Middle-aged Mayor Has Sex With Teenage Intern
Posted: June 26th, 2009, 12:15 pm
http://wweek.com/editorial/3533/12744/
This is the big buzz in Portland these days.
Basically the story is this: when Sam Adams was still a city council member, he had a sexual relationship with a legislative intern. Sam Adams is 42 yeas old, and he is gay. His campaign slogan was Moving Portland Forward. During the campaign, allegations of this sexual misconduct were brought forth. Mr. Adams countered with the position that this was simply the same old ugly hateful tactics gays have had to face since time immemorial. This put the matter to rest. His victory in the May, 2008 primary was such a landslide that there was no general election in November. He was simply sworn in as mayor in January, 2009. Shortly after the innauguration, the young man Mr. Adams had the affair with come forward through the media. The mayor held a press conference at which he apologized to the people of the city of Portland for lying to them. There was mention in the media, not by the mayor himself, of a hot and passionate kiss in a City Hall restroom while the intern was still a minor, but the mayor claimed that the sexual aspect of their relationship did not commence until after the young man had turned 18. The state attorney general conducted an investigation, the report on which has now been released. The attorney general found that there was not sufficient evidence in the case with which to prosecute the mayor.
I wonder what people in other parts of the country and world might think of this case. A middle-age man swapping spit with a teenager in a City Hall bathroom? A 41 year old man having sex with an 18 year old? How "forward" is this? And it also seems to me that the case has been handled entirely differently, both by the media and the legal authorities, as well as the public, simply because it a gay relationship we're talking about. Like no one wants to appear to be gay-bashing. What if it was a young woman? A teenage girl? These are questions I have for you people. Your opinions matter.
Mine is that the mayor should step down, but as yet he has made no move to do so. And it doesn't seem that he will. It's not that he had sex with a minor or near-minor. It's that he lied and used his gayness to get elected. He said that these allegations were latent gay-bashing when in fact they were not. They were true and he was lying. He didn't just lie to us, the people of Portland. He played upon our emotions and our wanting to be politically correct.
He used us. And he knew it when he did it. That's worse then sexual misconduct or error in judgement. For it was not unmindful. He did it on purpose, for political gain, because he knew he would not be elected if he didn't. For this error in judgement, not the other one, he needs to step down.
Peace,
Barry
This is the big buzz in Portland these days.
Basically the story is this: when Sam Adams was still a city council member, he had a sexual relationship with a legislative intern. Sam Adams is 42 yeas old, and he is gay. His campaign slogan was Moving Portland Forward. During the campaign, allegations of this sexual misconduct were brought forth. Mr. Adams countered with the position that this was simply the same old ugly hateful tactics gays have had to face since time immemorial. This put the matter to rest. His victory in the May, 2008 primary was such a landslide that there was no general election in November. He was simply sworn in as mayor in January, 2009. Shortly after the innauguration, the young man Mr. Adams had the affair with come forward through the media. The mayor held a press conference at which he apologized to the people of the city of Portland for lying to them. There was mention in the media, not by the mayor himself, of a hot and passionate kiss in a City Hall restroom while the intern was still a minor, but the mayor claimed that the sexual aspect of their relationship did not commence until after the young man had turned 18. The state attorney general conducted an investigation, the report on which has now been released. The attorney general found that there was not sufficient evidence in the case with which to prosecute the mayor.
I wonder what people in other parts of the country and world might think of this case. A middle-age man swapping spit with a teenager in a City Hall bathroom? A 41 year old man having sex with an 18 year old? How "forward" is this? And it also seems to me that the case has been handled entirely differently, both by the media and the legal authorities, as well as the public, simply because it a gay relationship we're talking about. Like no one wants to appear to be gay-bashing. What if it was a young woman? A teenage girl? These are questions I have for you people. Your opinions matter.
Mine is that the mayor should step down, but as yet he has made no move to do so. And it doesn't seem that he will. It's not that he had sex with a minor or near-minor. It's that he lied and used his gayness to get elected. He said that these allegations were latent gay-bashing when in fact they were not. They were true and he was lying. He didn't just lie to us, the people of Portland. He played upon our emotions and our wanting to be politically correct.
He used us. And he knew it when he did it. That's worse then sexual misconduct or error in judgement. For it was not unmindful. He did it on purpose, for political gain, because he knew he would not be elected if he didn't. For this error in judgement, not the other one, he needs to step down.
Peace,
Barry
