Comments

1
Yes, let's keep him in the race. Really, this will be too much fun.
2
I'd be surprised and disappointed if Massachusetts did not have a law covering color-of-authority cases like teachers and students, regardless of age of consent.
3
There was news here locally in Minnesota recently about a teacher who had a relationship with a 17 year old student in the summer after she was no longer a student. He was convicted under a statute like Jason74 describes.
4
Jesus. I grew up near Stockbridge and I remember often driving by the DeSisto School. It's pretty horrendous to think that my idyllic little world was also home to such terrible abuses.
5
Brings to mind a different Arizona sheriff I read about last year:

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v33/n20/jeremy-hard…

"The sheriff of Maricopa County, Joe Arpaio, an influential eccentric obsessed by border issues (even though Maricopa does not extend to the border), is famous for forcing inmates in his jails to wear pink underwear, introducing pink handcuffs and making his detention facilities as humiliating as possible – Angélica described the food in one of Arpaio’s jails as ‘dog vomit’. "
6
How droll! He may be a f**, but he's OUR REPUBLICAN f**. Yeah... definitely IOIYAR! I say Dan switch parties so you're embraced by these Republican nutjobs!
7
I'm always surprised that in 21st century America, people find ways to live like characters in an 18th century de Sade novel. Just yesterday I heard about these patriarchal freaks:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quiverfull
8
Gay conservatives are the worst faggots. Hypocritical, abusive, unethical, immoral. They're not in denial, they're just bad people.
9
Wait, (some) cops like exploiting a position of power for personal gratification? You could knock me over with a feather!
10
A few thoughts: Babeu was 30 at the time this was supposedly going on. That's a 13 year age difference. Such age differences are not uncommon, especially in the gay community.

Moreover, it's also far from uncommon for people's kinks to involve power imbalances. BDSM relationships are generally built around them. And the daddy/son types of relationships are among the most common kinks in the gay community (I personally found that the minute I turned 40, I was approached online by multiple guys in their late teens or early 20s).

This blog has always advocated that people should be more open about exploring their kinks and helping their partners explore theirs. But the tone of this post seems to indicate that those rules should not apply to conservatives. Which makes me suspect that Dan's trying to start a partisan catfight like a bitchy queen.

There are two legitimate lines of criticism here, neither of which is mentioned in the blog post:

First, it's legitimate to criticize social conservatives who still support Babeu in spite of his sexual conduct. That actually is hypocritical. Those people definitely should be taken to task.

Second, it's legitimate to criticize the potential for the abuse of his position of authority as the guy in charge of the school getting involved with a student. As @2 said, it's a bit alarming that that was not a criminal offence. But it apparently wasn't, and the kid was above the age of consent.

I'll also point out that lots of gay guys find Latino men to be very attractive. There's no evidence that Babeu was drawn to that relationship by the fact that his partner was illegal (or the resulting power imbalance). The "crime" there, if we really want to go digging for one, was that he was protecting his partner instead of turning him in, as he really ought to have done as a law enforcement officer.

What I'm really finding alarming is how quickly progressive moral and social values, especially relating to sexuality, go flying right out the window when the target is a conservative. Either Dan believes this (IMO good) advice he's been giving now for years, or he doesn't. It's troubling that I'm beginning to suspect that the latter is the case, at least as far as people whose politics he doesn't like are concerned.
11
Corydon,

Dan has never advocated teacher-student relationships, and this was no ordinary such teacher student relationship because the guy was a headmaster in a highly authoritarian if not abusive school. Of course, BDSM involves power imbalances, but Dan at least describes them as cops and robbers for grownups. in other words, it's all fake. There are relationships in which the power imbalance spreads consensually beyond the sex play, but it is kind of hard to imagine that happening in this situation consensually. Whether or not the boy wanted it or not, the power imbalance was there in the kind of visceral way that only occurs in highly authoritarian settings. One word from a headmaster in that school, and the boy would suffer severe physical and psychological torture. When I taught high school by contrast, the extent of my power was sending a student to the office or calling their parent, and I had too much power to engage in sex with my students according to B of E policy.

Dan's being entirely consistent even without the politics.

12
@10 You should probably read the article and get back to us on if being "sheeted" is an appropriate punishment for 16 year olds. I think Dan's implication of abuse is overriding in this post.

Babeu--who sounds like a real winner!--is exposing hypocrisy in a backward state (my home state).

13
@11, @12 Look, if that's how this post was meant, then I'll retract my criticism. Yes, it is highly inappropriate for the headmaster of a school, any school, to be involved in a sexual relationship with a student. IMO, it ought to be illegal, and I'm frankly surprised that it wasn't.

That being said, there's been a lot of criticism of Babeu, including from Dan, that seems to stem from the fact that he's a gay conservative. Never mind that he does not appear to have been involved with anti-gay politics. He's having his sexual history trumpeted around the country for partisan reasons.

As a gay guy who's worked in some pretty (small-c) conservative industries, I frankly find that alarming and scary. Does that mean that my own privacy would be violated if I somehow did something that ticked Dan off? Fuck that. That's frankly its own kind of abuse of power and influence.
14
How does someone with no apparent educational qualifications become the headmaster of a school??
15
@14, he'd had experience on active duty in the military, probably in a combat arms MOS. Boot camp-style reform schools routinely recruit people like that, particularly if they've had drill sergeant experience.
16
@ 14,

That's exactly what I was thinking--how did he even get that job in the first place?
17
@15: that is truly frightening.
18
@13 I'm pretty sure that Anthony Wiener should still be in office. But I do see that he suffered the consequences of his own actions: posting dick pics online and lying about it for a couple of weeks. Yes, stupid, but not deserving of the rampant display of immaturity it created. Still, being in a PUBLIC position of power means you have to accept those consequences.

Babeu was Mr. Hypocritical Tough on Immigration but then threatened his alleged illegal ex-bf when it was clear they weren't getting back together. That's an action that has a consequence.
19
Personally, I'm pretty sympathetic towards Anthony Wiener too. Maybe it's because I've had my own pretty outrageous sex life in my day, but I thought his minor little scandal really should never have claimed his career. Yes, it's embarrassing if your mother finds out you've been sexting, but that really ought to be the end of it.
20
I see the raging hypocracy coming from those right-winger who are supporting Babeu. So, it's OK to have sex with one of your students if you are the headmaster of a school as long as you are conservative? It's OK to threaten your ex-boyfriend with possible deportation but only if you are a Republican? Had a Democratic or liberal gay man did either of these two things and was running for Congress the right-wingers would be salivating all over themselves to get this guy removed from politics ASAP.

I personally don't care who Babeu fucks, as long as it's all consensual and the person isn't being coerced. What bothers me is that he supports a political party that wants to keep him unable to marry his partner, or even have consensual homosexual sex. I don't get it. Then again, I don't get women who support them either. Why would you be OK with people who want to keep you a second-class citizen? And if you are OK with conservatives keeping you as a second-class citizen, then you are probably OK with them keeping other groups (racial, religious or otherwise) from full citizenship as well. Not the kind of person I would want representing me in Congress, gay or straight.
21
I'm a little torn here. Big accusations require big evidence, and as much as love to see two-faced conservatives go down (oooh!), I don't think his sister's word is good enough. There are all kinds of crazy, attention-seeking siblings out there. She certainly has the Joker makeup thing going on.

As for the other kids who 'knew the secret,' I don't think a negative rumor about the headmaster at a school for troubled teens can count for evidence. I mean, I remember conversations like this one all the time: "Principle X and his fucking teacher's pet Biff. They probably such each other's DICKS!!!"

Lastly, Child Care Services investigations happen all the time - and unfortunately, those services are often abused by people who want to defame and slander someone they despise. Ever hear of the old "accuse your husband of child abuse to get custody" ploy? Emotionally troubled teens are sometimes...emotionally troubled, and sometimes they say horrible shit that isn't true. From what I've heard he was never criminally charged. This doesn't prove him innocent, of course.

What we need here is dirt. Good dirt. Maybe a love letter between Babeu and this kid? Racy photos? A letter of concern from the kid's parents at the time? Bloody underwear? Nothing would please me more than another Republican hyporcri-whore scandal. My gut says there's something here, but we all know what gut feelings can lead to.
22
Some haunting photographs of the deserted campus accompanied by comments by various DeSisto alumni are available online at: http://www.desolatemetropolis.com/dm/arc…
23
@10: What evidence have you that 13 year age differences-- specifically those involving minors and reform-school students and charged with their care -- are more common and/or accepted among homos?

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