The Jeff Booth Show

Internet Radio with Pictures

Show Transcripts

September 2nd, 2007

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Jeff@eroticuniversity.com

(818) 613-9248

Political News

Just once in the last few months have I had to go without a terrific political sex scandal story. That was a rough week, but it seems we are back on a roll again, this time with the Seantor from Idaho, Larry Craig. The story, which broke Monday, is by now well known. Craig is accused of attempting to initiate a sexual encounter with a man in a Minneapolis airport restroom. As with Florida’s Bob Allen, turns out the object of his intentions was also an undercover officer. Whoops.

Craig is following in Bob Allen’s footsteps in the hard to believe excuses department. According to police, Craig started tapping his foot, a secret code apparently used by men looking for encounters with other men in bathrooms. Good advice for guys- don’t listen to toe tapping musing on your i-pod in the restroom. After receiving the proper foot tap response, Craig slid his foot under the stall to touch the other guy’s foot. To explain why he initiated playing footsie with the man in the next stall, Craig explained that he has a really wide stance when using the restroom. He’s sitting in a stall. That’s not really a stance. That’s sitting there spreading your legs as wide as possible.  And if that his is usual public restroom routine, why hasn’t he had the crap beaten out of him repeatedly by guys who don’t want to play footsie with a strange man with the wide stance in the next bathroom stall?

First, just let me say this guys- gay, bi, on the downlow, whatever the hell you are- this is disgusting. I’m about as open-minded about sex as you get, but this public bathroom thing has got to stop. It’s a relic of the 1970’s when gays had fewer ways to meet. It is not something most gays do anymore.  It gives everybody a bad name. I understand, Larry, that your wife probably doesn’t allow you to bring the men you pick up home. I also understand from looking at you, my wife says you basically look like an undertaker, and from looking at the corpulent Bob Allen, that it is better to try and meet other guys while hiding in a bathroom stall where they can’t actually see what you look like. But the sex in the public restroom thing is just wrong in so many ways.

Craig, who has served as Idaho Senator and Congressman since 1980, has long been rumored to have sex with men. A number of men have accused him, going all the way back to 1982, although none could substantiate it, including a recent accusation of sex just a couple of months ago in a Union Station restroom very similar to the airport restroom incident he pleaded guilty to. And the final great excuse from Craig- he admitted guilt because he was in a hurry. He said, “In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously.” Taking matters into his own hands ahead of time might literally have spared him all this embarrassment.

He really did start out his news conference by thanking everyone for “coming out.” But even stranger is a listen to his police interrogation. One of the first things the Senator tells the officer is :You solicited me” Really? Craig claims that he was only reaching down to pick up some toilet paper, and, of course, we’ve all picked up dirty toilet paper from the floor of a bathroom stall. He also claims that it was accidental that his foot was near the officers. But if he did indeed believe that the officer was soliciting him, how did he know? All the officer did was tap back when Craig tapped his foot. Most heterosexuals would have no idea that the officer did anything remotely resembling solicitation. How would Craig know about this subtle coded solicitation mutual foot dance?

Craig is on the extreme far right of the Republican party, with a family values agenda that includes being against gay marriage and civil unions, against gays in the military, against expanding hate crimes legislation to include gays, and against prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Apparently, the only thing he thinks gays are good for is a quick under the stall handjob in a public restroom.

The sale of “sexually-explicit material” has not been allowed on military bases since the 1996 Military Honour and Decency Act was passed by Congress. This included simple nudity. The ban was not always completely followed, which outraged Focus on the Family and similar groups. In May, Pat Trueman of the Alliance Defense Fund organized 40 “pro-family” leaders. They jointly wrote a letter of complaint, emphasizing their concern about “pornography’s destructive impact” upon the men and women serving domestically or fighting in the bloody streets of Afghanistan, Iraq, and other hotbeds of violence. And all this time these poor soldiers were worrying about being shot and blown up, when the real threat was pictures of naked women. The ADF was not happy with the Pentagons response. They just rescinded part of the ban . Now our fighting men and women defending our freedom can enjoy a little slice of freedom themselves in  Playboy, Penthouse (the new tame pissing free version) and Celebrity Skin. The enraged and irony free Focus on the Family is calling for an investigation. You can die for your country, but god forbid you get an erection. 

Being irony free seems to be a hallmark of Republican politics. Jeff Gannon, the fake reporter who went to White House press conferences and got to ask the president soft ball questions that typically put a positive spin on the administration, has now written a book. In the book, the fake imbedded reporter criticizes real journalists with name-calling, calling Washington journalists names such as hecklers and show-boaters. When he says he has nothing to expose except liberal media bias, that is true to the extent that his penis has been all over the Internet on gay escort sites. He calls himself the most honest reporter in the White House press corps, and by that, he apparently means that he thinks he’s honest because admits that he is a liar.  Doesn’t he realize that there is no more room for republican gay scandals from the past right now- that there are too many current ones to keep track of.   

Fifty years ago third week, Strom Thurmond set the record for a filibuster, speaking for over 24 hours straight to block the Civil Rights Act of 1957. While doing this, I wonder how many times he thought of his daughter, the product of his rape of a16 year old African American maid? Why did it take until the 1970’s before he realized that his won daughter deserved equal rights? That will be Strom Thurmonds legacy.

I’ve written on deadline, and I know it is easy to write what turns out to be something really stupid when you are rushing. But still, this bit from William Saletan’s column in Slate on Brazil paying for gender reassignment surgery through their health care system is a standout. Yes, unlike us, Brazil actually has a health care system. First William writes about female genital mutilation, which I agree is a horrendous crimes one of my few exceptions to my generally anti-death penalty stance, along with using your super powers to try and destroy the world. What, you’re gig to put them in jail- they have super powers- and they always manage to escape.  William’s provocative question is this concerning sexual reassignment surgery: “Is genital mutilation a crime if you don't want it but a right if you do?”  That goes beyond stupid. Is sex a crime if you don’t want it but a right if you do? Is giving money to someone a crime if you are physically forced to but a right if you want to? And is being forcibly beaten to and forced to state ridiculous nonsensical rhetorical questions a crime, but a right when you come up with them freely on your own? Don’t bother answering. The questions are rhetorical.

Entertainment

I admire actresses willing to go nude in their projects. I appreciate the female form from an asthetic standpoint,. And I really like looking at tits, so here is our roundup of upcoming performances to watch out for:

Rated number one in Stuff magazine's list of 100 Sexiest Women of 2007, Jessica Biel will be playing a stripper earning money to care for her terminally ill son- and according to her contract, we will get to see her breast and butt. The movie is Powder Blue, and it sounds like a heart-warming story of a woman doing what she needs to for her family without any hint of exploitation.

Portia De Rossi is joining the cast of Nip/Tuck, apparently to quench the lesbian desires of  Joely Richardson. The sex scenes are reportedly quite wild.

In one of the stranger subjects for a movie, along comes Lars and the Real Girl. It stars Ryan Gosling as a man who comes to believe that his expensive sex doll is a real girlfriend. It is based on the realistic several thousand dollar latex sex dolls, and his family plays along hoping he will break out of his delusion. The hilarity ensues. And yes, the Real Doll does all of her won nude scenss.

Holy bat saphistry, Batman, is the new character of Batwoman a lesbian? She was supposed to be. And after eight months of development, it now appears that batWoman is dead. DC comics killed the project. It reminds me of the fight that writer David Gerrold had with star trek creator Gene Roddenberry on introducing an actual gay character into the star trek world. Lots of promises, but it never happened. I would think that the fan base here might enjoy seeing the gay communited depicted. They might relate to a community even more outcast and rejected by society than they are.

Sure, Myspace is important in the world of social networking, but what if youspace could be the Playboy mansion? Well, not exactly, but Playboy is setting up its own social networking site called. Think of it as facebook with some really gorgeous faces. PlayboyU.com is targeted at college students, but will not allow nudity. That makes it more like the Playboy mansion when Hef’s kids come to visit.

Jenna Jameson is quitting performing in adult films. She has also had her breast implants removed, which would actually make her more appealing to me.  I have never been all that big a fan of her performances, but I have admired her success at building a huge porn empire worth $30 million. She was never really comfortable with the implants, which bumped her from a C cup to a D.  I don’t like to think that it was her implants, and not her skill and talent, that made her a huge a wealthy star.  

SO, you think Japanses game shows are strange? I need to start watching Colombian television more. They have a new game show challenging contestants to have the dirtiest sex. The show is called Los Pichones, which meas the young pigeons.  Contestants are divided into two teams: labled "fellatio" and "cunnilingus. If the sex is not scandalous enough, the couple is expelled by a vote from the audience. Contestants go through tests such as having sex with your wife in front of a group of friends, or sadosmasochism. Sure, someday we might get a show like this over here, but we’d mess it up like doing something horrific such as having Rosie Odonnel host it.

It used to be that a sex tape of you got out and it was a career ender. Now it seems that it is a career starter. Kim Kardashian now has her own reality show on E! Besides being the daughter of  deceased O.J. Simpson attorney Robert Kardashian , Kim is best known for appearing in a videotaped sexual frolic with hip hop star Ray J.  She is also a pal of Paris Hilton, who also boosted her career through the notoriety of a sex tape. Things have certainly changed.

And finally, just when you thought written speech was protected speech, along come the Red Rose case. The U.S. District Judge refused to throw out the case Friday, and author Karen Fletcher faces six counts of transmission of obscene matter, based on short stories she posted online. It is the first federal case in decades involving obscene material that was only written. Kids were not allowed on the site, and no kids were harmed in the making of the stories, but there were kids in the stories. Sure, most of us find this subject objectionable, but the argument that you are protecting kids because someone might go out and copy what they read in a story is ridiculous. If that is so, all crime novels should e banned. The penalties against child porn are so severe because children are physically abused in the making of it. That is not the case in the simple writing of a story. Of course, under these standards, a lot of books from throughout history would get their publishers put in jail, and that was a common thing in the past. It just has not happened in a long time. It has long been assumed that you can’t go to jail for obscene writing. If she is successfully prosecuted, it will set the clocks back on obscenity cases, and dramatically further restrict freedom of expression.

Whacko of the Week

Kansas Senator Sam Brownback is running for the Presidency. He’s not getting a lot of traction at the moment, but he is a serious candidate. He is far more conservative and has a better conservative voting record than any of the current leading contenders. When it comes to sexual issues, he is clearly a whacko.

It is rumored and widely believed that he is a member of the cult-like Catholic organization Opus Dei. It is not surprising that we don’t know for sure- the secretive group’s constitution forbids members from admitting their membership.  If not a member, he is certainly under their influence, since he was converted to Catholicism through Opus Dei.  Although the Da Vinci Code version of Opus Dei was fictional, some members do practice self-flagellation and the wearing of a barbed chain around the thigh. This group was more realistically mentioned in the movie Breach, where FBI spy Robert hannson took his membership very seriously. Outtakes of the movie mention some of their stranger practices, like making his daughter sleep on a board to cool her sexual desire. Opus Dei very aggressively recruits members with wealth and power, which has led to their having a lot of wealth and power themselves.

Further proof of Brownback’s connection to Opus Dei, he cited a paper from a little know Opus Dei connected organization to support the  constitutional ban against gay marriage. It was a non-scientific paper written by religious extremists written by an organization run by Luis Tellez, an Opus Dei  numerarary, the most conservative of Opus Dei members who give all their money to the church and practice celibacy.

And while he may only be influenced by Opus Dei, he is a member of the secretive Fellowship, which subsidizes his Washington housing. They call themselves the family, and many in the house and senate are members. Except women. If they want to join, they can serve breakfast at the weekly prayer meetings. But they don’t mind, its just politics, as reported in an article about them in Harpers. The article makes it sound like a homoerotic Jesus cult.

Brownback is a powerful proponent of censorship. He wants more censorship of television and has been a leader in drafting tougher bills for the FCC. One of his claims to fame was his organizing and chairing hearings on pornography in his position as head of Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space. He held three in one year. The basic premise of all of them was that pornography is more dangerous that terrorism. Organizations representing the adult industry have requested that the hearings include representatives from their side, but  they were completely ignored. It is quite un8usual to hold hearings with a goal of regulating an industry without having any industry representatives their. Brownback wanted to make sure that they hear only one side, so he also made sure that all of their witnesses are on the extreme anti-porn side of the issue.  They were presented extreme and unscientific statements but little evidence. There were no peer reviewed studies or anything that even remotely represents a consensus of experts on the subject. In other words, they made the Meese Commision almost look fair in comparison.

The names of the hearings indicated that the conclusions had already been reached, such as in  “Why the Government Should Care About Pornography: The State Interest in Protecting Children and Families."  Another hearing was called "The Science Behind Pornography Addiction." Of course, no actual reputable scientists were called to testify. In fact, the hearings were not announced in advance and the adult industry had no chance to participate or provide experts. Neither was the scientific community notified in advance, nor were any experts on addiction included. Had they been, someone might have mentioned that science does not recognize pornography addiction as an actual ailment. It has no specific scientific meaning or definition.

The four “experts” called to testify were billed as mental health professionals but were in fact leaders in the anti-porn movement, including the notorius pseudoscientific crank Judith reisman. They have little standing in the scientific community at large, nor is their research published in peer reviewed articles. And that pretty much sums up Brownback’s respect for science.

He opposes gay marriage, homosexuality in general, and even civil unions. When chairman of the Joint Chiefs stated: "I believe that homosexual acts between individuals are immoral and that we should not condone immoral acts, Brownback strongly supported him. In A Rolling Stone interview where he criticized Sweden as a den of iniquity for their open attitudes about homosexuality, he quoted the Bible verse, “You'll know them by their fruits,"- but the humor was unintentional. He’s not normally a funny guy.

He is as anti-abortion as he is anti-contraception. Brownback has stated at Iowa events that he believes life "begins and should be protected from the moment of conception." He said about the approval of Plan B for over the counter use: “"I am saddened at any step that increases the number of abortions and increases the loss of life. It is reckless to allow an overdose of a prescription drug to be offered over the counter." His extremism kept him from understanding that Plan B is not a form of abortion and actually prevents abortions, and is far safer than either an abortion or going to full term It al;so prevents him fro understanding  that it is not an overdose but a carefully studied dosage that does what is intended safely and effectively. Almost every word he says about it is inaccurate.

Speaking of people in their early 20’s, he said: “They were born when abortion rates were highest, so many of them feel they're the survivors of a holocaust: one in four of their compatriots are not here.'' 

He opposes abortion, even in the case of rape, but he also opposes civil unions.  So, what happens when a lesbian is raped and decides to raise the child with her female partner in a civil union? Would Brownback’s head explode?

One of the strong arguments that anti-abortion forces have made against abortion is that it causes the fetus pain, and is therefore unnecessarily cruel. A review published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn of about 1,500 scientific studies concludes that it is highly unlikely that fetuses can feel pain before the 29th week of pregnancy. Many states are considering or already have legislation requiring doctors to tell women seeking an abortion that the procedure will be painful for the fetus. Brownback introduced a federal bill  that would require all doctors to read to their patients from a script. They would have to say: "The Congress of the United States has determined that at this stage of development, an unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain."  This would be in direct contradiction to the preponderance of evidence showing just the opposite. In some states, doctors are required to offer anesthesia for the fetus to prevent them from feeling pain, a process that can put the mother’s health and life at risk.

He co-sponsored a bill to de-fund the nation's largest contraception provider, Planned Parenthood, by excluding it from the Title X family planning program for the poor.

He is one of the abstinence education’s strongest supporters. He talks about mythical data supporting his position, while completely ignoring the now mountainous collection of data showing that the programs do not work.  

While the Canadian Supreme Court increased freedoms for its citizens by legalizing swing clubs, the U.S. House of Representatives did just the opposite by approving a new bill that could be used to target adult film shoots. H.R. 972 is titled the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005. It sounds like a bill to go after human slavery, but Brownback imagined it being used in a different way. He made a state ment that he hoped they could use the anti-trafficking laws against the adult film industry.

What causes concern is in one of the bill’s definitions: "The term 'commercial sex act' means any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person." That is clearly intentionally very inclusive. It would include every adult film, webcam sites, even educational depictions of intercourse or even masturbation. So far, common sense has prevailed and the law has not been used this way, much to Brownback’s disappointment.

And that silly notion of a separation between church and state. Forget about it. AN article about Brownback in Rolling Stone magazine reveals the day he had an epiphany. As a senator- he has only one constituent- the lord god almighty. In Brownback’s wet dream of America, all things are decided based on the Bible- or his interpretation of it anyway. He is far and away the most theocratic of all of the candidates. He was behind the failed Constitution Restoration Act. It would acknowledge God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, and government, and deny the courts any jurisdiction at all in matters of religion. It is the Dominionist launching point for creating an American theocracy. And he is not for any old pluralistic notion of God. Just his. In his 1996 election, he made a point of pointing out that his opponent’s maiden name was Jewish.

Fantastically anti-sex, attracted to cults, and wants to dump the constitution for the Bible- a clear Whacko of the week choice. But certainly not a choice for president.

 Sexvestigation - Appropriate Places

Senator Larry Craig is very old school. His stall diving in bathrooms is a product of the 60’s and 70’s, when gays had little opportunity to meet. The elaborate ritual he used in the bathroom to try and contact another man for sex is described in detail in the 1970 book, Tearoom Trade, written by Laud Humphries. The gay community has come a long ways since then. There are gay bars, gay sex clubs, online sites.

And this is important. I think that what Craig did was wrong. Sex in a public restroom is inappropriate. But I also strongly believe that these should be places that are appropriate, places where gay men can hook up in a much safer environment. And those places do now exists, unlike in the 60’s when Craig was probably initially exploring his sexual options.

In fact, the gay community may well have come further than the rest of us. Certainly they have in Los Angeles.

L.A. is one of the most sexually conservative cities in the U.S. I know that’s hard to believe, but its true. We are more sexually conservative than the notoriously conservative orange county.

Take something as simple as nudity. Did you know that while we have more beaches than any other city, we also have not a single nude beach. I agree that there should be family beaches where you don’t have to see bare boobies and dangling dicks, but there should also be some places set aside for those of us who believe that wearing clothes to the beach is silly. There isn’t, and in fact, Los Angeles county has some of the most restrictive anti-nudity laws in the country. That is why in the land of the constant sun, there is not a single nudist resort in Los Angeles.

I like watching women dance naked, but the city has been at war with nude clubs here for years. The city backed off a highly restrictive law that would have put many strip clubs out of business when it was clear that there were enough signatures to put the issue on the ballot. If this is something people enjoy doing it, and I consider some of the dancers to certainly be presenting an art form, why should anyone tell us we can’t go see it?

Of course, my biggest objection is with the ban on swing clubs in Los Angeles. A gay club could get a sexual encounter license, but not a club catering strictly to couples. The facility that we held classes in was shut down because the city claimed that the level of sexual activity required a sexual encounter license. How do they get one? You can’t.

People are going to have sex. AT least at a swing club, you can’t claim that oh gee, I fogot a condom but I’ll get one next time. AT a swing club, there is no excuse. There are bowls of condoms everywhere, and I feel pretty safe in stating that safe sex is practiced with more dedication at a swing club than it is by the general populace.

Sure, I can have a swing party at my private home, and I do. I host some pretty terrific swing parties. But you have to know me personally pretty well to get in. If I wanted to do it commercially, cover some of my costs, make it open to more couples in a larger commercial space, I couldn’t do it. It would be against the law. And that is ridiculous.

There has long been the argument that you have personal freedoms to do things as long as they are not done commercially. For example- in many states, you have the right to use a vibrator. The stores just don’t have the right to sell them to you. And that makes a mockery of your rights.

I’ve looked at the issue of prostitution, talked to prostitution rights activists and former and current prostitutes, and I just don’t see how our system works to protect anyone. Cops take advantage of them for sex. They are at greater risk from their customers. If we created a safe place, an appropriate and legal palce for prostitution, things would be safer of the customers and the clients. They only do that one place in the U.S.- in the middle of a god forsaken desert in Nevada.

In all of these areas, the U.S. is so far behind developed countries that we are a joke. We brag about our freedoms, but when it comes to sex, we act as if freedom is a four letter word. People are going to have sex. If you want people to not have sex in inappropriate places, then it only make sense that you allow them to have sex in appropriate places.

Larry Craig’s crime is a product of our restrictions on appropriate places for sex.