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Quoted Without Comment

Jill

Jezebel:

“Just as Senator Dan Gelber, a Democrat, was saying, “I’m against this bill, because it disrespects too many women in the state of Florida,” Sunshine State News service’s cameras caught [anti-choice] Sen. Bennett looking at a photo of topless girls, and then watching a video of a dog shaking itself dry.”

15 thoughts on Quoted Without Comment

  2. According to The Stranger, Bennet actually voted against the bill, saying that abortion was a “tough choice” and the Republicans were trying to make women feel more miserable about it.

  3. This is one of those times I wish I could see what was actually going on in his head (minus the porn).

  5. Without a doubt- I think this is HILARIOUS! That being said, I’m not so sure it means anything.

    I’ve accidentally found my way to porn in a public place (usually I’m clicking on some non-descript link that turns out to be spam) and I had about the same reaction time (although it’s hard to tell with the video cut where it is.) I then typically click over to something- ANYTHING completely different to indicate to anyone who might have caught a glimpse of my screen that it was sooo not intentional. As Rebecca pointed out, his vote on the issue was good, so it’s possible he was online, frittering away the minutes while people debated an issue that he had already made up his mind on.

    Had he not voted the way he did, I might not be saying this, and I’m sure he’s not exactly enlightened when it comes to feminism; but I’m going to give him the grudging benefit of the doubt on this.

    Slightly OT, I may be prejudiced because I’ve recently cleaned out and organized my inbox. There’s the reason I do not open email from certain male relatives of mine when in public, because sometimes there’s no telling what fucked up misogynistic, racist, nonsense they’re going to send me. (And yes, I do tell them not to send me that shit, and yes I get CCed anyway.) I try to choose my friends carefully, but family is foisted upon us in so many ways. I’d actually like to see a thread on the topic, since there’s no way I’m alone in this.

  6. Sorry, Senator, you don’t get to have a private life when you’re in a public space on the public’s business. The reporter deserves a medal and the Senator deserves to be the subject of public ridicule for even thinking of threatening them.

  7. See, I’m not sure I’d be less annoyed if I caught one of my employees looking at a cute dog video.

  9. The hypocrisy charge reminds me of the Bill Bennett gambling flap. Bit of a stretch. In fact, this is even more of a stretch, since the Senator in question voted agaisnt a bill “requiring abortion seekers to pay for an ultrasound,” according to Jezebel.

    So, the fact that he views porn would make his actions perfectly consistent I guess…since the pro-choice postion aligns with the pro-porn one, or something.

    anyhoo, that looks like porn from the 50s, so maybe he is a reactionary….unless there’s more to that dog shaking thing…

    I need a drink.

  10. anyhoo, that looks like porn from the 50s, so maybe he is a reactionary….unless there’s more to that dog shaking thing…

    I’d assumed that it was an unconscious admission of his premature ejaculation as a rules of said porn.

  11. What pisses me off is that he was watching anything at all during a legislative session. He’s a state senator. He is there to represent his constituents. He is paid from tax dollars. I’m glad I don’t live in Florida. Because if it was my taxes that were paying for his porn/dog video time, I’d be pretty upset.

  12. i think the progressive consensus is: your sex life is your own biz unless you make other peoples sex lives your biz…in which case your sex life then is our biz. hypocrisy excepetion.

    john edwards is however another exception because he’s an asshat of stupendous proportions. nonetheless, the msm is prohibited from breaking the story (out of respect for the first rule) so if the asshat can dodge the national enquirer, he’s home free. since he could’ve blown the election its kind of like what fire in a move theatre is to free speech…clear and present danger means behaviour is unprotected. extreme asshat exception.

    however, your sex life is not your own if its done at work, as it then falls under the interstate commerce clasue. legit governmental interest. uinless you’re bill clinton, in which case riule number one still holds because ken starr actually triggers the extreme asshat loophole above.

  13. I don’t particularly care that he was viewing porn. I don’t care WHAT he was viewing, or what way he voted on the bill, because seriously? He’s at work. Which means he’s supposed to BE WORKING, not goofing off, whether goofing off entails watching porn or watching Scooby Doo.

    Okay, I guess it’s an exaggeration to say I “don’t care” that he was viewing porn. I know there’s a special level of ookiness when you’re viewing material that may potentially be degrading to women while voting on a bill that affects many women’s lives, regardless of which way you end up voting on the bill. But for me, there’s another issue here outside of just the porn, and that is: When you are at work, you work, not screw around on the Internet.

  14. “When you are at work, you work, not screw around on the Internet.”

    …and then the entire blogesphere comes to a screetching halt.

  15. “I’d assumed that it was an unconscious admission of his premature ejaculation as a rules of said porn.”

    He was reading Orientalism?

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