The Jeff Booth Show

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Show Transcripts

November 9th, 2008

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This is the Jeff Booth Show for November 9th, 2008. brought to you by the Center for Sexual Expression and Education, and Erotic University. I’m Jeff Booth. This is our post election edition, where we look at the results of the election and what they mean. It is also Sex Science Sunday, with the latest in sex science research. Just click on the topic you want to listen to, and thanks for clicking in.

Politics

The Outcome

The Presidency

The election is over. Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States. It is a key moment in U.S. history. A moment where we move beyond our long past of racial discrimination. But even if Barack Obama were not the first black president, he would still be significant. He stands a very good chance of being a change president, and not like Bush, where most of us are having to dig around for change to pay our bills, but someone who will take the country in a new direction after years of our country being taken in a very dark direction- a direction that has alienated us from our allies and the world in general, a direction that has moved massive amounts of wealth from the middle class to the rich, a direction that has increased our national debt by an amount almost unimaginable before the Bush administration, a direction that led to massive economic chaos unlike anything since the Great Depression, a direction that led to massive unemployment, a direction that has put our civil liberties in jeopardy, a direction that has cloaked our own government in secrecy, a direction where we attacked another country with justifications that were little more than lies and deceptions, a direction where we torture and imprison innocent people,  a direction that has put our very Constitution at risk. All of that will most likely change under an Obama presidency. Unless of course, he really is the anti-Christ as former SNL comedian Victoria Jackson claims.

Some other things will change, things that those of us on the pro-sex and pro-science side will be very happy about. His advisors have made clear that he will look to quickly overturning Bush’s global gag rule on abortion, and his ban on stem cell research. He will probably move us away from abstinence only education.

It was pretty clear from the utter incompetence of the McCain campaign that he truly would be a third Bush term. From an inability to understand that flat out lies will get called by the press, to choosing the least qualified candidate for Vice-President ever,

 McCain’s campaign will go down in history as a failure not just because he lost, but because his campaign was so terribly run.

McCain’s desire to be president at any cost has destroyed whatever positive legacy he might have had. He will be remembered as a cranky and dishonest old man, out of touch, out of ideas, and out and out bitter.  

Palin has yet to create a legacy because it is clear that she is not willing to just go away, as a majority of the country would prefer. Even if elected, she probably would not have been our worst Vice President. But that is only because throughout our history, we’ve had some pretty terrible VPs. It is unlikely that she would have been stupider than Martin Van Buren’s VP, Richard M. Johnson, who wanted to use public funds to go to the North Pole to drill a hole to the center of the hollow earth and explore it. And it is unlikely that she would have been more cravenly partisan than James Madison’s VP Elbridge Gerry, from whom we get the term gerrymandering, or more treasonous and murderous than Thomas Jefferson’s VP Aaron Burr, who not only shot Alexander Hamilton, but was also charged with treason for masterminding a plot to attack a Spanish colony in Mexico (actually, he sounds a lot more like Dick Cheney). And she would probably not be more corrupt than Nixon’s VP, Spiro Agnew, who was indicted for bribery, and who worked under one of our more corrupt presidents. Sure she might not beat them, but she could have come awful close. 

She is in a bitter battle with McCain advisors, who are now revealing that she was even stupider and pettier than was previously known. And with her drawing so much attention to Alaska, we have learned that the television series Northern Exposure actually featured some of the least eccentric and bizarre characters from our northernmost state. The state not only loves Palin, they reelected two of the most corrupt (one indicted, one soon to be) people in Congress. Well, maybe. Many have pointed out that the Alaska election results were dramatically different from the polling, the only state in the union where that was the case, and that some districts are reporting more votes than voters, and that Alaska has a history of a corrupt electoral process and has been caught tampering with Diebold voting machines. If Ted Stevens is certified and then given the boot or sent to prison, Palin might even promote herself to Senator, where we will be stuck with her on the national level for at least six years..

As to the legacy of the current president, most historians are reaching a consensus. According to Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School. “He is seen as incompetent in terms of how he handled domestic and foreign policy. He is seen as pushing for an agenda to the right of the nation and doing so through executive power that ignored the popular will."  In other words a royal fuck-up, doing whatever the hell he wanted.

A few are trying to rewrite history and simply call the Bush administration unlucky. They are fucking idiots. It was an unlucky time for America, in great part because Bush was our president, but a very lucky time for Bush. 9-11 was unlucky for the nation, but it turned out extraordinarily lucky for Bush. He used it as an excuse to gain extraordinary and many believe extraconstitutional powers. He used it as part of his strategy to lie us into war so that he could have the unique powers of a war time president and prove that he had more balls than his dad. Had he used the international goodwill the nation earned after 9-11, he could have done amazing things. It was an opportunity for him to become a truly great president. It was his incompetence and corruption that destroyed his legacy, not being unlucky. He remained extremely popular even after it was clear that he was incompetent and corrupt.

Katrina was unlucky for the nation, but a competent response that actually helped our citizens in that disaster stricken area would have made Bush a hero. His incompetent response, not Katrina, is what helped to write Bush’s legacy.   

It was primarily luck that kept another terrorist attack from our doorstep. It was certainly not the incompetent way he handled domestic security, consistently underfunding it and ignoring recommendations from security experts. 

He was extraordinarily lucky in that he had a Congress that seldom challenged him, run for six years by Republicans who refused to exercise oversight and let him do pretty much whatever he wanted. Even when Democrats took over, he was lucky enough to have loyal Senate Republicans willing to block anything he opposed. In terms of potential and what he could have accomplished, Bush was the luckiest fucking president we have ever had. It was his choice to squander that luck through promoting incompetent and corrupt people into key positions, and by consistently overstepping the constitutional boundaries of his power.

He has so lowered the bar for the presidency, and may well go down in history as our worst president, that Obama would not have to work that hard to be a better president. But I think Obama is an exceptionally intelligent and dedicated man, one who would never settle for anything but excellence. When I saw him speak at the Democratic National Convention, I turned to Kris and said, “That man will become President.” I did not think it would happen this quickly. And now I am making the prediction that he will be an excellent president, even if you ignore the extremely low standards set by Bush.

I just saw Obama’s first press conference as president elect. He can answer questions intelligently, speak in complete sentences, does not call reporters by degrading nicknames, and doesn’t even smirk. SO much better than Bush.

I have no idea how he will deal with free speech issues and the sexual rights of consenting adults, but I think that restricting rights and going after porn are going to be pretty low priorities, unlike with the current administration. I think things are going to be a lot better for the supporters of sexual rights. Unless, of course, you happen to be gay. They were the real losers in this election, at least at the state level, which we’ll cover in more detail in the Initiatives.

The Initiatives.

At the presidential level, it was a great night for black Americans. At the state initiative level, it was a great night for women who would prefer make their own reproductive choices rather than have the government do it for them.

Prostitutes did lose out, though. In San Fransicso, the bid to prevent the police from spending money to go after prostitutes lost handily. I am sure that a number of police officers who use their authority to force prostitutes to have sex with them, breathed a sigh of relief.

Women’s reproductive freedoms did much better. Amendment 48 in Colorado, the stupidest amendment in the country, lost with 73% voting against. It would have granted fertilized eggs full rights of citizenship, including the right to counsel. Apparently, the thought of all those eggs hiring legal counsel and swamping the state with lawyers ws enough to turn them off.

In the deceptively restrictive Measure 11 abortion ban, South Dakota voters again turned down what would have been an opportunity to go to the Supreme Court and try and overturn Roe v. Wade. Apparently, they were not willing to sacrifice their own women residents in the name of political tactics.

Proposition 4 in California also went down to defeat, with voters rejecting this parental notification law that was deceptive and would have created real hardship and potential life threatening situations for young women in California.

And while we Californians had respect for the rights of pregnant teenagers, and even the rights of chickens by passing a livestock protection bill, Californians gave a huge fuck you to our gay population. Proposition 8 bans gay marriage. And shows that Californians care more about chickens than they do about our gay citizens. I am deeply ashamed of my state over this horrendous vote.

Ironically, the same surge of excitement in the black community that brought them out in record numbers to vote for Barrack Obama also helped not only pass Proposition 8, but may have helped Arizona and Florida also pass gay marriage bans. And Arkansas passed a ban on gay adoption. It was a nightmare of a night for gay Americans.

Why do black voters make a difference? Because the black community is notoriously homophobic. And they tend to vote anti-gay. In California, 7 in 10 blacks voted for Prop 8. Their denial of black homosexuality is one of the reasons that their community has such a high incidence of AIDS. But is it better to kill themselves than accept even the concept of homosexuality in their community?

For a community that has suffered years of hatred and oppression, it seems ironic that they would have such a problem with homophobia. And the irony is increased by considering that while the fight for equality in the black community was led by the churches, many white churches long used Christian biblical interpretation to teach the natural and even Biblical inferiority of black people. Now it is the black churches that are teaching the inferiority of gay people, spreading lies and misinformation, and leading the charge against civil rights for gays.

It is a complex issue. One writer to the letter section of the L.A. Times commented that “As a black male, I can tell you that the reason the African American community voted for Proposition 8 had less to do with religion and more to do with a sense of resentment towards the gay community and the California Supreme Court for attempting to equate one’s bedroom activities with the color of one’s skin.”  Since gay marriage has more to do with family structure and less to do with what people do in the bedroom, since they sort of don’t have to be married to do what they do in the bedroom, what this writer seems to be arguing is that they resent a different group fighting for their civil rights that his community chooses not to accept. This was a common sentiment- comparing gay civil rights to black civil rights is an insult to the black community.  It is a bizarre argument that can only be made by those completely ignorant about homosexuality and the scientifically accepted notion that it isn’t something people just choose to do for laughs and giggles.

One of the strongest proponents of gay marriage, and marriage in general, also happened to be black, and heterosexual. She died this year, but her life is noteworthy for her heroic battle to end the miscegenation laws. A battle she was forced into because she fell in love with a white man. It went all the way to the Supreme Court, and she won. The case was Virginia v Loving, named in part for Mildred Loving, and it ended miscegenation laws in this country.  She understood as well as anyone in this country the importance of being able to marry the person you fall in love with, and she also understood it went way beyond bedroom activities and was at its very heart a civil rights issue.

While black churches rallied their members to vote for Porposition 8, it was the Mormon and Catholic churches that ponied up the money that helped pay for the deceptive political ads that apparently helped lead Prop 8 to victory. They were the source of almost all of the Pro Prop 8 money.

The gay community was furious Wednesday morning. There was a huge march on the Mormon Temple, inspired by the Mormon Church’s contribution of some $20 million towards Prop 8- nearly 4 out of every 5 dollars raised. Saturday 10,000 people marched against Prop 8 in Los Angeles, with about the same number in San Diego. Thousands marched in San Francisco. We may see a very energized gay community.

Celebrities, especially gay ones, were also quite unhappy. Melissa Etheridge said basically “fuck you back” and says as a second class citizen of California, she doesn’t see why she should have to pay taxes to California. Harvey Fierstein said that the election may have been historic for some, but for gays, it’s the same old shit. Ellen Degeneres put out a statement that she was saddened beyond belief by it. Charles Merrill, cousin of the founder of Merrill Lynch, has started an official tax protest. And Courtney Love wrote on her syntax and spelling challenged blog that Prop 8 was confusing and who wouldn’t be for it and we still have no idea what Courtney Love is talking about, but who ever does?

Ultimately, Pop 8 is as cruel a measure as we have passed in California, and also the stupidest. It will cost us millions of dollars from people who would come here to get married. Now the gay community will most likely look at boycotting us, and I can’t blame them. If I did not live here, I would probably boycott the state too, but some of us have to stay here and fight.

California is now less progressive than Massachusetts or Connecticut, the only two states that currently allow gay marriage. We have become the very first state in the country to vote to limit civil rights that people have already been given. And we should be ashamed. And while it is a proud day for all Americans that Barack Obama is now president, the black community in California really needs to take a closer heartfelt look at themselves. They, of anyone on this planet, should have known better.

And even though this wedge issue was not an electoral benefit for the Republicans, they are jumping on the bandwagon. GOP Rep. Mike Pence, set to be the number 3 Republican in the House,  said on Fox News today that social issues like the sanctity of marriage will remain the backbone of the Republican party. Unfortunately for them, the country is far more worried about other issues that are of more pressing concern.  Add to that the fact that 64 percent of Republicans polled want Sarah Palin to be their candidate in 2012, and I don’t think the prospects for the Republicans look all that good.

Sex Science Sunday

According to a study from the Swinburne School of Technology in Melbourne, people who visit online sex sites have "alarmingly high" rates of depression, anxiety and stress. It also found that they were primarily male and generally well-educated. They spend about 12 hours each week on the sites. The primary activities include participating in cyber sex with webcams, downloading video and images, or sending erotic emails. They surveyed about 1400 Australian and American cybersex surfers. The conclusion seems to be that the more one engages in these activities, the more depressed one became. But that ignores the obvious- they are still not getting any real sex. And that would depress anyone. So the real conclusion might be that cybersex is no substitute for real sex and relationships. Research shows that actual sex with a partner does help with depression.

In the 1950s, contraception was hard to come by, so the legend of the Coca-Cola douche was born. Shake a bottle after sex, insert and deploy internally, and those little sperms are history. But does it actually work? Science has an answer, Taiwanese doctors have verified the 1985 findings of Dr. Deborah Anderson. Actual spermicide has an effective rate of about 85%, and yes, Coca-Cola does actually work as a spermicide. But forget New Coke. It is not nearly as effective as original Coke, another stunning failure for one of the worst new product launches in history. But the most effective- Diet Coke. It apparently works in more than one way to keep the weight off. Unfortunately, even the most effective, Diet Coke, has only an effective rate of about 30%. So it works, but not well enough to keep you from getting pregnant.

Horny Goat Weed already sounds like a natural aphrodisiac. It is long been considered in China an effective herb for impotence. Italian researchers at the University of Milan have been studying it, and according to Mario Dell'Agli, "This could be the natural Viagra. The novelty is that we have synthesized a new molecule that one day may be able to replace Viagra." The compound in Horny Goat Weed does work like the active ingredient in Viagra, but not nearly as well. The modified version, though, might be just as effective as Viagra but without the side-effects.

Computer nerds and science geeks rejoice. A new study published in New Scientist from the University of California Davis has good news. It turns out that dumb guys are not as good a reproductive strategy for women. Whether women are looking for a one-night stands or long-term relationships, the majority prefer the smart guys over the dumb guys. And it turns out that they are pretty good judges of intelligence. But guys, perhaps you might want to develop a few social skills to go along with all of those smarts. Hide the Star Wars collectibles, learn how to actually talk to women, and perhaps all that reading you did on sexual techniques and theories will pay off.

Are people less sexually faithful than they were in the 1990s? That is the conclusion of David Atkins, a research associate professor at the University of Washington, in his latest research. It does appear that the infidelity rates for women in the U.S. did jump 6 percent since the last decade, and 2 percent for men. The surprise is the jump in the older age respondents. According to Atkins, “We think, in part, for the older cohorts, it's related to Viagra and its cousins.” Viagra, better health care, and changing attitudes all probably play a role. And there is significant increase for younger Americans as well, primarily because of changing sexual attitudes. It is difficult to really understand the statistics, because they look at those having sex in a given year, which stands at about 12 percent for men and 7 percent for women. That does not tell us all that much. We really need to look at the lifetime rate of infidelity, and we need to break that down by age and what was going on in their marriage at the time they had an affair. Was it towards the end of the marriage, during rocky times, or were there other factors? We need to know this to gain any real understanding of the statistics. And even then, we might conclude that the lifetime rate of infidelity may be much higher for younger marrieds than for older married couples who were married during more sexually restrictive times. Infidelity is a complex issue, clouded by the erroneous notion that monogamy is somehow more natural or normal. From a biological standpoint, the opposite is true. Monogamy is not the best reproductive strategy, which is why we find that it is fairly rare in the animal kingdom, even in animals that pair bond. And the rate of infidelity is probably higher than what is reported, as we know this is one area where people are inclined to lie.

Do women accurately report the number of sexual partners they have? Interesting question, and research in 2003 indicated that they might not. When they had to turn in a survey, women reported half as many sexual partners as they did when they were interviewed while hooked up to a lie detector. They also reported more partners when doing a completely private survey, but not as many as when they thought they might be caught in a lie with the lie detector. For men, there was no statistical difference between the different methods. Research published in last summer’s The Journal of Family Psychology, found that there was a five percentage point difference in the answer to the question of whether women had been unfaithful to their husband, depending upon whether they did face to face interviews or anonymous surveys. While the research from the University of Washington noted the expected discrepancy of far more men reporting infidelity than women, Dr. Helen Fisher has noted that in hunter gatherer societies, there is no discrepancy, and she believes that the discrepancy is culturally induced. She said “Men want to think women don’t cheat, and women want men to think they don’t cheat, and therefore the sexes have been playing a little psychological game with each other.” So, perhaps we don’t know the actual statistics when it comes to infidelity rates in women. It all comes down to how you ask the question.

Anyone who understands evolutionary biology and the concept of the zero sum game knows the importance of selflessness to the development of societies. While the individual may sacrifice their own genetic contribution in the name of defending their society, that selflessness helps the society at large. It is an evolutionary advantage for the group, even at the cost of the individual. Research led by Tim Phillips at the British University of Nottingham seems to indicate that this selflessness can also have a personal evolutionary advantage. Selflessness in men seems to make them more sexually attractive to the opposite sex. This form of female sex selection may be responsible for why societies have grown and thrived. I’m in it for me, so if my being selfless gets me laid, I’m all for it.

New research on sex and overweight women has some interesting results, While we might think that overweight issues might lead to a decrease in self-esteem thus leading to a decrease in sex drive, this does not seem to be the case. The results were published in the September issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. In fact, it seems that overweight women might even have higher libidos and have more sex than women with a more ideal body mass index. According to Bliss Kaneshiro, an assistant professor at the School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii, “These results were unexpected and we don't really know why this is the case”. Gee. Could it be that maybe heavier women have stronger appetites for more than just food? Could it be that people who eat for pleasure do other things for pleasure? Could it be that we have such a high percentage of overweight people in this country that it skews the statistics? Is it just me or is this not such a mystery?