Jonathan Strong of the Daily Caller heated up the blogosphere recently with his investigation into how Michael Steele, the first African American Chairman of the Republican National Committee (I know, that’s kind of like being the first black player in the new all-white basketball league.) and former Lieutenant Governor of my home state of Maryland, was dropping RNC cash by the bucket load on private jets, limos and posh hotel stays.
Big deal, right? Personally, I wouldn’t care if Mr. Steele bankrupted the RNC with his lavish spending. But the best part of the story was buried in the article and mentioned almost in passing. Strong noted that during a California trip in February, along with other seemingly outrageous expenditures, the RNC dropped almost TWO Gs at Voyeur, a popular, bondage-themed nightclub in West Hollywood.
What’s this? The self-proclaimed champions of Family Values, the party that claims to prefer the government out of our pocketbooks but in our bedrooms instead parties with the likes of Lindsay Lohan and Mickey Rourke watching sexy women in mock lesbian S&M scenes? Now this is the party of Lincoln.
Granted, Voyeur is no hardcore S&M club like The Hellfire Club or others you might find in New York. If anything, it’s more of a Disneyfied version, inspired by the movie Eyes Wide Shut and tame enough for tourists. But still, it’s a bit of a shock to find out that the RNC is conducting business in places that would make Barbara Bush blush, permanently.
Okay, it’s not really all that shocking. If you keep track of the many hypocrisies of the Republican Party like I do (Mark Foley, Strom Thurmond, et al) you’ll note that Republicans talk a good game, but like their kinky sex as much as the rest of us.
As I’ve noted elsewhere, I believe the Republican Party’s stance on sex and the issues surrounding sex have had more to do with a courting of the Religious Right than claiming any genuine moral higher ground. Fiscal conservatives aren’t enough of a voting bloc to win an election, necessitating an alliance with Christian Conservatives to be able to compete for political seats. All they have to do is pretend to take the higher moral road, and denounce those who fall off the path. Granted, stories like those of Ted Haggard show that even those in the Religious Right hide skeletons in their closets.
But maybe I got it all wrong. Maybe the name of the club, Voyeur, tells us all we need to know. Perhaps what Republicans really want is not so much to tell us what is right or wrong as far as what occurs in our bedrooms, but they just to make sure they have front row seats. I’m broke. If they would just come out and say that I could at least figure out what to charge. I’m sure I could put together a great show for two grand.
As of now, it appears that Michael Steele was not at the shindig at Voyeur. An unnamed staffer was recently fired for the apparent miscue, although the $2000 was originally covered by some guy named Erik Brown, a Republican donor who was later reimbursed from the RNC’s coffers. A shame. Had Mr. Steele actually been there it might have given him some street cred, something he could use to help shed his Oreo reputation. At least it would’ve given someone there a chance to slam a ball gag on him. How else is he going to shut up and stop putting his foot in his mouth?