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Cross Posted at Legal Schnauzer
Perhaps nothing delights progressives quite like having a conservative Republican proven to be a fraud on "values" issues. It's particularly delightful when a conservative is outed in the deep-red South.
Two such outings have happened in recent days, and I'm so broken up about it that I can't wipe the smile off my face.
First, we have an Alabama Republican who apparently spends considerable time seeking companionship on a Web site called Adult FriendFinder. Then, we have an anti-gay pastor in Louisiana being arrested for masturbating at a park near New Orleans. Yee haw!
Tom Whatley, a state senator from Auburn, Alabama, reportedly has been a busy boy on the racy Adult FriendFinder site, which has the theme "Real People, Real Sex." How did this come to light? The Opelika-Auburn News explains:
Some top state political figures have received packets in recent weeks purporting to show that freshman state Sen. Tom Whatley, R-Auburn, was active on the racy Internet site Adult FriendFinder early this year, according to interviews with several people in and out of the Legislature.
Top Republicans defended Whatley and characterized the materials as a personal attack against the new senator, who ousted longtime Democratic state Sen. Ted Little for the District 27 seat in the Republican tidal wave that swept the Alabama Statehouse in November.
Whatley, who is not married, issued a short statement: "I do not comment on anonymous attacks of a personal nature."
Should we cut Whatley some slack because: (a) He is single; (b) He apparently was seeking to "befriend" women, unlike Republicans from the Larry Craig toe-tapping wing of the party? Nah. It's too much fun to pile on when the opportunity arises. After all, it looks like Whatley was begging to step in doo-doo:
The packets contain an anonymous cover letter, photographs and copies of e-mail exchanges from the Adult FriendFinder website allegedly between Whatley and an unnamed woman. Some of the photographs show male nudity, but no face is shown.
Adult FriendFinder bills itself as the world's largest swinger site.
Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, said, "It sounds strikingly familiar to that congressman in New York."
Sanford was speaking of former U.S. Rep. Christopher Lee, a Republican who resigned early last month after it was learned he e-mailed a shirtless photo of himself to a woman in response to her ad on Craigslist.
