A Few Words About Jack Ryan
Get to know the Illinois Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate:
You have a chance to vote for a Republican who represents your Christian values in key moral issues like protecting our unborn babies and defending the traditional family by opposing abortion and gay marriage. And, you have an opportunity to vote for a Republican who represents real progressive change in the Black community, having actually become part of the community as a teacher at an all-black high school. That Republican is Jack Ryan.
And now, a few more words about Jack Ryan, from The Smoking Gun:
In what may prove a crippling blow to his U.S. Senate campaign, divorce records reveal that Illinois Republican Jack Ryan was accused by his former wife, actress Jeri Ryan, of pressuring her to have sex at swinger's clubs in New York, Paris, and New Orleans while other patrons watched. The bombshell allegation is contained amidst nearly 400 pages of records ordered released yesterday by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge who ruled on media requests to unseal documents from the Ryan case. The salacious charge leveled at the politician was made by Jeri Ryan, who has starred in TV's "Star Trek: Voyager" and "Boston Public," in a court filing in connection with child custody proceedings (you'll find a portion of that heavily redacted September 2000 document below). The performer alleged that she refused Ryan's requests for public sex during the excursions, which included a trip to a New York club "with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling." While Ryan confirmed the trips with the actress, he described them simply as "romantic getaways," denying her claims that he sought public sex. The politician has repeatedly claimed that his divorce file--portions of which were sealed in 2000 and 2001--contained no embarrassing information that would harm his chances against Democratic nominee Barack Obama. The Ryans were married in 1991 and, in November 1998, Jeri Ryan filed for divorce citing "irreconcilable differences."
Excuse me, but why is it always the guys trying to force their wives into public sex in a variety of international dungeons who rail against how two guys hanging up his and his dishtowels will be the end of society as we know it?
If it weren't for his bad politics, I'd date Jack in a hot second.
Lena at June 23, 2004 7:38 AM
Excuse me, but why is it always the guys trying to force their wives into public sex in a variety of international dungeons who rail against how two guys hanging up his and his dishtowels will be the end of society as we know it?
Somebody's got to do it.
Richard Bennett at June 23, 2004 1:55 PM
So I guess you are against gay marriage?
eric at June 23, 2004 2:11 PM
Well, at least it proves he's not against kinky sex, he's just against kinky sex outside the sanctuary of marriage. :)
Bubba Jones at June 23, 2004 3:01 PM
Actually, Jeri Ryan's charges don't prove anything. They were made in the context of a custody dispute, and have never been substantiated.
This will come as a shock to Amy, but it's my obligation as a man and an American to point it out: women have been known to exaggerate, fib, and even (gasp!) to lie in custody disputes. I know, this is hard to believe, because here in the heartland we've been raised to believe that men do all the lying and the fornicating, and women are all saintly, virginal, and pure, but I have it on pretty good authority that my claim is true.
We'd all better go lie down and try to absorb this shocking revelation by binging on chocolate candies and Ben and Jerry's ice cream for a few days.
Richard Bennett at June 24, 2004 11:38 AM
They were made in the context of a custody dispute, and have never been substantiated.
An attorney who knowingly included false information in a court pleading could be disbarred. Hence, I don't think this was put in the filing without serious consideration and review.
Then again, if you were a neanderthal, you could find an excuse for just about anything.
Legal Beagle at June 24, 2004 6:15 PM
"We'd all better go lie down and try to absorb this shocking revelation by binging on chocolate candies and Ben and Jerry's ice cream for a few days."
That's a coping strategy that I developed during the Bloomingdale sex scandal. But back then I think it was Haagendaaz, not Ben & Jerry's.
Lena at June 24, 2004 10:13 PM
Beagle, if every family law attorney who ever submitted a false declaration to the court was disbarred, there would be no family law attorneys left.
Who the fuck do you think you're kidding?
And on the subject of gay marriage, I'm in favor of it because lesbian divorces would be epic, and the mobs of lesbians descending on state capitols to change alimony and community property laws would be festive. Gay marriage can't be enacted quickly enough to please me, but the gay community is holding back on it because marriage would make them much less gay.
Richard Bennett at June 25, 2004 2:17 PM
I agree with the last sentence, Richard. Access to marriage will destroy virtually everything that's interesting about gay male culture. In fact, it's already doing it. Unmarried urban heterosexuals in their 40s are the new black!
Lena at June 25, 2004 3:25 PM
Exactly, dude - gay men are creative in sitcom writing, fashion design, show tune creation, interior design, and artsy fartsy shit because they're outsiders. As soon as all the gay men are worrying about their babies, their mortgages, and doing couples counseling with their spouses, they'll be as boring as everybody else, and people will have to go to new extremes to be reconized as outsiders, like Oklahoma judges or something.
Richard Bennett at June 25, 2004 3:32 PM
"gay men are creative in sitcom writing, fashion design, show tune creation, interior design, and artsy fartsy shit"
Richard --
I suppose that last category would include artsy fartsy shit like Swann's Way or Leaves of Grass. With the exception of show tunes, all of the above are fine. But what I'll really miss getting from gay men is a deep grope in a sleazy leather bar. There'll be no Everyman's Library edition of that highly creative greeting.
My het friends Amy Alkon and Walt probably live more creatively than any gay man I know. They're sexy, smart, childless, and have absolutely no interest in marriage or baby-friendly get-togethers. And unlike a lot people who are saving for college tuition in 2015, they don't mind dropping a few bucks on a good meal.
Lena
Lena at June 26, 2004 12:21 AM
Hey Richard. You're a stupid moron. I bet you're fat and balding, too, with poor hygene.
Moron Buster at June 26, 2004 8:57 AM
"But what I'll really miss getting from gay men is a deep grope in a sleazy leather bar."
I feel your pain.
Richard Bennett at June 28, 2004 12:02 PM
I believe ryan admits he brought his wife to these places; he maintains the interest was consensual
nancy at June 28, 2004 5:16 PM
I'm all for dungeon-going, if that's what you (and your wife) are into. It's just kind of a disconnect from the stated Puritan values of people like Ryan.
Amy Alkon at June 28, 2004 6:20 PM
If elected officials couldn't frequent sex clubs, Frisco would be without representation.
Richard Bennett at June 28, 2004 6:37 PM
The only thing I don't like about my own city councilperson, Cindy Miscikowski, is her vote to ban lap dancing in Los Angeles. Ridiculous. Do whatever you want with any consenting adult, for free or for pay, as long as you're not naked and flabby and jiggling in my eyeline.
Amy Alkon at June 28, 2004 6:44 PM
Everybody has their hot-button issue, and since yours is lap-dancing it's hard for me to understand why you supported Saddam. There's going to be a lot more lap-dancing in Allawi's Iraq than there ever was in Saddam's.
Richard Bennett at June 29, 2004 5:25 PM