Pharyngula

Meanwhile, the rest of us will laugh. The Republicans have been indulging in a little hanky-panky.

The Republican chairman, Michael Steele, promised on taking office that he would bring the party to corners of America it had not reached before. It is a fair bet that most Republicans did not expect these corners to include the Voyeur West Hollywood, a bondage and S&M club in Los Angeles.

It emerged today that the Republicans spent almost $2,000 last month on a visit to the club where topless women hang from nets on the ceiling and simulate sex in a glass case.

Apparently, Steele himself was not at the club—his cupidity is reserved for his desire to purchase a private jet. It’s still got to hurt.

Steele inherited a surplus of $22m when he took over chairmanship of the national committee in January last year, but that dropped to $13m, well short of the kind of money needed to fight an election. With the congressional midterm elections due in November, Steele has been appealing for donations.

I think it would be great if the Republicans blew their warchest on strip clubs. I just hope they tipped the women well.

Comments

#1 Nichodeemous
March 29, 2010

Its money better spent than most of their recent expenditures I’m sure.
#2 MikeyM
March 29, 2010

Recalls to mind Roger Jepsen’s visits to the “Leisure Spa Sex Shop.”
#3 Sisyphus
March 29, 2010

At least if they’re spending it at S&M clubs they’re NOT spending it on anti choice laws, abstinence only “education”, tea party fundraisers, printing supplies for WBC, anti gay legislation et al.

Besides, as PZ said, maybe the sight of some nekkid boobs will loosen them up a little (or maybe their heads will explode at the sight of all the indecent, ungodly flesh and that will remove them as a problem altogether).

Also, I can’t help but think about the stink they’d raise if a democrat (let alone a group of democrats) were found in an S&M joint.
#4 alysonmiers
March 29, 2010

Those GOP pols who don’t have kinky sexual proclivities diametrically opposed to their “family values” policies (or at least those who manage to be discreet about their issues) must be feeling awfully lonely these days.
#5 ckitching
March 29, 2010

So, once again it is revealed that the loudest public prudes are also the biggest perverts? Somehow this is not surprising.
#6 Nichodeemous
March 29, 2010

I do wonder if Steel will actually be forced out over this. I hope not – he’s the gift that keeps on giving. Its a bad time to be changing leadership for them (especially without an obvious successor), but at some point you’d think there would be a last straw.
#7 Travis
March 29, 2010

I can totally get behind more conservatives going to S&M clubs, I would hope it might make them less conservative. I have to say from what I have read about that club it seems pretty tame and unlike any S&M club I have ever been to. Is there a dungeon? Can the visitors play? Or is it all just to look at?
#8 jerthebarbarian
March 29, 2010

I think it would be great if the Republicans blew their warchest on strip clubs. I just hope they tipped the women well.

Please. Republican big-wigs don’t “tip”. That would imply that the person being tipped was of some value, rather than a servant who should be happy to have a job in the first place. I hope the ladies involved got paid up front.

@4:

Those GOP pols who don’t have kinky sexual proclivities diametrically opposed to their “family values” policies (or at least those who manage to be discreet about their issues) must be feeling awfully lonely these days.

I’ve become convinced that group one does not actually exist anymore. Until evidence shows to prove otherwise, I just assume that there are now ZERO Republican politicians who don’t have some kind of kink that they need to keep hidden from their voters. There are only the ones who have been caught out and the ones who haven’t been caught yet.
#9 MAJeff, OM
March 29, 2010

Don’t forget the office supplies:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/29/852189/-Republican-Office-Supplies
#10 https://me.yahoo.com/a/a1dnknFljYC2y6M2QP32tlMfOTALiR0-#697c4
March 29, 2010

. . .that dropped to $13m, well short of the kind of money needed to fight an election.

With the recent SC decision allowing corportations to donate unlimited amounts of money to campaigns, I’m certain any short fall will be made up from generous contributions from Archer Daniels Midland, Exxon Mobile, or any other “individual” with deep pockets.
#11 Feynmaniac
March 29, 2010

US conservative party spent the money on a trip to a club where topless women hang from nets on the ceiling

Well, he did say he wanted the make the Republican party “off the hook“.

Seriously, I don’t want this guy to go. With all his gaffes he makes Joe Biden look smooth.
#12 https://me.yahoo.com/a/a1dnknFljYC2y6M2QP32tlMfOTALiR0-#697c4
March 29, 2010

spell fail–corporations–there, that’s better
#13 MadScientist
March 29, 2010

Will there be equity in the tipping or will only the well-tipped be well-tipped?
#14 Capital Dan
March 29, 2010

I’m just surprised the Republican “scandal” involved women.
#15 Bill Dauphin, OM
March 29, 2010

Travis (@7):

I have to say from what I have read about that club it seems pretty tame and unlike any S&M club I have ever been to. Is there a dungeon? Can the visitors play? Or is it all just to look at?

The impression I get (from both PZ’s link and another story I read today) is that it’s an S&M-themed nightclub, not a BDSM club per se. I think if it were the latter, this would’ve been a much bigger story.
#16 Robert MacDonald
March 29, 2010

Everyone in the Tea Party, meet up at the Bada Bing.
#17 Josh, Official SpokesGay
March 29, 2010

Le Dauphin:

The impression I get (from both PZ’s link and another story I read today) is that it’s an S&M-themed nightclub, not a BDSM club per se.

That must be similar to how Hooters is officially a “beach-themed restaurant,” not a titty bar.
#18 Travis
March 29, 2010

@15, Bill
After a bit more looking around I get that idea as well. Lots of stars going there and stuff. A club with S&M trappings, not and S&M club.

They should go to a real club, I know some people that would love to play with a few Republicans and put them in their place.
#19 Bill Dauphin, OM
March 29, 2010

They should go to a real club, I know some people that would love to play with a few Republicans and put them in their place.

Said Republicans had better be very clear about safewords and such before the fun begins, methinks! Having John Boehner (no, really, it’s pronounce BAY-ner!) in front of you and a flogger in your hand might be a skosh too tempting.
#20 Chris Hegarty
March 29, 2010

Of course, the GOP’s already let loose various groups to try to scapegoat this on someone. Oh well, it’s moot. It’s just great when we find out that Republicans are just amazingly stupid/hypocritical.

Chris Hegarty
http://hegartyblog.wordpress.com
#21 thefrustratedteacher
March 29, 2010

A little off topic but,

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arrest-The-Pope/112549038762456
#22 Bill Dauphin, OM
March 29, 2010

Josh:

That must be similar to how Hooters is officially a “beach-themed restaurant,” not a titty bar.

Heh. Compared to real titty bars, Hooters is as much weak tea as this place appears to be compared to real BDSM clubs.
#23 Travis
March 29, 2010

Bill,
While in general I fully the support the use of a safeword, I recommend gagging Republicans before starting. It makes it much more difficult for them to say that word.

A flogger is too nice for them, a single tail, a belt, or even a hand might be fun though.
#24 Josh, Official SpokesGay
March 29, 2010

Bill, true, too true! I just wanted to chide you for giving any leeway to these Republican hypocrites:)

By the way, what’s the family story with your surname, if you don’t mind my asking? Every time I see it, I think of French Court intrigue. . .
#25 Travis
March 29, 2010

Josh,
I am so happy I am not the only one who thinks about that.
#26 Josh, Official SpokesGay
March 29, 2010

Josh,
I am so happy I am not the only one who thinks about that.

Well, you might not want to follow me all the way down that rabbit hole. I also think of corsets, paniers, wedding cake dresses, fans, and pompadours.

Perils of being a SpokesGay.
#27 Travis
March 29, 2010

Hmmm, I think I outed myself as being a bit kinky a while ago. I also think about corsets, and dressing up in these things. Though to be honest I generally think of women wearing these things, and the bad things I can do to them.

But I like dressing up too, I like uniforms:-)

I wish I could be an official spokeskinkster but I imagine there are a few floating around here.
#28 Bill Dauphin, OM
March 29, 2010

Josh:

I just wanted to chide you for giving any leeway to these Republican hypocrites:)

Don’t think of it as leeway; instead, consider that I’ve said these weak-ass bozos can’t even get their scandals right! ;^)

By the way, what’s the family story with your surname

Funny you should ask: My dad’s family always half-jokingly wondered if they were descended from the “lost” Dauphin of the French Revolution, the thought being that he had maybe been spirited away to the U.S. and had taken his title as a surname. Alas, my mother did genealogical research (for years we stopped at courthouses, libraries, and Mormon centers every time we went anywhere on vacation) and traced the family back in this country for at least 8 generations… back to before le Dauphin was born. And, of course, AFAIK since then it’s been shown through DNA evidence that the real Dauphin died in prison.

So, though we’re almost certainly descended from French nobility, we’ve never “jumped the pond” with our research, and have no real claim to royalty: We found coats of arms for at least 7 Dauphin families, and we could be related to any (or none) of them. We can no more assume royal heritage than a family named King or Prince can.

It may, however, amuse and delight you to know that the single earliest ancestor Mom was able to identify — my great^x grandfather — was named… Darling Dauphin!
#29 Josh, Official SpokesGay
March 29, 2010

Travis:

I also think about corsets, and dressing up in these things.

Oh my – the way you wrote that reminds me of one of my favorite movies, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra (fast forward to about 7:00). No, better yet, watch the whole thing. Best movie ever.

But I like dressing up too, I like uniforms:-)

Rowr.
#30 Josh, Official SpokesGay
March 29, 2010

Darling Dauphin!

You’re fucking kidding me. Right? Awesome! Oh, and I feel your pain about genealogical research – I’ve been dragged to an fro by kindly-but-obsessed old ladies who’ve made it their life’s work.
#31 Travis
March 29, 2010

That is an interesting film Josh. “Soft cloth funnel” hehe.

If you saw me you might now “Rowr” though perhaps I should change my blogger profile photo to the one with me in my new East German jacket.
#32 Bill Dauphin, OM
March 29, 2010

Travis:

A flogger is too nice for them, a single tail, a belt, or even a hand might be fun though.

I bow (though with some trepidation!) to your greater expertise. Because…

Hmmm, I think I outed myself as being a bit kinky a while ago.

…whereas I am merely kink-curious, but pure vanilla in actual practice. I trust you know best how to handle those naughty, naughty Republicans.
#33 kyoseki
March 29, 2010

I think the real travesty here is that you can’t have alcohol and naked women in the same place in LA County.
#34 Josh, Official SpokesGay
March 29, 2010

…whereas I am merely kink-curious, but pure vanilla in actual practice. I trust you know best how to handle those naughty, naughty Republicans.

Stand aside, and let a real man handle this. It’s duct tape and bacon grease all the way.
#35 Travis
March 29, 2010

Bill,
Haha, oh, I am not that experienced though, don’t worry. I think in general I just do not like flogger that much. Some of them can be pretty horrible in the right hands. I just happen to like the tactile sensation of a hand, or a belt more than other things. A little more raw perhaps.

If I cannot handle some of them I know some really seasoned people who can handle the rest.
#36 boygenius
March 29, 2010

I, for one, can’t be critical of Steele and the RNC. As I’ve mentioned before, most of the money I’ve made in my life was spent on booze and loose women. The rest of it I squandered foolishly.
#37 50thomas50
March 29, 2010

You have a bible cd ad on your page now!
#38 Rutee, Shrieking Harpy of Dooooom
March 29, 2010

Heh. Compared to real titty bars, Hooters is as much weak tea as this place appears to be compared to real BDSM clubs.

This is public, though..
#39 Ol'Greg
March 29, 2010

Woah… are we talking about S&M now because… um…

anyway….

Actually this is the sad thing I’ve noticed about most vociferous Republicans that I know– they are not that different in terms of any kind of sexual activities, familial strategy, personal finance. They just believe some how that other people out there should be forced to be different or subscribe often to rules that they themselves feel they are above or are willing to work around. They generally assume they will be able to do whatever it is they enjoy, or are willing to keep it on the down low. Quite odd.
#40 Mike Wagner
March 29, 2010

I just wrote this for a FB group, but I think it might be appreciated here as well. I think it’s on-topic enough not to be relegated to the endless thread:

Prayer for the Republicans:
O bother,
You speak of heaven,
But power is thy game,
Thy kingdom run,
For number one,
On earth as it is in heaven,
And take in this day your daily bread (cha-ching!),
And provide you with tax shelters,
As you deny aid to those who would need it,
And leadeth not into headlines,
Whence thou hook up in the mens room,
For with your false morals, comes power and glory,
And votes from the wingnuts,
Amen.
#41 Travis
March 29, 2010

I think the real question is, why weren’t we talking about S&M before. I remember bacon and lesbians being a very important topics in the past (and currently of course). I think it is time more more fun deviant behavior to be discussed.
#42 Antiochus Epimanes
March 29, 2010

Oh, please. This is “bring(ing) the party to corners of America it had not reached before?”

Does anyone really think this was their first trip?
#43 Ben
March 29, 2010

The sad part is, Conservatives are such lousy tippers, the girls probably didn’t get much of that $2,000.
#44 DominEditrix
March 30, 2010

Voyeur is just down the street from me – and, no, it isn’t an S&M club; it’s a trendy nightclub with a ‘ooooh, I’m so edgy‘ theme – much the same as it had in several previous incarnations. 20-somethings from the Valley come over to the dark side to gawk. ['Look, Mommy! I'm hanging out with perverts!']

Amusingly, the real Los Angeles SM dungeons are in the Valley, probably right around the corner from your Aunt Maud.
#45 jcmartz.myopenid.com
March 30, 2010

Think of the homoerotic themes.
#46 Ibis3
March 30, 2010

@ #33 So let me get this straight: there are “bars” in the US where you can’t have naked women and booze, but there are bars where you can have guns and booze?

It gets crazier all the time.

Oh, yes, and another Rowr for men in uniform and women in frothy dresses.
#47 Chris
March 30, 2010

One should also hope they tip the guys well too. There are a lot of hard-working boys out there and I’m pretty sure the Republicans know where to find em…
#48 Laurent Weppe
March 30, 2010

“I can totally get behind more conservatives going to S&M clubs, I would hope it might make them less conservative”

Naaaaah, they would just think “this is just too good for mundane people, those clubs must remain a privilege for the rich and powerfull”
#49 DLC
March 30, 2010

Apparently it’s okay to be kinky or gay so long as you hide it and are ashamed of it ?
Oh wait.. that’s right, I forgot. those congressmen who got caught in hypocrisy land were “in Christ” and so not subject to their own rules.
Gotcha. C Street Boys Club.
#50 Butch Pansy
March 30, 2010

When I see the phrases “West Hollywood” and “S&M Club,” I sure don’t think of titty-bars. WeHo is famously queer. Not willing to do any research on the subject of where they actually spent their pocket change, I’m happy to assume they were gettin’ some strange on the DL. It would be in character for the hypocritical, bigoted asshats who are the Rethuglican party. I’m not really cynical, just skeptical.
#51 mick.long
March 30, 2010

Displayed, Christian Family Values ™.

*WHIP*
“I’m sorry Jesus…”
*WHACK*
“No you’re not, bitch! Don’t call? me Jesus, call me God. I’m your God bitch!”
*THWACK*
“But I’m a gawd – fearin’ republican Jesus…”
*SMACK*
“That’s what all my best clients say! Now will it be the nipple clamps or the anal beads?”
#52 a_ray_in_dilbert_space
March 30, 2010

PZ says “I just hope they tipped the women well.”

I’m guessing…not. I met a dancer one time on a bus heading North. She was on her way to dance in Canada for awhile. She said she had been dancing down in Texas, but the tips sucked. One asshole actually tucked a religious pamphlet in her g-string. I’m not kidding!
#53 octopode.myopenid.com
March 30, 2010

@Josh #34

They come pre-basted liberally with fat from the pork barrel, so you don’t even need to supply the bacon grease!
#54 octopode.myopenid.com
March 30, 2010

Oh wait, that should have been “pre-basted conservatively” obviously…
#55 negentropyeater
March 30, 2010

By the way, what’s the family story with your surname, if you don’t mind my asking? Every time I see it, I think of French Court intrigue. . .

I doubt it.

The earliest known occurence of the surname Dauphin is indeed that of the IVth comte d’Albon Guigues Dauphin who took that name in 1140. Albon is a village from the Dr�me, in what became later the Dauphin�. It is known as the craddle of the Dauphin�.
Many villagers and peasants from various villages from the area took the name which became very popular in that area during medieval times. It then passed on as a popular surname. The propbability that someone named Dauphin is descendent from the family of the Comte d’Albon is extremely low.

Bill, if you have any chance to visit Albon, it’s a picturesque village in a beautiful area of France.

Sorry for the O/T. I also have some ancestors called Dauphin in my genealogy…
#56 NewEnglandBob
March 30, 2010

I see no problem with the Republican whores visiting other whores.
#57 Ray Moscow
March 30, 2010

Can you think of a better use for the GOP’s money?

Short of something actually charitable, and that’s not going to happen.
#58 Bill Dauphin, OM
March 30, 2010

boygenius (@36):

…most of the money I’ve made in my life was spent on booze and loose women. The rest of it I squandered foolishly.

Heh. That’d make a great country song lyric!

But I doubt you’ve spent your life lecturing others on the evils of booze and trying to make loose women (really, all women) illegal… so criticize away!

Seriously, except as a symbol of Republican hypocrisy, this particular thing is no big deal: I certainly don’t have any per se objection to folks enjoying an evening at a sexy nightclub, and $2000 is really not an outrageous amount for a national organization to spend on an evening’s entertainment.

But as a symbol of the intellectual bankruptcy of the stick-up-their-collective-ass, holier-than-thou Republican Party, I think it’s at least amusing.

Amusingly, as I type this I’m listening to the podcast of last night’s Rachel Maddow Show story about this. Rachel is so cute: Despite being the big, scary libertine San Francisco lesbian, she can literally only just barely even talk about this story, because talking about a “naked-lady place” embarasses her so! ;^)
#59 dNorrisM
March 30, 2010

It’s just a warm up for Green Balloons
#60 nelc
March 30, 2010

[..]where topless women [..] simulate sex in a glass case

Wait, they’re mimes? Well, that’s novel.

What? The glass case is real? Oh, never mind, then.
#61 Q.E.D
March 30, 2010

NewEnglandBob @56

“I see no problem with the Republican whores visiting other whores.”

I think most sex workers would be righteously indignant about being categorized together with Republicans.

Also, pedantic point, but there is a difference between being a stripper and being a prostitute.
#62 https://me.yahoo.com/a/DhjBEuJ8pt63x6eBKuPx0Jv9_QE-#7c327
March 30, 2010

These couldn’t have been True Republicans(TM). There were no naked boys on display. Or maybe they were just in the bathrooms.
#63 mmelliott01
March 30, 2010

Those GOP pols who don’t have kinky sexual proclivities diametrically opposed to their “family values” policies (or at least those who manage to be discreet about their issues) must be feeling awfully lonely these days.

One is the loneliest number.
#64 tutone21
March 30, 2010

Do you think Mike sent out an email letting the GOP politicians in the area know about the 2K?

“Hey fellow war mongers,

The healthcare bill is going to be up for vote this week, and I know that it’s a good idea to provide healthcare to all our citizens, but we just can’t be seen supporting the bill. I have alloted $2K at an S&M club in Los Angeles for anyone that is panicing that he/she might vote yes for the bill. Feel free to go get flogged by a dominatrix to make you feel better.

Micheal ‘Off the hook’ Steele

P.S. Don’t worry about the ethics. It’s not a BDSM club”
#65 ereador
March 30, 2010

Josh, I absolutely love that film. My 9yo and I watch it repeatedly, and he just rolls on the floor, giggled so hard he weeps. It’s bonding. Brower.
#66 DominEditrix
March 30, 2010

Butch @50: Voyeur is a het nightclub; despite WeHo’s demographic, we also have the Sunset Strip – with a real titty-bar, The Body Shop – and a variety of other entertainment locales where scantily clad women hang out.

Between the Republicans and the Catholics, it’s been a lovely week for scandal. And on Sunday, we’re going to celebrate the Holy Day of Cacao, in honour of of the goddess Theobroma, and ritually eat many chocolate eggs whilst watching zombie movies. [I hear there's a schismatic sect that eats Peeps on that day, but we True Theobromides? look upon them as a cult.] Aaaah, Spring!
#67 Rev. BigDumbChimp
March 30, 2010

And on Sunday, we’re going to celebrate the Holy Day of Cacao, in honour of of the goddess Theobroma, and ritually eat many chocolate eggs whilst watching zombie movies.

And drinking beer in her name
#68 Mike Crichton
March 30, 2010

Chances are nobody actually looked at that expense report and said to themselves “My, what a good and decent use of our organization’s dollars!”. It was probably rubber-stamped by a bored administrative assistant who wasn’t paying attention to their job. Of course, it’s still Steele’s fault for not hiring better help.
#69 stevieinthecity#9dac9
March 30, 2010

Nobody seems to have a problem with Steele’s lavish expenses.

Nice try Mike.
#70 slugsie
March 31, 2010

Thing is I’d almost be tempted to vote for someone who was honest enough to admit that they liked visiting such an establishment.