While this isn't on the same par as an alleged John Boehner affair, which would be rich indeed, we'll have to settle for a substitute. Parsley's Pics is not becoming a sleaze blog by design; it's just that these Family Values types make such good exhibits for, A: Hypocrisy and B: Stupidity. They just don't get it that publishing on the Internet gives them far more exposure than they could ever hope for and not always for their good works.
Congressman Chris Lee, R-NY, is in his second term, is married and has a child. But these minor details didn't stop him from sending "flirtatious emails, including one with a bare-chested photo of himself, to a woman he met on Craigslist."
Of course he's apologized profusely and of course he promised to work as hard as he could to seek forgiveness - and of course he resigned.
On Wednesday, gossip website Gawker posted a story that included the emails allegedly exchanged between Lee and the unnamed woman. According to the story, a single 34-year old woman from Maryland posted an ad on Craigslist's "Women for Men" section on January 14. Soon afterwards a man named Christopher Lee replied, identifying himself as a 39-year-old divorced lobbyist.
In the ensuing exchange, Lee purportedly sent the woman an email including a photo of him with his shirt off, flexing his arms and chest. The woman later broke off her correspondence with Lee when she did an online search for him and determined that he had lied about his age and his job, the Gawker story reported.According to Gawker, the exchange was relatively banal by today's standards (standards?). "No prostitutes, escorts, or madams were involved. Just good old fashioned lying and an apparent willingness to cheat on one's wife."
Rep. Lee, whose support for "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and ending federal abortion funding suggests a certain comfort with publicly scrutinizing others' sex lives.
A: Hypocrisy. B: Stupidity.
How could he possibly think he'd get away with that? Aside from it being wrong - there's some old English saying "worse than a mistake, it was a blunder".
ReplyDeleteMaybe just a sense of entitlement, like with my cat Dulce? Except with Dulce it's cute.
It never ends. Some how this mentality the right has includes a heavy dose of entitlement. I guess because they are them and we are not.
ReplyDeleteWell, at least he quit. So many republicans, caught with their pants down or their feet under the divider, don't.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago Republicans were so stupid that they didn't realize newspapers keep every article and TV stations keep every broadcast of every story going back to the beginning of time.
ReplyDeleteAnd now they are equally stupid when it comes to using the Internet - either for emails, social networks, or Craigslist - where nothing is sacred.
But it's their damn hypocrisy that really, really infuriates the hell out of me. And yes, their smug sense of entitlement.
It's not so much the hypocrisy, sanctimonious moralizing, and lies as it is their stupidity. If they're not smart enough to cover their tracks -- not to mention their a$$ -- then they're not smart enough to represent me.
ReplyDeleteMake sure your cat stays off the internet Oso. In fact, just having Dulce's picture puts it in danger of a republican looking for internet pussy.
ReplyDeleteYeah it's stupid and contradicts the values they pretend to uphold...
ReplyDeleteEgregious hypocrisy...yes.
My first thought, though, was "why is it easier to get away with wearing an SS uniform, or corporate or political malfeasance, or incitement to murder... than being caught in some vaguely sexual embarrassment?"
That's what's sad. It's the tawdry pathetic stuff that will kill a political career - not real incompetence or corruption.
Why, us heathen Democrats hardly ever get caught in a situation like that, or one involving prostitutes and such. Maybe it's because we're not out in public preaching the family values thing---most of us just quietly live it!
ReplyDeleteIt is not a coincdence that a lot of religious right types are phonies. All they do is use a false projection of virtue to get ahead.
Kay: That sounds like you're saying it's okay to do something wrong as long as you don't get caught. I can't agree with this.
ReplyDeleteTruth - funny.
Magpie: Good thought. Maybe because people in these groups have misguided priorities or the inability to reason?
Jack: Actually I did a piece on "bipartisan affairs" back in June 2009. It was about even between Republicans and Dems at that time but I have no doubt that members of the GOP are leaders of the pack at this point.
http://parsleyspics.blogspot.com/2009/06/more-on-bipartisan-affairs-couple-of-my.html
There’s not much more I can say that I haven’t already said in the past, and I’m sure I’ll have to say again in the future. So, to keep it simple: the guy is an A-number-one-jerk.
ReplyDeleteAll I want to know is, what’s up with the camera phone in the photo and the flexing of the bicep? If that’s not enough to have you running for the hills, I don’t know what is.
Oh my, Pam. I wondered about that, too.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't the deed that did him in; it was the sheer hypocrisy. I am so sick of these guys preaching 'family values' and judging others when they are doing worse.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, he’s just one in a long line – a line not limited to one political party. It’s the claim of a moral high ground that makes the right wing look like fools. You can include “TV preachers” in that mix, too.
ReplyDeleteDarlene: I too think it's the hypocrisy, but I wonder how we'd react if they weren't family value types. ; )
ReplyDeleteBJ: You're right, of course, but I still think they should be exposed.
Jack said: "Why, us heathen Democrats hardly ever get caught in a situation like that, or one involving prostitutes and such. Maybe it's because we're not out in public preaching the family values thing---most of us just quietly live it!"
ReplyDeleteMaybe he can get himself his own hour-long CNN show!