a6d3/1232569044-lewinbeausky.jpgI’m curious if the Oregonian called on Bill Clinton to resign after his affair with Monica Lewinksy—a pizza-bearing, thong-baring White House intern and a subordinate of the POTUS—was made public? Or did the Oregonian, like a lot of liberals and progressives, argue that Clinton’s private life was his private life, that Ken Starr put questions to Clinton that no one has a right to put to anyone, that Clinton and Lewinsky were consenting adults and that, given the circumstances, it was perfectly understandable that Clinton lied about his “sexual opportunism”—and lie about it under oath? A lot of folks were running around saying that then. I wonder what the Oregonian‘s position was.

I’m working on a piece for someone else about something else, and I’ll post about Sam Adams, er, “blowing it” a little later today.

But quickly: I’m pretty much con fucking 18 year-olds. I’ve warned gay teenagers to steer clear of older gay men and it’s clear that older gay men who get involved with teenagers may not be doing themselves any favors in the long run. But let’s remember that some gay men wanna fuck 18 year-olds for the same reason some straight men wanna to fuck 18 year-olds. There’s a reason why the fashion industry sends 15 year-old girls tottering down runways and not their mothers; there’s a reason why barely legal porn featuring 18 year-old girls is a popular porn genre and while legal-times-two porn featuring 36 year-old women is not.*

More later.

* Okay, okay: not as popular.

44 replies on “From Lewinsky to Breedlove”

  4. …while legal-times-two porn featuring 36 year-old women is not [popular].

    Uh, never heard of MILF porn, Dan? While perhaps not quite up to the level of “barely legal,” I assure you it’s quite popular. Consult your local video store or internets for details.

  5. I think you need to mention that you criticized Larry Craig for staying in the closet long after that was necessary for public life. Seems like Adams could have come all the way out of the closet and admitted that he likes ’em young. Because living at the center of a web of lies is bad in the military, bad out of the military, bad everywhere.

  6. FWIW Dan, Monica Lewinsky was a 22 year old college graduate, you could have looked that up. A big difference from waiting for a 17 year old to turn 18. And most newspapers, as I recall, demanded Clinton to resign. I don’t know about the Oregonian.

  7. Since everybody is spinning it as “teenager,” Monica only half applies. Also, I don’t remember reading that Mr. Breedlove (OK, I cant type that without giggling) ever worked for Sam Adams.

    The half that does apply is the lying about Monica. But, the teenage aspect is almost passe anymore. Especially since To Catch a Predator has run its course.

  9. From the Portland Tribune:

    When measured by his experience, intelligence, enthusiasm and political skill, Adams is almost certainly the most qualified person in Portland to be mayor — which is why we endorsed him in the 2008 election. But he falls short when it comes to honesty — a trait that cannot ever be dismissed — and by displaying woefully poor judgment in choosing to have an affair with a very young man.

    WTF? An affair? Sam Adams was SINGLE. He lied about something trivial and completely legal. So the fuck what.

    It’s hard to interpret the Tribune’s editorial as anything but “omg gay sex is immoral and he turned an 18 year old gay!!!!”

    If they have a problem with the age of consent, they should write an editorial demanding it be raised to 30 or whatever their church thinks Jesus would approve of.

  12. Based on the amount of shelf real-estate and/or bandwidth devoted to them I would bet that the market for barely legal teen porn outweighs the MILF market by a factor of ten to one.

    Anybody actually in the biz wanna weigh in?

  15. Also, Sam Adams is currently dating a reporter for the Oregonian, Peter Zuckerman — how awkward must that break room be? The Willamette Week (alt weekly) broke the story after Sam Adams admitted he lied to them, and Adams hired Amy Ruiz from the Portland Mercury (alt weekly) to be an adviser a month ago.

    It sounds like the editorial staff of the Oregonian (Portland’s only daily paper) is just pissed that the alt weeklies are doing a better job than them despite them having Adams’ boyfriend on their side.

  20. Mentioned this story to a friend to laugh about the name “Beau Breedlove” and his response was “So the mayor of Portland is a pedophile, then. I’d only heard rumors.”

    So I called him a rapist.

  26. Isn’t Adams lying the issue here? Is he guilty? Yes. Aren’t we all guilty of lying, I know I have been? So, I don’t think he should resign for lying about his dating an 18 year old adult. That’s just my opinion.

  27. That’s no kid in that picture, that’s a man clearly old enough for a consensual relationship. The oregonian prudes need to move on…

  28. @19

    That makes no sense. Adams said he engaged in a relationship with this guy, but not until he was 18. This is not an innocent until proven guilty situation. If you really believe he was counting down the days until this dude was 18, good for you.

  30. Face it. The guy lied. He should resign. When he gets his personal life together, then he make his triumphant return.

    But until then, we deserve better.

  31. @fluteproof

    What exactly does he need to get together in his peronal life? This happened four years ago. While he was single. He has since started a long-term monogomaus relationship with Peter Zuckerman. His personal life is in order. The problem is that his professional life is kinda fucked right now. I don’t think resigning his position would really fix that. He just needs to hang on and let the investigation vindicate him.

  32. Many many people on this comment thread are conflating “is required to resign, legally”, with “should resign, presuming the possession of even a vestigial sense of shame, decency or self-knowledge.” Similarly, confusing “legal” with “ethical, moral and displaying good judgement.” Please stop on both counts.

    Anyone who does not want their employment to be contingent on a majority of their fellow citizens being comfortable with them as a person is welcome to apply a job who’s salary is not paid by them and for which the interview process is not a popular vote.

  35. As I understand it he lied to the public. And more specifically, he hid behind homophobia and the old cliche that the gays luvs the childrens. In my book, that means he should go. And the fact that he is still desperately clinging to power is even more proof that his time has come…

  36. Our mayor (of the same age), Gavin Newsome, has a penchant for woman barely older than that – no one cares. I don’t think it’s ever even made a mention past a few buried gossip columns.

    I really don’t get the big deal.. did the kid work for him? Was he already in a committed relationship? I personally think it’s creepy to date someone so young, but where’s the scandal? (don’t get me wrong, I know why people are freaked, but Jesus people, stop and think about it.)

  37. Give me a break. There is a world of difference between a 17/18 year old kid, and a 22 year old kid.

    If the guy had been 22, I would have said that Adams was still a sketchy jerk. But the guy was 17 or 18, and that makes Adams an asshole.

  38. It was stupid to lie, but it was also stupid to do an 18 year old. I mean, they last like ten minutes in bed. That’s totally not worth a political career.

  39. 1) The Oregonian is a right-leaning paper that only endorsed two democrats prior to Obama. It gets a lot of its readership from Clackamas and far SE Multnomah county. Two weeks after that “truth” about Islam DVD came out, they ran it as a publicity stunt.
    2) The Tribune is run by Robert Pamplin Jr., a fundamentalist evangelical who created Bibleman.
    3) The WillyWee is in a constant race to legitimize itself and is also in a very heated position of hating the Mercury to an extreme. Through this, they will eagerly pursue mainstream stories and topics and items that de-legitimize the Mercury. This situation is a win-win for them.

    Also, who thinks someone who had a romp at 17 wouldn’t be screaming it from the mountaintops after it’s been in the press for months? If he’s sitting on this bit of info, then there’s gotta be something holding him back. Otherwise, it’s a politician lying about his personal life, big whoop.

  40. i think it’s difficult to compare stories. the paper might not have felt as personally insulted by the monica deal as by this. this was local, and perhaps played a role in the outcome of an election. monica did not.

  41. Dougsf: I think it would be a bit more accurate to say that Newsom also chases young tail, and the citizens of SF are too inured to terrible, terrible city politicians to make much of it.

  42. “But the guy was 17 or 18, and that makes Adams an asshole.”

    Which, I guess, is why Oscar Wilde had to die for the sins of thousands.

  43. There is really that much difference between 17 and 18? Really?

    Under Oregon state law the worst he could be charged with is Sexual Abuse 3 (Class A Misdemeanor).

    Maximum Confinement: 1 year in jail
    Maximum Dollar Fine: $6,250.00

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