# Scandals and political affiliation **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 20, 2001, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scandals-and-political-affiliation/51072 "2001-01-20T23:45:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scandals-and-political-affiliation/51072/21 "2001-01-24T13:32:59Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by dougie\_monty \* \*\* > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > As for recent sexual scandals- don’t you remember Bob Livingstone, who was slated to become Speaker after Gingrich stepped down, only to have it revealed by Larry Flynt that Livingstone had had an extra-marital affair? > > > > dougie, I’m afraid this entire thread reflects less upon “Republican dominated media” than your own inability to keep up with current events and think critically. > > **Larry Flynt?** Is this the same Larry Flynt who publishes _Hustler?_ The same Larry Flynt who wore a diaper when he appeared before the Supreme Court? Forgive me, but I think you’ll have to muster a better source . . .\*\* What are you, incapable of reading English or something? **It doesn’t matter who revealed the affair.** It doesn’t matter whether it was Larry Flynt, Matt Drudge or Mighty Mouse. After it was revealed, Livingstone **admitted** it, realized that he would be a hypocrite to accept the Speaker position after his criticism of Clinton, and resigned from the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scandals-and-political-affiliation/51072/22 "2001-01-24T15:31:53Z")
Bush the First had a mistress. Remember when that came out, around 1990 or so? Can’t say as I blame him; if I were married to Barbara, I’d be looking for something on the side that didn’t resemble my grandmother, myself. But just as the media were getting ready to rumble, some ominous sounds came out of the White House and everybody got quiet REAL fast. Dollars to doughnuts there was some serious Bushian (or more likely, Sununuean) arm-twisting happening. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scandals-and-political-affiliation/51072/23 "2001-01-24T16:49:43Z")
Anything to overturn Cecil’s judgement that the evidence is [“laughably thin”?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_311.html) **Uke?** Surely everyone knows that the press is against them (whatever side you’re on). Otherwise, how could we fail? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scandals-and-political-affiliation/51072/24 "2001-01-24T17:00:12Z")
You’ll note that **Cece** calls for “lab tests and televised hearings.” I can only concur. Humbly. ---
**Author:** ![IzzyR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/2acd7d/32.png) [@IzzyR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IzzyR)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scandals-and-political-affiliation/51072/25 "2001-01-24T17:41:38Z")
Actually the Cecil column on Bush is outdated. Subsequently, additional evidence did come forth, in the form of the memoirs of a deceased state dept official, who had written that they took a room together during a certain diplomatic negotiation. But the person who wrote it was no longer alive at the time that the account was published. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2001, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scandals-and-political-affiliation/51072/26 "2001-01-24T22:42:18Z")
> [@](#): > > It doesn’t matter who revealed the affair. It doesn’t matter whether it was Larry Flynt, Matt Drudge or Mighty Mouse. After it was revealed, Livingstone admitted it, realized that he would be a hypocrite to accept the Speaker position after his criticism of Clinton, and resigned from the Senate. Y’know, that’s even _ **better!** _ I guess I’d have to give Livingstone his due here, in that, unlike some other politicos, Livingstone was decent enough to _admit_ what he had done. (Compare Lt. Col. Oliver North, who blamed the Iran-Contra mess on his political adversaries, instead of admitting he was a secretive, power-hungry demagogue who hid behind a cloak of blamelessness.) Actually, I maintain that the general credibility of a source is critical. For example, if a celebrity tells us that an asteroid is likely to hit the earth in the next ten years, who would be more credible–Steven Hawking or Dennis Rodman? If an economic downturn is predicted in the next X number of months, whom are we more likely to believe–Alan Greenspan or Jerry Seinfeld? (Although it’s vice versa when we are talking about basketball or stand-up comedy. I might even consider Larry Flynt an unimpeachable source–in the matters of marketing, pornography, and magazine publishing.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scandals-and-political-affiliation/51072.md?page=1)