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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM
Most such scandals involve some type of abuse of power, such as John Edwards using state money to go on a sex trip.
But the thing about Democratic politicians and gay sex is that Democrats are far more likely than Republican politicians to be openly gay in the first place, making the whole exercise pointless.
Hmm... fact check me. How many openly gay major politicians do we have? I have no idea, honestly.
edited 25th Mar '16 8:22:03 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Exact Words at its finest.
edited 25th Mar '16 8:30:57 AM by NativeJovian
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.You know that, I know that, but in the reality of national politics, such attempts at sophistry come across as really lame. I'd have respected Bubba more if he'd come right out and said it. "Yes, I received oral sex from Ms. Lewinsky. Yes, this is a weakness I've had for a long time. No, it does not affect my ability to govern. And a lot of you do it too, so don't get all morally outraged without checking your closets." Mic Drop.
edited 25th Mar '16 8:30:05 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"Honestly, I've got a lot of respect for the guy because of that sort of thing. Whether he got a blowjob from an intern in the Oval Office is no one's business except his, his wife's, and the intern's, so he walked the exact legal line of saying what he wanted to say without actually lying. Given that a lot of governance involves such hair-splitting legal distinctions, that's a pretty good display of skill.
Of course, effectively (if not technically) lying about having an affair makes him a shitty husband (and, arguably, person), which I'm not denying. But as a politician, I can't say it's not impressive.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.![]()
Alberta kind of hates him. He also has a bit of a problem with over promising...but he does apologize and admit he over-promised.
Also, our Parliament, both the House of Commons and the Senate, don't hate him, which makes a big difference. (Although it would be a little difficult to get a Prime Minister who Parliament hates.)
edited 25th Mar '16 8:54:44 AM by Zendervai
I was too young to understand the Lewinsky scandal when it was going on but being older and wiser and knowing about things like women's allegations of rape/harassment not always being taken seriously, I have to ask; a lot of focus put on the relationship between Bill and Hillary and the Republicans making political hay over it, but did the question of consent and/or harassment ever come up with regard to Lewinsky? I mean, there was a pretty huge power differential involved.
That was always there as an undercurrent but it was largely overlooked, certainly on the Republican side of the aisle, because they absolutely do not want to have that particular conversation. On the Democratic side, they were too busy trying to keep Clinton's presidency from being torn down by prurient giggling over cigars to give much of a damn about Ms. Lewinsky's consent.
Still, eager young women being attracted to people in positions of power is hardly a new story, and it will not be a story that goes away any time soon. Hell, look at Fifty Shades of Grey: it is literally about the fantasy of a young woman being dominated by a powerful man.
edited 25th Mar '16 9:28:44 AM by Fighteer
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"![]()
Lewinsky says it was consensual.
If this Cruz affair thing is legit, it could win Trump the nomination and dash the GOP establishment's dreams of a brokered convention. The National Enquirer is a tabloid rag, but they were also the people who uncovered John Edwards' cheating, Jesse Jackson's love child, and Rush Limbaugh's drug addiction.
I still doubt this will go anywhere.
edited 25th Mar '16 11:37:26 AM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.![]()
![]()
Written by a middle-aged woman.
edited 25th Mar '16 9:49:08 AM by Greenmantle
Keep Rolling On
X5 50 Shades really isn't a good example, it's Rape/Abuse Fantasy pretending to be BDSM fantasy. A book that pretends rape isn't rape and justifies abuse is not a good thing to fall back on for an argument that something was consensual.
edited 25th Mar '16 10:07:01 AM by Silasw
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ CyranDemon's article link told me most of what I wanted to know, especially given Lewinsky's willing to stick to her story over 20 years later. She does grant that Clinton took advantage of her (and yes it is a violation of business ethics to court a subordinate, adultery or no) but the article also makes the point of emphasizing believing someone when they said it wasn't rape too.
Mostly it was bothering me in the context of "the Clintons seem to get away with everything" argument and wondering in that case whether Bill should have.
edited 25th Mar '16 10:47:54 AM by Elle
"Gone"? At what point was this primary ever even in the same room as ethics or plain decency?
My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.One of Trump's ex-wives is featuring on the current season of Dancing With The Stars. She's not said anything outright bad about him when he's brought up (nor would anyone want to stick their foot in the hornet's nest mouth for that matter) but as past relationships go, hard to get more public than that.
Although Trump's lawyer pulling out the "You cannot rape your spouse" card probably isn't helping his credibility.
edited 25th Mar '16 11:22:08 AM by Demonic_Braeburn
Any group who acts like morons ironically will eventually find itself swamped by morons who think themselves to be in good company.

Sure but I don't think I've heard of Dem politicians being caught hiring male prostiution, while it is a thing that happens with Republican ones, normally vocally anti-gay ones. Thouse are the kinds of scandals that make the news in a big way because they're very heavy on the hypocrisy (and the hiring of a prostitute tends to make the press more interested), we don't actually often now get Republican or Dem sex scandals involving mutually consenting adults.
edited 25th Mar '16 8:19:21 AM by Silasw
“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran