Teddy Boy and the Women

Teddy Boy is running as an evangelical Christian.  Of course his sexual dalliances are relevant.   Meanwhile, our favorite hacktivists, Anonymous, have posted phone records that may show a link between the Texas Canadian and D.C. madam Deborah Palfrey.

Now, let's be clear.  Heidi Cruz's appearance is not an issue, but as long as the press is fixated on who's wife is hotter, they aren't questioning Mrs. Cruz's employment at Goldman Sachs.  The Wall Street firm already has too much influence in Washington.  What happens if a Sachs employee is First lady?  Will it be a repeat of Dick Vader and Halliburton?

Blackmail

I may be naive, but I don' think there are many American military officers who can be blackmailed over an affair.  I don't care that former general and former CIA head David Petraeus was having an affair.  I do care that so many people have been worshiping top military commanders.  So in a strange way, it's a good thing that Patraeus was caught doing the deed with one and perhaps two women other than his wife.  In the 2008 election, John McCain invoked the general's name every chance he got.  He literally said, if elected, he'd do what ever Petraeus told him to do.  I want a president who can tell a general no, and that's a lot easier if the American public views top military commanders as flawed people who are prone to mistakes.

Penn State

I've had a few days for it all to process, and I have to say I'm not all that surprised about what's coming out of Penn State. As far as the child sex allegations go, while disturbing and worthy of harsh punishment, they're also not uncommon. Like it or not, it happens.
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It's the fact that Penn State sought to cover things up, and in the process, allowed Jerry Sandusky to continue his actions that seems to be the real issue. In our society, we've granted a cult like status to big time college sports. At PSU, there has also been a cult of personality that has built up around Joe Paterno. (I went to Penn State, I'm in my mid-fifties, and it was part of the university's culture way back then.)
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In the end, all involved moved to protect the church. It's human nature. The obvious parallel is the Catholic Church sex scandal, but it's hardly limited to the local parish. Whether it's the wilful ignorance of Steve Jobs and conditions in Apple's Chinese manufacturing plants or the defense of Roman Polanski, those we deify too often get a free ride.

The Weiner

Dare I say it again? People like sex. People, given the chance, will use whatever means at hand to play at sex. Unless someone breaks a law, a person's sex life, and that includes the sex lives of the famous, shouldn't be any of our business. If Representative Anthony Weiner wants to send sexually themed photos to women and they are receptive, who cares? Not me.
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I've noticed that some Repugs are trying to draw a comparison to Weiner and another New York state congressman, Chris Lee. Their confused logic seems to run along the lines that since our guy resigned, a Democrat should fall too. Well, Rep. Lee, yet another anti-gay marriage Repug, in addition to posting shirtless photos of himself, was trolling for passable CD/TVs for fun and games. Personally, I don't think an interest in guys wearing high heels, dresses, and red lipstick should disqualify a man from being in congress. As I've pointed out on my photo blog, http://www.thenewfoundphotography.blogspot.com/ I spent years working in photo labs, and I never had a week go by where I didn't print amateur, sexually themed photographs, and by far, the biggest category was cross dressing. Hey, what ever does it for you. By now, Repug hypocrisy has been so well established, that I doubt it can do them any harm.

More Dead Elephants...

...Well, not yet, but we can all hope.

We're back to the on going debate about how much of a politicians personal life should matter, thanks to the latest indiscretions of Repugs John Ensign, and Mark Sanford. I'm on the older side of the cultural divide on this one. There was a time when the press looked the other way when it came to the extra curricular activities of our elected officials. I've always kind of suspected, that back in the sixties, most Washington journos would have loved an invitation to one of JFK's pool parties, and not for the inside scoop of seeing the president of the United States skinny dipping with a Hollywood starlet.

There are some exceptions, however, to my wish for discretion from the press when it comes to the sexual activities of those in elected office. There are a couple of obvious ones. If a pol's affair compromises national security then it should be reported. In my life time, I can think of only one example, and that's John F. Kennedy's dalliance with mafia moll, Judith Campbell Exner. The other obvious one is if a politicians actions are illegal. One can argue,whether or not, patronizing high priced call girls should be against the law, but it was illegal when Elliot Spitzer was paying for sex, so that should be fair game as well.

What's less clear is the whole issue of hypocrisy. With John Ensign, I'd say it's a no brainer that his sex life should be reported. Ensign, when he ran for the senate, and lost, against Harry Reid, made the sex life of president Clinton an issue. Ensign has also positioned himself as a family values guy, and to be fair, he called for fellow Repug Larry Craig to resign after that whole cruising airport rest rooms deal. (Ensign is also an opponent of gay rights, so maybe that was a homophobe thing.) And what about Mark Sanford's just revealed affair with an Internet friend from Argentina? Sanford, while in the house, called for Clinton to resign from the presidency, and also voted for his impeachment. Sanford was always careful to frame the issue as a legal rather than a moral one, and what Sanford has done is certainly not against the law. Still, to be a Repug is to bed down with the moral extremists in our society. Live by the penis, die by the penis.