Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

Republicans in disarray!

Republican obstruction dressed up as bipartisanship. Again.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Roe isn’t about choice, it’s about freedom.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Bark louder, little dog.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

The revolution will be supervised.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

You are here: Home / Of human bondage

Of human bondage

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The RNC is pushing back on the Steele bondage club story from the Carlsonington Post:

The spokesman said: “We are investigating the expenditure in question. The story willfully and erroneously suggests that the expenditure in question was one belonging to the chairman. This was a reimbursement made to a non-committee staffer. The chairman was never at the location in question, he had no knowledge of the expenditure, nor does he find the use of committee funds at such a location at all acceptable. Good reporting would make that distinction crystal clear. The committee has requested that the monies be returned to the committee and that the story be corrected so that it is accurate.”

Further, the spokesman gives the indication that there’s more to the plane story — or, rather, less to it — than the piece suggests and insists that “Steele’s expenses” are not always “Steele’s expenses” but finance and fundraising expenses.

I think it’s pretty clear what’s going on here: Tucker wants the RNC chairmanship for himself!

Here’s the FEC report in question.

I realize this it two NRO links in two days, but the alternative here involved Politico.

Reader Interactions

139Comments

  2. 2.

    Randy P

    Why is that a reimbursable expense according to RNC rules?

    And I’m still wondering how you spend $1600 in a strip joint.

  5. 5.

    Tim F.

    The RNC doesn’t need to explain itself to us; what do you or I care if Michael Steele blows party money on room service and hookers? Would that he pissed it all away. It’s the donors that Steele has to worry about.

    No doubt they already forgave and forgot about this.

  8. 8.

    MBunge

    “I think it’s pretty clear what’s going on here: Tucker wants the RNC chairmanship for himself!”

    It’s more like somebody who hates Steele at the RNC fed the story to Tucker and, as someone who’s been involved in journalism his whole life without ever practicing it, he ran with the story like a dog with a bone.

    Mike

  9. 9.

    kay

    @Randy P:

    I think that might be problematic for them.

    The “non-committee staffer” took people with him, obviously.

    He wasn’t sitting there alone. He felt it was reimbursable as an expense, so maybe donors?

  10. 10.

    LD50

    @Tim F.:

    The RNC doesn’t need to explain itself to us; what do you or I care if Michael Steele blows party money on room service and hookers? Would that he pissed it all away.

    Indeed. As DFH’s, our job regarding this story is nothing more than to point and laugh.

  11. 11.

    MattF

    Well, whatever. Note, in any case, that every sentence of the RNC’s indignant response suggests one or two impertinant questions, as in “So, how come Steele had ‘no knowledge’ of this expenditure?”

  12. 12.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Oh, well hey look, uh it’s a vary nice club here, and we’d love to give youse your monies back but our policy is that you can only get a rain check, which we’d be happy to honor another night, and dat’s only if you were unsatisfied, and heh, no one leaves here unsatisfied, know what I’m tellin ya…. now, if “the chairman” wants to come down here we’d be happy to buy him a drink, howszat sound?

  14. 14.

    The Populist

    Tucker Carlson. The man is a failure…maybe he should run the RNC and we can be assured it will fully self-destruct from ineptitude.

    Cool…let’s do it!

  15. 15.

    geg6

    @LD50:

    As DFH’s, our job regarding this story is nothing more than to point and laugh encourage them to do it more.

    Fixed.

    And can I just say that I spit Pepsi on my keyboard when I noticed the revolving tag in the banner had “Wetsuit Optional” when I clicked on the comments for this thread.

  17. 17.

    some other guy

    “This was a reimbursement made to a non-committee staffer.”

    Oh, well, I guess that explains that. Wait a second, who the heck approved this reimbursement. Is it common for the RNC to write $2000 checks to “non-committee staffers” who show up with receipts covered in glitter and smelling of cheap perfume?

    “The committee has requested that the monies be returned to the committee…”

    Great! Do you usually wait until you get publicly called out paying for some intern’s lapdances before you start doing any kind of auditing? I don’t donate to the RNC, so I don’t really give a crap, but the people whose money you do waste on “working” trips to Hawaii and, apparently, the questionable expenses of god only knows how many “non-committee staffers” certainly should care.

    Just because Steele himself wasn’t stuffing hundred dollar bills into strippers’ cleavage with his teeth doesn’t mean the story is suddenly not outrageous.

  18. 18.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Randy P:

    Why is that a reimbursable expense according to RNC rules?
     
    And I’m still wondering how you spend $1600 in a strip joint.

    Tchochkes.

    They were scouting for a more interesting class of tchochkes.

  19. 19.

    YellowJournalism

    And I’m still wondering how you spend $1600 in a strip joint.

    I’ve been told that their chicken wings are really expensive.

  20. 20.

    BKS

    @Randy P: They do list the expense as “MEALS” – so clearly the staffer took the donors out to eat. What else could that mean in bondage themed strip joint with mimicries of lesbian sex?

  21. 21.

    goblue72

    @Randy P: My guess is that its not too hard – if you are spending other people’s money (which the RNC is apparently really good at), why not spend the extra cash to go to the VIP room, pay for the over-priced bottle service, get some extra private lap dances, may be even order one of the special “finishes” that aren’t listed on the official menu.

  22. 22.

    beltane

    @Randy P: Didn’t they spend $100,000 on clothes for Palin? Let’s face it, the Republicans are suckers for any female creature that winks and shakes her boobs for them.

  23. 23.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Randy P:

    And I’m still wondering how you spend $1600 in a strip joint.

    Entry: $10, first drink: $1,590

    It goes up from there.

    Er, so I’ve heard.

  24. 24.

    robertdsc

    Indeed. As DFH’s, our job regarding this story is nothing more than to point and laugh.

    For once, HuffPo’s sensationalist front-paging effort works really well.

    And I’m still wondering how you spend $1600 in a strip joint.

    Heh. Depending on the club and the girls, it can be very easy. I know of guys who’ve spent more than that in a visit. I’ve only dropped about half that at one time for my birthday.

  25. 25.

    Citizen_X

    At this very moment, a gleeful Rush Limbaugh is realizing he can charge his, er, blue pills, and his Dominican trips (including all “expenses”), to the RNC.

    ETA: Hell, the white pills, too. Also.

  26. 26.

    Ed Drone

    @beltane:

    Didn’t they spend $100,000 on clothes for Palin?

    As I recall it, that bill was more like $200K, but, if you’re a Republican, who’s counting?

    Ed

  27. 27.

    Mark S.

    The committee has requested that the monies be returned to the committee

    Good luck with that, but I doubt Mistress Vanya gives out refunds.

    If I were a gooper, part of me would hope this is all true. Steele is an idiot and has been an absolute disaster as chairman.

  32. 32.

    asiangrrlMN

    @beltane: And they say the Republicans are the fiscally-responsible party. Snort.

    The thing that keeps bugging me is: Simulated lesbian-sex? You pay that kinda money to see simulated lesbian-sex? Losers.

    @Dork: Tucker Carlson started the conservative version of the HuffPo, so it’s been nicknamed the Carlsington Post.

  35. 35.

    Crusty Dem

    Why is it being reported as $1600? It’s $1946, is everyone just throwing in a tip?

    BTW, what is the proper tip for stripping services? Isn’t it all a tip?

  37. 37.

    Steeplejack

    @Randy P:

    And I’m still wondering how you spend $1600 in a strip joint.

    Have you been in a modern strip club? They are money-separation machines, and a top-drawer club in a trendy area like West Hollywood is like the T-rex of money-separation machines. You’re talking $5-10 per drink, champagne at three figures a bottle, and, hey, don’t forget tips. That lesbian sex is not going to get simulated by itself.

    I have been involved in numerous several bachelor parties that ended up at strip clubs–yo, shout-out to the Gold Club and Cheetah III in hot ‘Lanta–and the tab easily ran to $500. And that was with pasty, timorous, Volvo-driving liberal white guys taking time out from their usual hobbies of volleyball and cycling. If we had been big-swinging-dick political operatives, on someone else’s dime, frankly I would be ashamed to come in at only $1,600. More Republican fail.

  38. 38.

    Pasquinade

    Twitter? Here’s a handy hash tag for those Voyeur/GOP related posts: #GOPsexclub

    @Citizen_X, speaking of Limbaugh, found on Twitter:

    #Rush #Limbaugh “is out until mid-week, on a trip that supposedly took him ’15-17 hours each way’” Bangkok sex vacation this time?

    Bangkok – homonym for……

  39. 39.

    Paris

    “expenditure in question”

    Who cares who spent the money. Was it reimbursed? If so, good for them. There isn’t a better way to spend those Republican Party donations.

  41. 41.

    The Moar You Know

    And I’m still wondering how you spend $1600 in a strip joint.

    @Randy P: It’s not a strip joint, for starters. Something a little more…decadent.

    As to the cost, this helpful link might clear up some of your questions.

  42. 42.

    Origuy

    From reading the comments on Yelp, this wasn’t even a real strip club. It’s a high-end LA nightclub. Valet parking is $20, doormen with major attitude, bottle service starting at $200. The performers aren’t doing table dances or anything like that, although I suspect discreet tipping could get you some personal attention. A group of five or six could probably drop a grand without working up a sweat.

    Not the sort of place you’re likely to see me at, unless someone else is buying.

  44. 44.

    Ash Can

    (If this shows up twice, then FYWP FYWP.)

    @MBunge:

    It’s more like somebody who hates Steele at the RNC fed the story to Tucker and, as someone who’s been involved in journalism his whole life without ever practicing it, he ran with the story like a dog with a bone.

    This makes sense, except for the Tucker Carlson part. Of all the right-wing pundits out there, why him? I suppose the leaker could be a friend of Carlson’s, who wanted him to have a scoop. But if you really wanted to do a job on Steele, why leak to a nobody like Tucker Fucking Carlson?

  46. 46.

    mcc

    I think it’s pretty clear what’s going on here: Tucker wants the RNC chairmanship for himself!

    Hey, why not. If Eric Erickson can get a job at CNN then the dividing line between Republican media personality and Republican political activist is pretty much erased anyway…

  47. 47.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @r€nato:

    So this is how Republicans plan to stimulate the economy.

    Dems: We will build a high speed rail system linking LA to Las Vegas.
    GOP: We will do Vegas in LA BAYBEEEE!

  48. 48.

    David in NY

    Hmmm, more evidence. This Yelp commenter was out on the town with “Michael” at that place!!!

    Hi I really love this place its not only the new trendy place on the strip but offers a really kinky slant on nightclubs, The price is the real problem – My friend Michael and I spent $1946 dollars on bottle service and tips for dancers – lucky we were on an expense account !!!!!! We are from out of town and dont get to see this back east. We always new LA girls were hot and kinky but this was just too much. Its a great place to let loose when your on a business trip and no one knows who you are. Sometimes you have to drop your conservative ways and let loose – this is the perfect place – as long as its not on your dime!!

  49. 49.

    Tsulagi

    Damn you, DougJ. I should be working, but you’ve got not one, but two hot lesbian sex posts up. Of a place where reviews linked to by the helpful townhall.com say only the hottest women and celebrities can get past the bondage club’s face policy. Now I’ve got visions of Seven of Nine and Angelina Jolie going all borg on each other.

    Think I know how the charges came to $1946 for the RNC. $1900 was for an ugly toll to get by the door bouncer and $46 was for a drink.

  50. 50.

    beltane

    @The Moar You Know: Did you post a comment or have the Wonketteers gotten there already? There is a comment posted today about “my friend Michael and I” “dropping our conservative ways”.

  52. 52.

    Crusty Dem

    Apparently, the guilty party in all this is Erik Brown, proprietor of “Dynamic Marketing, Inc”, run out of this lovely storefront in scenic Orange, CA. Oddly enough, they have two nonfunctioning webpages, but they’re on Facebook and Twitter.

    Anyway, that’s enough low-level cyberstalking. I was most intrigued by the ~$1,000,000 spend by the RNC on “LOCKBOX PROCESSING SERVICE” (Wachovia Bank, page 5 of RNC report), which, best I can tell, is just a process that streamlines donations. Doesn’t seem like anything I’d want to spend 7 figures on..

  54. 54.

    Ned R.

    My friend Michael and I spent $1946 dollars on bottle service and tips for dancers

    I admit I only learned what bottle service was after hearing morons complain that they couldn’t get it anymore when the economy turned rough. And when I found out what it was, I reasoned that anyone dumb enough to pay for that can pretty much be written off entirely.

  55. 55.

    robertdsc

    BTW, what is the proper tip for stripping services? Isn’t it all a tip?

    At many clubs, this is how it works: if you see a dancer on stage or wandering around the club, you tip her a few dollars to get her attention. If she comes over and you find her agreeable, you can then buy a set number of dances or time in the VIP room. Once your dances and/or VIP room time is done, you pay her for the time. If she does a very good job of dancing and/or provides “extra” attention to you, it’s customary to give her a tip for the attention.

    So it would conceivably break down like this:

    Parking. $X
    Entry: $X with possible tip to doorman for preferential seating

    Drinks: $X with tip to waitress or bartender as a general kindness and to keep the wheels greased for better service. Possible champagne bottle service $X in the triple digits easy.

    Tips for stage work and attracting dancers to your group.

    Money for dances or VIP room.

    Tips for “extras” provided by dancers, if any
    .
    If they watched a show on stage, then there’d be money for “rewarding” the dancers after they were done.

    Yes, I do know something about this as I used to go to the clubs all the time. /wink

  56. 56.

    Pasquinade

    Erik Brown, who owns Dynamic Marketing Inc. and most recently charged the Steve Poizner for Governor campaign more than $10,000 for campaign literature and mailings, was reimbursed by the RNC for the almost $2,000 in charges at Voyeur West Hollywood, according to FEC filings and online reports reviewed by The Daily Caller…
    …
    The RNC has denied that Steele spent the money at Voyeur. But it appears Brown is close to the chairman. In October, Brown wrote on Twitter, “Enjoying the football game with RNC Chairman Michael Steele. (Eagles vs Redskins at FedEx Field)”.

    – from a rightwing source

  57. 57.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    @Steeplejack

    I have been involved in numerous several bachelor parties that ended up at strip clubs—yo, shout-out to the Gold Club and Cheetah III in hot ‘Lanta—and the tab easily ran to $500. And that was with pasty, timorous, Volvo-driving liberal white guys taking time out from their usual hobbies of volleyball and cycling.

    Wow. At those prices, you’d think they could afford to offer better strippers than that.

  58. 58.

    Mark S.

    OT, but Stupak is now saying he was fucked over by the bishops:

    Last week, Stupak attacked the bishops and other anti-abortion groups for “great hypocrisy” in opposing Obama’s executive order after having supported former President George W. Bush’s executive order banning stem cell research in 2007. He told the Daily Caller he believed the bishops and the groups they were allied with were “just using the life issue to try to bring down health-care reform.”

    Join the club, Bart.

  59. 59.

    David in NY

    @robertdsc: Thank you for the information. I’m sure you acquired it while conducting disinterested anthropological research.

  64. 64.

    Michael

    And I’m still wondering how you spend $1600 in a strip joint.

    Champagne rooms. You pathetic dollar schlubs still think you rate special attention when you wink and flash a five dollar bill.

    Anyway, somebody needs to congratulate Mikey for the humanitarian support he shows single moms. Of course, to be fair, there is a little rush that one gets when one realizes that the tear in the eye of the entertainer is one of gratitude for knowing that she can now afford to buy another box of Cheerios for her four year old, thanks to the generousity of her clientele.

  68. 68.

    Stefan

    This story puts them in a tight bind. I wouldn’t put it past them to seek a gag order on this…..

  70. 70.

    Calouste

    @some other guy:

    Just returning the money?

    In any decently run company both Brown and however signed off his expense form would be given a cardboard box and 10 minutes to pack their personal belongings. Not to mention that Brown might be reported to the police for fraud. But hey, it’s the party of fiscal responsibility, so everything’s ok, and if you get caught, you just give the money back without penalties.

  71. 71.

    AhabTRuler

    @Crusty Dem: A lockbox is a PO Box that receives checks and payment information. The money is then processed directly into the bank account, without the org actually seeing the monetary instrument.

  72. 72.

    David in NY

    @Steeplejack: @geg6:

    Picture of O and Michelle reminds me that what sold my wife (a Hillary fan from the beginning) on him was that video they ran at the convention with some old pictures of them together and (as I recall) Michelle saying that on one of their first dates he took her to some meeting at an old folks’ home. My wife really liked the combination of the apparent sizzle between them and Michelle’s evident attraction to his geeky side.

  74. 74.

    r€nato

    @Mark S.:

    Gotta love that ‘pro-life*’ movement.

    *This offer applies only to the pre-born. Everyone else, you’re on your own fuckers. Oh and by the way… all those raped kids? They totally wanted it. You should have seen how they were dressed.

  76. 76.

    r€nato

    @Crusty Dem: I miss Orange County the place. The people of OC, on the other hand, I don’t miss them at all. It’s like the entire county is one big teabagger reservation.

  78. 78.

    mr. whipple

    If she comes over and you find her agreeable, you can then buy a set number of dances or time in the VIP room. Once your dances and/or VIP room time is done, you pay her for the time. If she does a very good job of dancing and/or provides “extra” attention to you, it’s customary to give her a tip for the attention.

    Jeebus. And this is all cash.

    Anyone wanna see me nekkid, shaking my 49 yo booty?

    LOL.

  79. 79.

    Legalize

    @Stefan:
    Yes. I foresee the RNC being put into tight constraints on this one. They may struggle to get away from the story, and to stop the beatings they get in the media, but the more they struggle, the tighter pressure may become. See also, something something forced down their throats, and being forced to bend over and take yadda yadda, etc.

  80. 80.

    Martin

    @r€nato: Oh, now, it’s not that bad. In my neighborhood, there’s only two houses out of 100 that are clear teabaggers (Gadsden Flag, Obama = Hitler bumper stickers, the whole 9 yards). Maybe another 20 that are solid godbotherers, but not really in the teabag mold. There were whole stretches of OC that went for Obama, my neighborhood included. We skipped putting up an Obama sign because there were so many around, and instead pushed No on 8 signs instead.

  81. 81.

    DBrown

    @Steeplejack: Agree – nothing like pictures of repub-a-thugs and their future wife (their current wife is too ill to know, yet; talk about family values – no wonder bishops align with these creeps. Of course, the bishops are even lower, low life.)

  82. 82.

    licensed to kill time

    @geg6:

    Very nice pic. What I like about their relationship is that it seems so real, not the usual canned political marriage baloney. They obviously enjoy each others company, and you can see it in their faces and in their body language when they are together.

  83. 83.

    mr. whipple

    Apparently, the guilty party in all this is Erik Brown, proprietor of “Dynamic Marketing, Inc”, run out of this lovely storefront in scenic Orange, CA.

    Wow. That’s just screams ‘quality’.

  84. 84.

    some other guy

    More stripping news:

    http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/032910dnmetbaduvidbadu.1f6c89461.html

    “She also said that adults nearby were yelling at her, ‘THIS IS A PUBLIC PLACE : YOU OUGHTA BE ASHAMED : PUT YOUR CLOTHES ON : DAMN GIRL! etc.'”

    What’s wrong with you, Texas?!?

    Erykah, you can come get naked in my city whenever you want. Granted, it’s below freezing about half the year and infested with various biting insects the other half, but at least you won’t be surrounded by Texans.

  85. 85.

    asiangrrlMN

    @geg6: No kidding! Man. They need to get a room already! Love that pic.

    @Mark S.: You fucking think, Stupak? Give me a goddamn fucking break. What a fucking idiot Stupak is. Seriously. How could he not know this ahead of time? And, oh, maybe you should fucking listen to the nuns next time!

  88. 88.

    trollhattan

    Heh, indoozle:

    “If limos, chartered aircraft and sex clubs are where they think their donor’s money should be spent – who are we to judge?” asked Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee. “But, this controversy shouldn’t give voters much confidence in Republicans when they say they want to be put back in charge of federal spending – not that their performance the last time they were in charge would have engendered any confidence in the first place.”

    But, but, teabaggers are loyal Patriots, sir, who have bad things to say about both parties.

  89. 89.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @some other guy:

    Granted, it’s below freezing about half the year and infested with various biting insects the other half, but at least you won’t be surrounded by Texans.

    Wisconsin or Minnesota?

  90. 90.

    geg6

    @asiangrrlMN:

    I also love the quote under it:

    “Man, she is hot! So I’m gonna have to work my magic on her.”–Barack Obama to a friend, after meeting Michelle Robinson (from David Remnick’s The Bridge).

    Heh. Our preznit is a playah!

  92. 92.

    Mark S.

    As for the less interesting part of this story, at what point does it make sense to buy or lease a private plane? I would think if you were flying a couple times a week (and I suspect Mr. Steele flies first class) that would add up pretty damn quickly. Anybody know?

  93. 93.

    asiangrrlMN

    @geg6: Yeah. I remember her saying that she turned him down the first time he asked her out. That tickles my funny bone.

    @Mark S.: I bet less people are familiar with flying in a private plane than they are with how strip clubs work.

  95. 95.

    geg6

    OT:

    Ruh roh! Stupid GOPers being stupid:

    In October, President Obama signed The Matthew Shepard Act, expanding the reach of the 1969 hate crimes law … State lawmakers in Oklahoma argued that the Shepard Act would trample on the free speech rights of religious leaders “who preached out against the lifestyle of the victim who was attacked.” On March 10, the Oklahoma state Senate thought it was passing a bill prohibiting “local and state law enforcement agencies from sharing information about hate crimes with federal authorities if the state of Oklahoma did not recognize the crime as a hate crime by its own statutes …” But in trying to strip gays and lesbians of protection, the Oklahoma State Senate inadvertently cited the wrong section of the U.S. code. The bill stripped rights under Title 18 U.S. Code Section 245, but protections for sexual orientation and gender identity is actually under Section 249 …Therefore, Oklahoma actually passed a statute allowing state law enforcement officials to keep information about crimes motivated by race or religion out of the hands of federal authorities.

    http://thinkprogress.org/2010/03/29/oklahoma-hate-crimes-screwup/

    They really should just be locked up as dangers to themselves and others.

  96. 96.

    LD50

    @geg6: What’s more, I can’t imagine a pic like that from any other first couple for a LONG time (for various reasons).

  99. 99.

    r€nato

    @Martin: well Martin, I gotta tell you, I spent nearly a year in OC and I was just stunned how rabid and widespread the Republicans are there. I felt very uncomfortable and (believe it or not) I’m not someone who obsesses about others’ politics in my personal life.

  100. 100.

    asiangrrlMN

    @geg6: Holy crap. A whole new level of stupidity! The mind, it hurts.

    @Omnes Omnibus: Bug spray repellent combined with suntanning lotion and aloe vera. Works wonders. Plus, it’s sixty degrees today (harumph) and supposed to be in the seventies by the end of the week. So the cold (alas) is on its way out.

  101. 101.

    Mark S.

    @asiangrrlMN:

    Undoubtedly. Personally, I haven’t been in a strip club in a long time, and I was one of the schlubs with about $14 on me. Most of my knowledge on the subject comes from playing GTA.

  102. 102.

    leinie

    @geg6:

    You sure that isn’t a feature and not a bug there?

    They don’t want to have to give up the good Christians who are attacking the poor Mooslims, dontchaknow, or Billy Bob spouting off about that guy in the White House.

  103. 103.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @some other guy: Gee, what a helpful answer.

    @IndyLib:

    See this? Wisconsin Dems Receive Threats

    Lovely. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Posse Comitatus folks from around Tigerton were involved.

  104. 104.

    geg6

    @LD50:

    I know! Really, has any presidential couple ever convinced you that they not only like/love each other, but that they probably have a smokin’ hot private life, too? Michelle and Barack seem to not only have the agape, but they have the eros and the phileo going on, too.

  105. 105.

    Artful Dodger

    I am retired and live in Florida. Could someone tell me if the Voyeur West Hollywood has an early bird special?

  108. 108.

    Crusty Dem

    @AhabTRuler:

    Ok, a million dollars to process donations? And is that bill monthly, quarterly, or annually? The RNC only took in $24 million in all 2009, and I suspect a good chunk of that was from big money donors who aren’t exactly mailing weekly checks to a PO box.

    I’m just saying, I applaud their allocation of financial resources and hope they continue demonstrating the efficacy of using the free market to process donations, handle donor lists, print documents, etc…

  109. 109.

    jrosen

    @Randy P: really you have no idea? You buy greatly over-priced liquor, sit near the runway and stuff hundred-dollar bills into all the G-strings within reach, and hope that you can get some action “on the side”. It’s the oldest game in town, any town.

  110. 110.

    asiangrrlMN

    @Omnes Omnibus: Well, considering MN is where Favre (sigh) currently purportedly plays, Wisconsin it is!

    @Litlebritdifrnt: “Remember how you said you’d never go out with me when I first asked you?”

    P.S. The few times I’ve been to a strip club, I didn’t have to pay a thing.

  111. 111.

    Bruce Webb

    @Legalize: “How don’t you spend $1,600 at a strip club?!”

    Sit at a back table and sip your beer. I still have my Membership cards to a couple of San Diego strip clubs from when I was in the Navy thirty years ago and $1600 would have mean two months pay.

    Stuffing a $20 bill in a bikini bottom is not quite the thrill it is made out to be, even if the girl proceeds to take it off.

    On the other hand I spent a memorable night in a strip club just off the circle at the end of Magsaysay Street in Olongapo PI back when we had a big Navy base in Subic (i.e. 1978) . What some of those girls could do with and for a peso literally had to be seen to be believed and even at that you would be called a liar. And it didn’t cost $1600 either.

  112. 112.

    David in NY

    @geg6:

    I know! Really, has any presidential couple ever convinced you that they not only like/love each other, but that they probably have a smokin’ hot private life, too?

    Hey, you are completely forgetting Al Gore kissing Tipper ….

  114. 114.

    geg6

    @David in NY:

    Yeah, but put me down as one not all that convinced. I mean, smokin’ hot? Al Gore and Tipper? Friendly, a good marriage, and all that stuff, but not smokin’ hot.

  115. 115.

    Linda Featheringill

    You guys are in good form today. Very entertaining.

    Thanks for the link to the not-merely-a-strip-club. As one of the reviewers said, “Really understated elegance here.” Cool.

    What is this about Dallas and stripping? Dallas USED TO have strip clubs. Did something change?

    And to greg6: LOVELY picture. Sweet. True love is beautiful, even to cynics such as myself.

  119. 119.

    Martin

    @r€nato: Depends a LOT on where in OC you are. Here’s the Prop 8 vote map.

    The Sanchez sisters districts were strongly Yes on Prop 8, but they’re strongly Democratic but highly religious areas. Lots of Catholics around those parts. Irvine still leans Republican, but went No (yet went for Obama – conservative, but not so wingnutty). Laguna went massively No on prop 8, but isn’t nearly that Democratic. It’s an interesting place, to say the least.

  122. 122.

    David in NY

    @geg6:

    Sorry, I forgot the “/snark”. Actually, to play Maureen Dowd for a second, I was just remembering Al giving Tipper an enormous and entirely unconvincing kiss on the stage of the convention or in some such public place …. Didn’t work at all, and was certainly not in a league with the Obamas’ picture.

    [Not to question the Gores’ private relationship — the word on Al was always that he was more human in private than in public.]

  123. 123.

    someguy

    Cover Charge: $20

    Bottle of Beer: $14

    Bathroom Vending Machine Condom: $4

    Bottle of Champagne for private back room dance: $1750

    Blowing your party’s election chances on an S&M stripper, and STILL not getting any sex in the champagne room: Priceless.

  127. 127.

    LD50

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    [shudders violently]

    ACTUALLY, tho, Gerald & Betty Ford might have had that kind of relationship. From what I remember hearing at the time, they were seriously into each other.

  128. 128.

    Toni

    @licensed to kill time: I agree totally. The Obamas have been together for 20+ years and still have that sizzle while many political couples give off a “You want to put what, where?” vibe.

  129. 129.

    MikeJ

    @Tom65: What’s amazing is that they couldn’t come up with some way to get reimbursed for the expense without putting the name of the club in FEC paperwork.

    I would be shocked if the club used that name on credit card bills. It’s pretty common for places to have some nice generic “Smith Enterprises” type name. Using a name like that on FEC filings would make it far, far harder to track down stuff like this.

  130. 130.

    David in NY

    @LD50:

    Gerry Ford was President?

    Anyway, if you’ve ever seen a picture of him as a young guy, when he was doing male modeling on the side, you wouldn’t be surprised. And Betty was cute too, as I recall.

  132. 132.

    LD50

    @David in NY: That’s what I meant — as I recall, someone once asked Betty Ford back in the 70s how often she slept with her husband, and her answer was ‘as often as I can’.

  133. 133.

    Pasquinade

    Report: RNC event at “bondage-themed club” was after-party for young donors

    According to sources who were in attendance that night, the “official” part of the evening started with 50+ person dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel, then carried on throughout the evening, eventually ending up at Voyeur. While RNC employees, who were in town to recruit members to its “RNC Young Eagles” program, did participate throughout the entire evening and did find their way to the bondage-themed club, Michael Steele himself was “not in attendance” for any portion of the evening. Brown, by the way, is reportedly a “Young Eagle” himself, a fundraising sub-group of the RNC which targets larger donors based on age group.

  134. 134.

    Pasquinade

    @FrankConniff: RNC staffers oppose earmarks, but apparently not teeth, rope or whip marks #GOPsexclub

  137. 137.

    Steeplejack

    @Bruce Webb:

    Sit at a back table and sip your beer. I still have my membership cards to a couple of San Diego strip clubs from when I was in the Navy thirty years ago and $1600 would have mean two months pay.
    __
    Stuffing a $20 bill in a bikini bottom is not quite the thrill it is made out to be, even if the girl proceeds to take it off.

    Dude, your information is clearly 30 years out of date. Factor in some inflation, and they don’t actually strip in the clubs these days–they’re already naked except for a G-string to facilitate the money-separation process.

    Agree with you about Subic, however. I think my Navy brother got the service ribbon “Subic Without STDs.” That was a hard one to get.

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