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Political Hay
Parliament of Porn Stars
Is this the best Louisiana can do?
In 1987, Italian voters elected a foreign porn star to parliament. Anna Ilona “Cicciolina” Staller received 20,000 votes, the second highest number for a Radical Party candidate. Only party leader Marco Pannella got more votes. Cicciolina campaigned on a platform that included the right to sex in prison, decriminalization of drugs, and opposition to all forms of violence, (though you were free to slap her on the rump if you liked). Considering the history of Italian politics, Cicciolina’s election was probably a step forward.
Americans have yet to elect a porn star to Congress, but they may get their chance soon. Adult film starlet Stormy Daniels has formed a 2010 Senate Exploratory Committee to determine whether she should run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican David Vitter. And while her proposed run may be just a publicity stunt — not unlike porn star Mary Carey’s run for California governor in 2004 — the surprisingly well-spoken Daniels has been no bimbo on her so-called “listening tour.” In fact, her pre-campaign spiel, delivered in a confident, if slightly breathless tone, sounds like it came right out of an Obama script: bring home the troops. Revise the income tax system. Stop child porn. She demurs when asked about Vitter’s transgressions, knowing that her mere presence says enough.
Some conservatives have not hesitated to ride to Vitter’s defense. Many are willing to overlook the junior senator’s blatant hypocrisy in lauding family values while cheating on his wife with high-priced hookers secured by the infamous D.C. Madam Deborah Palfrey. (Palfrey, you may remember, hanged herself a year ago, after her conviction for various prostitution-related offenses.) Many of these same supporters earlier closed their eyes when Vitter dropped out of the 2002 governor’s race after a newspaper accused him of fornicating with at least one New Orleans’ call girl.
The adultery, lies and whoremongering aside, Vitter has solid conservative credentials. He is pro-life, pro-gun rights and opposed to gambling, same-sex marriage, funding for abortion providers, the United Nations, and amnesty for illegal aliens. Vitter is also the first Republican U.S. Senator from Louisiana since Reconstruction, so do not expect the Republican Party to go out of its way to draft a candidate for a primary challenge.
In fact, Vitter has raised his national profile in recent months, becoming a leading critic of Obama’s bailout plans. Ms. Daniel’s entrance on the scene and the attendant publicity will likely cause Vitter to go underground again. Going underground, however, will not mothball Vitter’s fundraising machine, which has already raised $2.5 million. (He needed $7 million to win the seat back in 2004.) Ultimately, pundits argue, any real opposition will come in the GOP primaries, perhaps from Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, who is considering a challenge. “I’m continuing to get a lot of encouragement from a lot of people,” Dardenne told the newspaper Roll Call recently. “I have not decided to run, nor have I ruled out the possibility that I may run.” But other high-profile would-be challengers, like Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and former Rep. John Cooksey, have already pulled their names from the ring.
Traditional Protestantism, of course, teaches that man is a weak, imperfect, sinful creature, and that includes married U.S. senators with degrees from Oxford and Harvard who pays whores to dress them up in diapers. Despite its French heritage, Louisiana is overwhelmingly Protestant (60 percent), and as long as Vitter is repentant he is likely good to go for another term.
Still it is not out of the question that Vitter may face a challenge from Ms. Daniels. Since Minnesotans elected a professional wrestler govenor all bets have been off when it comes to novelty candidates. Besides, we are talking about Louisiana. Louisianans had no problem with three-term governor Earl “Last of the red hot poppas” Long despite his affair with the stripper Blaze Starr. And morals and mores have loosened quite a bit since the late 1950s. So has America’s attitude toward porn stars.
It used to be an article of faith that there was nothing more pitiful than a porn star. Suicide rates were notoriously high among female adult stars. These were women who were, as the saying went, already dead on the inside. The outside could be painted up, enlarged, lifted, medicated, drugged, but the inside was a ruin that could not be salvaged. I am not so sure that is still the case. Today amateur Internet porn “stars” must number in the millions, if not billions. The sad fact is you probably know someone who has made an amateur porn video, and not just for his or her personal use, but has posted it online for all the world to see. Porn does not neccearily diminish one in a lot of people’s eyes, at least no more than adultry, lying, whoremongering, or racketeering.
Back in the 1980s P.J. O’Rourke wrote A Parliament of Whores, which detailed how politicians have been prostituting themselves in Washington for centuries. Perhaps it is time to give the real professionals a chance.
About the Author
Christopher Orlet writes from St. Louis.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (34) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 6.2.09 @ 6:38AM
So, to paraphrase John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Tommy Smothers, "All we are saying, is to give a piece a chance."
Michael L. Hauschild| 6.2.09 @ 7:49AM
Would anyone really want to have unprotected franchisment with a porn star?
Paul Windels| 6.2.09 @ 7:56AM
The sentence "the adultery, lies, and whoremongering aside, Vitter has solid conservative credentials" says it all. With slight editing, one could say the same thing about Ted Bundy.
Yes, man may be "weak and imperfect", but when we place someone in a position of honor, we have the right to expect more from him. I know of no teaching in "traditional Protestantism" that excuses behavior like Vitter's or absolves it from punishment, and if the author had read one word of C.S. Lewis, he would know that his suggestion to that effect is a total canard -- unless his "traditional Protestantism" is the "traditional Protestantism" of the likes of Archbishop Paul Moore.
The plain fact is that, if Vitter had any sincere belief in traditional conservatism or family values, he would stand aside and let someone better qualified than he represent those values. I know many gentlemen and ladies who do live in accordance with those values, and a cheap phony like Vitter is not worthy to clean their shoes, much less speak for such values in the United States Senate.
To paraphrase from a real "traditional Protestant", Vitter has sat long enough in the Senate for any good he has done, and we should join that "traditional Protestant" in saying to Vitter: "In the name of God, go!".
Otis, my man!| 6.2.09 @ 8:43AM
Stormy Daniels is surprisingly polished and articulate. However, when asked about her campaign touring plans within the state, she replied she planned to "do some cities."
That is not a line a porn star running for office can get away with.
Ryan| 6.2.09 @ 9:02AM
From everything I understand about DC culture, Vitter simply got caught. It doesn't excuse him, but it speaks more about what goes on in DC and its culture there.
From what I understand, there were only 3 20th century Presidents known to have been faithful to their wives - Teddy Roosevelt, Nixon, and maybe Carter or Reagan.
I'd like to see Cooksey in that seat, but Vitter is probably the more practical choice. Stormy won't beat Vitter - we Louisianians are interesting, but not THAT interesting.
Maybe.
Tim| 6.2.09 @ 10:36AM
I am against Daniels for no other reason than the ensuing flood of "strange bedfellows" jokes that would follow her election.
Son Of Sam | 6.2.09 @ 11:06AM
I cannot help but notice that "dumbass Davey" --- who usually cannot wait to get his psychotic rantings posted here -- is nowhere to be found: how very strange. Perhaps its because there's a woman in the story who has had sex with men?
stay strong until freedom dawns
Son Of Sam
http://www.samadamssos.bravehost.com
Gill O’Teen ✝✡| 6.2.09 @ 1:49PM
Excuse me. Sometimes I’m a little slow on the uptake. Just what exactly has Ms. Daniels done that makes her any different from those already serving in Congress?
BunkerBill| 6.2.09 @ 2:13PM
The adultery, lies and whoremongering aside, Vitter has solid conservative credentials....So, other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?
BD57| 6.2.09 @ 3:19PM
She'd probably clean up in Washington ...
I'm sorry, I meant "clean up Washington."
Andrew Smith| 6.2.09 @ 8:27PM
If she wins, will the victory party be at the Playboy mansion? I guess all of the guys and gals who voted for her will head for the pool. Yuck.
Ken Grubbs| 6.2.09 @ 9:25PM
"One word of C. S. Lewis, Mr. Windels? How about these from "Mere Christianity"? "... a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither." The sins of the spirit, as the politicians practice daily, truly are worse than the sins of the flesh.
Paul Windels| 6.3.09 @ 7:26AM
Mr. Grubb -- I believe it was also in "Mere Christianity" that Lewis said that the death penalty was consistent with Christianity and that the proper Christian behavior for a murderer was to confess and to submit to the death penalty. So your quote is taken quite out of context, to say the least.
The point Lewis makes, and what makes both passages consistent, is that forgiveness does not mean letting people avoid the consequences of their conduct. The "cold self-righteous prig" Lewis castigates continues to hold a grudge, just like people who exult in the execution of criminals. Lewis certainly objected to that, as do I. But he stresssed the difference between forgiving the individual and punishing the offense and I have a vivid recollection of the brilliance of his reasoning and the simplicity with which he expressed it.
I have nothing against Vitter personally. I have no connection to the wife and family he wronged. But that doesn't mean that Vitter should be a Senator, or that he should be in a position to advocate conservative policy. To the extent that conservative social policy calls on us to be responsible for our conduct, it does not help our cause if the messenger flagrantly disregards the standard we are asking people to live up to. You have to be Billy Sunday to avoid coming across asa hypocrite, and Vitter is no Billy Sunday.
I would add, from a pragmatic standpoint, that at least in the 1970's and 1980's, when a Republican member of Congress was caught in a scandal, that member either retired or was defeated in a primary, and the Republicans often held on to the seat. Examples would include Phil Crane's brother, the Republican caught in Abscam, and a congressman named Lukens. By contrast, when Democrats allowed their tarnished members to "go to the voters", the result was often a Republican pick-up. Unfortunately for the Republicans, they started allowing the likes of Roger Jepsen to stand for reelection in 1984, and we've had Tom Harkin in the Senate ever since, and the Republicans continue to make the same blunder over and over again.
Tyrone| 6.3.09 @ 9:35AM
Stormy Daniels has refused to perform with black men during her porn career. Is she a racist?
White Justice| 6.3.09 @ 11:47AM
Tyrone| 6.3.09 @ 9:35AM
Stormy Daniels has refused to perform with black men during her porn career. Is she a racist?
I hope she is because that is sickning to think that.
Richard Baker| 6.3.09 @ 4:16PM
The truly sad fact is that someone of her degrading level of morality is even briefly taken seriously. The degradation of America continues. After we've reached the bottom, and we are close to it, what next? Do we start listening to murderers because they are experts on violent crime or embezzlers because they are experts in finance?
Richard Baker| 6.3.09 @ 5:13PM
Regarding Louisiana, for too long politics has been entertainment for the populace. Worked in Lafayette, LA on helicopters during one of Edwin Edwards' re-election campaigns. Asked a Cajun friend how he could vote for that man as he was a crook? His answer was "Yeah, he's a crook, Richard (pronounced in the French way), but he's a honest crook. He tells you that he's gonna steal from you". Even with Governor Jindal, the prevailing view in Louisiana is more in line with the old days. Remember also, Earl Long, Huey's brother, said "One day the people of Louisiana are gonna get good government and they ain't gonna like it".