From the State That Gave Us the “Bill & Hill Show” . . .
. . . we now have this headline:
Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in Arkansas John Burkhalter said being a male stripper in Little Rock was one of the many “tough jobs” he had in his past.
Yeah, it was years ago. And yeah, it’s an honest living – albeit one that raises eyebrows and is considered somewhat disreputable by many.
Still, an ex-stripper as a state’s Lt Governor? Kinda seems . . . well, just a bit “off”.
I knew Hope was not a strategy. I just didn’t realize it was a seedy bar in Arkansas with a rather raucous ladies’ night. Then again: considering the antics of the last President from Arkansas, I can’t say I’m exactly surprised, either.
You really couldn’t make this sh!t up if you tried.
Well, at least he knows what it’s like to have to ‘work’ for that next dollar.
This was on a talk show yesterday that I was watching. They discussed the “double standard” of it as well between the genders.
If the LT Gov was a woman and had been a stripper, it would be front page news and she’d probably be forced to drop out of the race after admitting that.
I’ve known plenty of strippers in the past, this kind of goes right along the lines of the 2ID discussion we’re having here. It is a way to make a living. Many do it for a while, then leave and move on to other things. (Sure, there are those still doing it in their 40s, who shouldn’t be.)
Granted, Marisa Tomei as an “aging” stripper in The Wrestler worked fine for me. The men in that bar must’ve been GAY not to want a dance from her. I’d end up selling my truck to keep getting dances from her, sheesh.
I frankly don’t care either way, though I’m guessing if he were a Republican, the media would be making a HUGE deal about it and calling for him to resign/drop out of the race. Though I’m guessing in this case he’s going to use it as an “opportunity” to show he’s truly a man of the people who’s raised up from the depths, blah blah blah.
The politics of this all and the media are just so tiring and irritating to deal with.
Eh, Scott Brown did some nude modeling. It was “clean” but still nude. The only media person who really made an effort to use that to undermine him was that shitheel Keith Olbermann. He also accused Brown of supporting violence against women which was patently false and libelous in my opinion.
I do think this double standard business is real though. If a woman was running and had been a stripper she’d be run out of the race just about anywhere in the country. And that’s a damn shame. Stripping is legitimate work, it may not be prestigious, but it is legitimate. I’d rather have someone who has really work as an elected official than one who hasn’t. President Chippendale or President HustlerClub would be a marked improvement from President Community Organizer.
Guess I’ll have to vote for at least one Dumbocrat on our ballot. Actually, being a stripper is a step up from his current endeavors which include using his wealth to ruin the lives of a couple of former employees who blew a whistle on his business dealings. This guy is not good news for Arkansas. His opponent Tim Griffin is a Congressman, Reserve Army LTC JAG who has been to the sand box and is leaving Congress and certain reelection because he has two young children.
This kind of revelation is one at which I’ll blink a few times, mutter “ookaaay,” and then move on. I just don’t see it as something to hold against somebody, especially given my past dalliances with strippers of the female variety (my hypocrisy goes only so far). Everybody has worked at least one shit job of some kind in the past, and I think it’s fair to include exotic dancing in that category. They might make a lot more money than I did scrubbing public toilets, and (unlike me) certainly never got literally covered in somebody else’s shit due to a faulty valve on an RV, but being sexually objectified for a living really can’t be described as a fulfilling occupation.
Apparently the guy is a douche based on some dishonest business practices. No reason to hold a non-issue over his head, especially when there are some real skeletons in his closet.
If somebody with a similar work history was running for office here, I would vote on the issues, just like with any other candidate. The ex-stripper supports smaller government? Sounds good to me. The former Nevada-licensed prostitue is pro-gun with an A-rating from the NRA? Cool. The dude who’s been in 200 porn scenes is pro-life? Good to go. I wouldn’t vote for an ordained minister based on that alone (case in point, Al Sharpton), I would go by his stance on important issues. Same as with anybody else. I don’t do double standards.
I’ve emptied bedpans, washed corpses, cleaned bathrooms, sold used cars, and whatever else it took to keep food on the table – hell, half the women in Houston seem to have stripped at some point or another. Or seriously considered it. I’d me worried more about his serious crimes than peccadillos like this.
Well at least he understands that the phrase “shake that money maker” means something other than upend the taxpayer and shake him by his ankles until all his money is gone-which is more than I can say for most politicians.
Well, I hope he looked different years ago because right now I’m seeing a Chris Farley style stripper from the skit on SNL.
This would be the guy whose business closed a month after the IRS filed and $80k lien against the business. Then he said he had no hand in the lien, but it turns out he was the company President on record from 2010-2013, and the same guy who was accused by a business partner of allegedly pointing a gun at a pregnant woman….I suspect taking his clothes off should be the last thing voters worry about with this guy.
Perhaps the stripping is a legitimate legal choice, but it’s a questionable one for many people who understand that being naked for money might be legal but isn’t the domain of the average US worker.
If these allegations of liens and mishandling weapons are accurate it’s an indication that he has questionable judgment and decision making ability regarding a host of activities besides getting naked or near naked for money.
A great friend of mine was a male stripper while in college … late 80s. He’s now pretty influential and the head of a prestigious hospital here in the U.S. If he ran for a political position I’d vote for him, but then I personally know him to be a man of great integrity. He did what he had to do for a few extra bucks while in school. Big deal.
This might be news of some kind for the extreme right of the party, the rest of us could give a shit. I am a fiscal conservative, the so called religious right has hijacked the Republican party long enough. Reporting this kind of trivial nonsense is beneath most peoples interest today. Except of course the extreme right that never see themselves that way. Semper Fi.
Another thing that has perplexed me of the diehard right and left … abortion -v- death penalty.
It’s ok to kill a (use whatever term you prefer) child-in-development (regardless of stage of development) in the womb, but it is not ok to kill an adult convicted of murder. Or, it’s not ok to kill a child-in-development in the womb, but it is ok to kill an adult convicted of murder.
Both sides are kind of whacked in my opinion.
My opinion on abortion is that is poor social policy and economically inappropriate for birth control. I have no issue with it at any point to save the mother and to be honest I remain unconvinced that birthing a child no one wants benefits no one in our society. The answer that adoption would solve that is ludicrous and not born out by the sheer numbers behind abortions. 16 million black abortions alone, and millions more of white and hispanic babies over the last 40 years means there would be a need for tens of millions of adoptive families and the data does not indicate those families exist anywhere except in the imagination of some people against abortions.
However, I would say that the right has an easier time of this in my opinion.
Were I a religious right person against abortion I would answer your question thusly, “We believe in killing the guilty, not the innocent while our opponents would protect the criminals and kill the children.”
I think the religious right is on a more defensible position in their abhorrence of abortion and support of the death penalty and I can find no fault morally with their position as the bible indicates in many places including the new testament that killing murderers is not inappropriate.
I hear it from both sides. Most issues are not black or white they tend to be some shade of grey. This moral high ground the far right claims doesn’t really exist. I dont care if they were a stripper, I care if they can balance a check book. I care if they put their personal religious convictions out of site when they are representing all of us. Abortion is an intensely personal decision. Pro life people tend to claim that high ground until that stand reaches their check book. Fine, be pro life, I can respect that. Just follow through and pay for their prenatal care, delivery, and aftercare out of your own pocket. It is easy to take a stand when everyone has to pay the bill. Pro-Choice, well if a woman was aborting her own body that would be called suicide and not legal. Its not her body being aborted, where are the parental rights of fathers? If he is suggesting an abortion the courts rule he should have thought about that responsibility before hand. Well, so should have the woman. Its not a black or white issue, many shades of grey. This era of using government to push private agenda’s on everyone is coming to an end. It has been coming from both sides of the isle.
I don’t disagree Dave, I was replying moreso to Gravel’s question and offering my own invaluable $0.02….I see less incoherency surrounding those two issues from a right perspective than a left.
And trust me if you read my posts you know I’m not in any way, shape, or form a religious believing man.
I know, my comments are not pointed at anyone in particular. It has been the polarizing effect some issues have that is prostituted by both sides. I can agree to disagree with anyone, and still respect and support them on issues we do agree on. You know I am Atheist, but I would stand right next to anyone who’s right to worship as they choose what being trampled upon and defend them. I can respect anyone who used to be a stripper, claimed bankruptcy, or got out with a BCD; if they step up and admit it. Anyway, this fictional morality of the religious right has to stop.
I wonder of his campaign donors put their cash and checks in his waistband?