramarital affairs became public during the Clinton Follies. While Vitter was campaigning, his wife Wendy was asked what she would do if her husband cheated on her. Mrs. Vitter responded: “I’m a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If he does something like that, I’m walking away with one thing, and it’s not alimony, trust me.”
Was castration was one of Wendy’s prerequisites for the “forgiveness” that Vitter said she (and God) gave him when he confessed to his “very serious sin”?
Well, in any case, chalk another one up for the DC Madam catching another fairly big fish: a U.S. Senator. Of course, she’s already caught and pan-fried former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Randall L. Tobias who likened procuring one of Palfrey’s Pamela Martin & Associates’ call-girls to ordering pizza.
And then there’s that even bigger fish, possibly the biggest fish of them all, certainly the biggest Dick, and I’m not talking about the size of his genitalia. That’s right, back in mid-May, you read in this bloggamy that the Vice (as in “criminal”) President may patronize prostitutes. When he was CEO of Halliburton he maintained a residence off Chain Bridge Road in the Ballantrae neighborhood in McLean, Virginia, which had a phone number that appears numerous times on the DC Madam’s John List.
Though just the thought of the creepy Veep having any kind of sex is like something out of Abu Ghraib, we all know that tales of illicit sex wake up the sleeping populace, while this atrocious illegal war, the loss of civil liberties and all of Cheney’s other crimes barely seem to disturb the Great American Slumber Party. Thus the mainstream media, who are the real hookers to this Dick and his government/corporate cronies, has kept this story fairly under wraps for the past couple of months.
But more news is breaking. Apparently, the phone records are confirmed to be Cheney’s. It’s just a question of whether he got the blowjobs (or whatever) himself, or he arranged for (i.e., pimped) a little adult entertainment for “foreign clients.” Whether this Dick is a John or a Pimp, he broke the law that he is so adamant about everybody else obeying. Will he defend himself by asserting that “the vice presidency is a unique office that is neither a part of the executive branch nor a part of the legislative branch,” and is therefore exempt from rules governing either?
As those of you who know me know, I believe the law should be changed, and prostitution should be decriminalized. But in the meantime, I don’t see why we bloggamists shouldn’t continue to hold this Dick’s balls to the fire. What he may have done with the Pamela Martin gals (or guys) is no big deal. Who cares what this half-dead man did with his pallid little pecker (or for his “foreign clients”‘ peckers)? But then this is the dick of Dick Cheney, Evil Puppet-Master of the Fascist Perma-War Universe, Voldemort-like Chickenhawk Slaughterer of the Innocents, aimlessly shooting at hapless civilians, from children in Iraq to his own hunting buddy in the woods. The war crimes he has committed cry out for some kind of justice, and if a little sex is needed to get Americans to Wake Up and Smell the Criminality, so be it…
And yes, I do hope that Palfrey’s attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, subpoenas Vitter, Tobias and, especially Cheney to testify on the DC Madam’s behalf that her gals didn’t have sexual intercourse with their clients. Even if nobody gets impeached, it would be a hoot to see Dick get his balls fried on the witness stand.
And then there’s the matter of The List. As of this bloggamy, you can find the DC Madam’s John List right online. Just download the records and see if your phone number is on it! Or maybe your spouse’s phone number? Or your Congressman’s phone number. AT&T: Your World. Delivered. And consider this: Right now, many of America’s ethics-minded young people are combing those records, thinking they want to be like hypocrite-nabbing superhero Larry Flynt.
Of course, some of my fellow bloggamists will complain because I’ve gone after the two Republicans, Vitter and Cheney, caught in sex scandals this week, but not my very own Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa who has admitted to having a romantic affair with sultry Telemundo TV newswoman and politician fetishist Mirthala Salinas.
And it’s not just because I think Mayor V is kind of cute (come to the Speakeasy, Tony, bring a bottle of wine and some take-out; we’ll have fun!). It’s because 1) he didn’t break any laws that he, as a government official, is sworn to enforce and abide by, and 2) he has never, to my knowledge, supported legislation to impose restrictions on the consensual sex lives of the people he governs. In other words, he might be a lousy husband, but he’s not a hypocrite. Cheney, Vitter and Tobias have done all of that and worse.
Hypocrisy seems to be an integral aspect of Republican Family Values-Spouting Neo-Con-Artist Sexuality. So can we now just quit beating around the professional bush and call all Republican politicians by their rightful first name: John ?
Not that the Dems don’t cheat on their spouses too; they just don’t tend to like paying for it. They’re cheap and sexually lazy, so they go for readily available interns that already work for them for free and/or the TV reporters that interview them (the interview is the foreplay). It might be crass (and cheap!), but it’s not necessarily hypocritical. Of course, there are exceptions on both sides. But my friends who are hookers confirm that Republicans are the biggest spenders, perhaps because they have the kinkier desires and yes, because hypocrisy is expensive.
Conservative sexual hypocrisy is perhaps best exemplified by the case of Pastor Ted Haggard, gay john and anti-gay evangelical preacher, as well as major fundraiser for the Bush Crime Family. Then there’s that page-loving Congressman Foley (he didn’t go to hookers because they tend to be above his age range). Then there’s former Congressman Duke Cunningham and the war profiteers’ hookers-and-poker parties. And we’re still wondering which White House resident enjoyed the services of Jeff Gannon, a.k.a. Jim Guckert, male prostitute specializing in military fetishes (Dubya, take your pants off, put your boots on, get down on your knees and put my gun in your mouth. Hooah!).
Well, they’ve all got problems. And they’re all welcome to call me for one free hour of sex therapy. I’d consider it my patriotic duty to help America’s politicians deal with their sexuality.
Dr. Susan Block is a sex educator, cable TV host and author of The 10 Commandments of Pleasure. Visit her BRAND NEW BLOGGAMY & POST COMMENTS at http://www.drsusanblock.com/blog/blog.asp
“So keep fightin’ for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don’t you forget to have fun doin’ it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin’ ass and celebratin’ the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.”
~ Molly Ivins, 1944 - 2007
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.
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July 12th, 2007