Ok I'll start by answering the first question your thinking right now "Who the hell is DesJarlais?" DesJarlais is Scott DesJarlais, Republican congressman and currently caught up in an unfolding scandal. Specifically DesJarlais who is to use his own words from his 2010 campaign website, "pro-gun, pro-life and pro-marriage and PROUD OF IT" may not be as pro two of those things as he claimed. (for the record the fact that Petraeus was not an elected official is the reason I'm using DesJarlais as the example even though the Petraeus story got more coverage, DesJarlais helps me make my case better)
According to the scandal while married to his first wife, DesJarlais, then a doctor screwed pretty much anything he could, including at least one patient who got pregnant. So DesJarlais encouraged her to get an abortion to "save his marriage", and unrelated supported his first wife in getting two abortions. And of course despite having just won reelection last week people are calling for him to resign, which he is refusing.
Now I want to get a few things out of the way real quickly. First I actually support DesJarlais' refusal to resign, I honestly dont think he should. I'm pro choice so I cant really go after him on the abortion. And to be honest dont really think the cheating thing is a dis-qualifier either. I mean in every other walk of life people cheat and then we as a society basically assume they can still be successful actors, musicians, athletes, business people ect. Now to be clear this doesnt mean I condone cheating, anyone one who knows how my relationship with my college girlfriend ended can vouch for that. But the thing is like in everything else, personally being a "gutter slut" doesnt become your only defining characteristic.
And since the DesJarlais scandal first broke before the election I have to assume he's doing something right (at least as far as his voters are concerned, and they are all that matter) since he got reelected. So my point in bringing him up is not that I think he's a gutter slut who needs to resign. Its more that I believe he is the most recent example of the GOP's love of "self inflicted gun shot wounds".
What do these names all have in common? DesJarlais, Petraeus, Cain, Weiner, Massa, Pickering, Ensign, Vitter, Craig, Foley, Clinton, Thurman, Hyde, Gingrich, Edwards, Livingston, Schwarzenegger, Paladino, Spitzer, and Sanford? They are all the names of people involved in high profile sex scandals in the last 14 years. (a line I'm drawing quite intentionally)
Now you know what else is shocking about that list? well Massa, Spitzer, Edwards, Clinton and Weiner are the only Democrats (Petraeus is actually a registered republican). Of that list, Weiner and Massa's "sex scandals" didnt actually involve any sex. So really that leaves Clinton, Edwards and Weiner.
Which means at first glance cheating appears to be a "republican problem" since they have 15 names up there to the democrats 3. But historically thats not true, LBJ, FDR and JKF are famous for basically nailing anything that moved, and they are all democrats. (and to be fair Enisenhower was also known to have affairs and is a republican). And hell one of the first major sex scandals in this country involved Alexander Hamilton and the famous scandal (although not a huge deal at the time) is Thomas Jefferson's. But again as common as affairs were and always have been, until recently no one really gave a damn unless something made the affair extra special (IE payoff's, murders, using political power to punish/reward cuckhold so he wont catch on ect)
So why the 5:1 discrepancy against Republican's these days? well if you are a republican your probably screaming "MEDIA BIAS" and thrilled I finally proved it. Except I dont think that covers it.
Remember that 14 year's line I drew? well see just a few weeks short of 14 years ago President Bill Clinton
was impeached, unofficially for having an affair.
Now check this out: At the time of the impeachment the Speaker of the House was named Gingrich, who would resign, and turn the Speakership over to Livingston who had to resign before taking it. Livingstons seat would go to Vitter (although not the speakership) during the proceedings. the Chief Prosecutor was named Hyde. The impeachment was voted on by Sanford, Vitter Pickering and Foley (as well as Reps LaTourette, Barr, Burton and Helen Chenoweth-Hage all of whom would have minor sex scandals for adultery in their own careers). Then in the Senate found Guilty by Craig and Thurman, and then candidate for Senate Ensign had just run his campaign in part calling for the Clinton Impeachment.
And yes in case you didnt notice, most of those names are the same ones listed above. And again to be fair I dont think they were "targeted" for revenge because of what they did to Clinton, I do however think they created the problem (or a good part of it)
I mean go back to DesJarlais' statement from the beginning about how he's "pro-gun, pro-life and pro-marriage and PROUD OF IT", when quite clearly he's not. In fact while I mostly focused on the "pro marriage" side above (or at least the adultery aspect, cause divorce would take forever), the list of hypocrites on the "pro life" side is pretty long as well (Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney might likely appear on this one as well, given their support for their wife having one(Santorum) or son's surrogate agreement that allowed for it for any reason(Romney)).
But see here the thing ever since they more or less made up idea they were the "family values" party in order to impeach Clinton, republican candidates HAVE to say that kind of shit to get elected. Yet none of them are any more likely to practice actual family values then any given democrat. ALL they managed to do was put a spot light on themselves so that every time they get caught its a massive scandal and every time Dem's get caught no one cares (take for example David Wu who resigned last year after a sex scandal and no one noticed) since you know Dem's dont claim they dont do that kinda thing. In fact Dem's even manage to steal "credit" every time a Republican gets in trouble they hit the TV's and talk up all the people they have who have awesome family lives (these days they like to use the Obama's as an example)
And when you add in the "pro rape caucus" of the 10 defeated GOP candidates in the last election who said stupid things about rape and abortion that likely a lot of them dont believe, in order to attempt to get elected, you gotta wonder when is the GOP gonna wake up? Cause really, the whole family values thing? kinda like they built a barrel, gave the world a gun and then climbed into said barrel.
Cause clearly being the "party of family values" may sound great and admirable on paper, but lets be honest, in reality trying and failing to live up to that label everyday has done a whole lot of harm to the the republican party and possibly even to the country as a whole (given the laser focus across the board on sex scandals of all kinds since 98/Clinton). Republicans dont get elected because of it and the country as a whole gets distracted and misses real news stories because the media's focus on it. Yet to this day the "HEY LOOK AT OUR FAMILY VALUES" is still massively pushed as far as it can go by the GOP.
I guess maybe masochism is a family value? cause otherwise I really dont see at all how this helps them appeal to anyone outside their base (who will always vote for them anyways).
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