June 24, 2004
Senatorial Candidate Sex Scandal
Daily Kos || IL-Sen: Ryan may drop out after allSo, there's this Republican running for Senate in Illinois, and he's embroiled in a sex scandal (have you noticed that the only time you see the word "embroil" is when is has to do with a sex scandal?), and he might have to drop out of the race.
Here's the thing, the sex scandal involved something salacious that happened between him and his wife.
I think the press has a long way to go. This episode - something to do with going to do a sex club and wanting to do some anonymous exhibitionism, which she wasn't comfortable with, so she left in tears - was something that they both wanted to keep private. It was in the divorce papers, which got leaked. In the absence of other allegations, which his ex-wife is not making, there is no reason to believe that this is something other a couple trying something out until one spouse hit her limit. It might have been her reason for divorce, but there's no evidence to suggest that this was abuse.
It would be one thing if this were adultery, but this was with his wife. It didn't break a marriage contract, it didn't break the law, and it wasn't supposed to be public. I'm a firm supporter of Obama, but this is a lousy continuation of a crappy pattern in politics and press.
Now, this is pretty funny:
But it does emphasize the whole moralization aspect of this - painting him as a sexual deviant, and leaving aside all the other questions of whether he abused his wife, whether he lied about it, etc. Those questions aren't relevant to this cartoonist. A great example of a feeding frenzy.
Now here's a vital point of fact not mentioned often, at least AFAIK. Senator Ryan's ex-wife is Jeri Ryan. Seven of Nine. If that isn't enough for a guy, there's something seriously, cosmically, ridiculously wrong with him. Sheesh, some guys are never happy....
Posted by: Joe Medina at June 24, 2004 11:32 AMOne point to correct, which frankly makes the media look even worse, in my mind: this stuff wasn't leaked. The divorce records were opened after the Chicago Tribune and at least one other media outlet petitioned the court to open them.
I would also interpret the cartoon somewhat differently. I think the cartoonist is trying to address the fact that Jack Ryan didn't tell anyone in the Illinois GOP about any of this before he started the run for the Senate. And a great many of them are feeling quite betrayed in consequence.
Is what happened between Jack and Jeri Ryan anyone's business but theirs? Probably not. Should the media have gone fishing for those records? Probably not. But should Ryan have said something, even in the most general of terms, to his fellow Republicans, before all this blew up? Maybe so.