CNN Breaking: Jack Ryan Withdraws from Senate Race

[VolcanoJen]

Will update with link when it emerges.

AP Link:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040625/ap...

[Renew Deal]

1. Emerges?

Will it emerge like Ryan did at the S&M clubs?

[VolcanoJen]

3. You're a regular DU Funster these days!

[Burma Jones]

2. WP Link

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5025-200...

[VolcanoJen]

5. Things are just looking better and better for Barack!

[RichV]

95. Ah, whatever

Obama was gonna kick his sorry ass anyway.

[amber dog democrat]

4. Is there time for the GOP to field a substitute?

Even so, what are the odds?
Seems that some froms of moral turpitude are OK and some are not.

[joeybee12]

6. Shit! I wanted him to stick around--he was dead in the water!

Now the Repukes might get someone who might have a shot!

[aquart]

21. I'm worried about that, too.

I'm even more worried they'll do it with Bush.

God, I hope the Dems are keeping clean. Rowland, Ryan......the GOP is desperate for a Democratic scandal.

[Donkeyboy75]

48. There was talk on WGN radio this morning

of Fitzgerald running for reelection. That is the ONLY person that could give Obama trouble here.

[GinaMaria]

79. No way

Fitzpuppet didn't run for re-election because he knew he'd lose. He's walking proof that a senate seat can be bought at least for one term. I doubt the people of this good state elect him again. He's a partisan Hack who spouts party propaganda.

[Donkeyboy75]

87. Say what you like, but at least Fitz is somewhat respectable.

I hate most of his policies, but he isn't exactly known for toeing the party line. He ruffled a lot of GOP feathers here in Illinois (and lots of Democratic ones too).

I really don't see how one could call him a puppet.

[GinaMaria]

94. Every time Ive gotten a letter back

from him or his office (and that's about weekly, I wrote often)I cannot even stomach the letter. It's a lot of Clinton bashing and blaming. His responses to my concerns as an Illinois resident are nothing but gop propaganda. He votes consistently with the gop party line. I don't think that's respectable.

[playahata1]

7. doo-doo-doo...doo...doo.

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

AND ANOTHER ONE'S GONE! AND ANOTHER ONE'S GONE!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!

[Zero Gravitas]

8. Ha!

Another GOPer hoist on their own ("family values") petard.

I love it.

[ewagner]

9. On the upside...

his wife and kid won't have to suffer through the snickers in the campaign anymore.......

[bhairava]

13. Wife and kid?

I thought they were already divorced since Jeri is now with her ex-producer Brannon Braga who she cheated on Ryan with. I think he's single now.

[VolcanoJen]

15. OK, so ex-wife. What happened to the kid?

Just wondering...

[greatauntoftriplets]

18. The kid is with the mother.

Jeri Ryan had the affair only after her marriage had irretrievably broken down.

[VolcanoJen]

19. Exactly, and of course Jeri Ryan is not a Candidate for the US Senate.

Some folks would rather make this argument about Jeri and the kid. Sometimes it's fun to let them.

[VolcanoJen]

20. Dupe Post

Damned buggy software!

[Judi Lynn]

23. Jack Ryan is undeniably tacky, and no "family values" candidate.

He's not valuable politically, at this stage of his career, regardless of what Jeri Ryan did.

If he had a few more years on him, like Henry Hyde, he could chalk his perversity up to "youthful indescretion."

[WI_DEM]

10. too bad

better to have had a flawed candidate.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

39. I agree

I'd rather have seen Ryan's ass kicked in the election.

[Tight_rope]

11. This is great news!........Bye..Good riddens jackass!

I love it...another one bites the dust!

[DoveTurnedHawk]

12. Damn

I was hoping he'd stick it out to the bitter end!

DTH

[VolcanoJen]

14. Well, the whole Republican Senate Campaign is flawed now.

Ryan was their guy, and they're going to have to scramble, and quickly, to find a suitable replacement.

They won't even really have enough time to properly vet their next candidate, so who knows what surprises will... uh, emerge?

[DoveTurnedHawk]

16. Maybe So

But I still would've loved the "Exhibitionists for Ryan" signs at all of his campaign appearances!

DTH

[Norquist Nemesis]

88. That's what I'm worried about

They're talking about putting in their beloveds like Edgar and Barr-Topinka. I don't think Edgard will be willing for many reasons, one being they might look into his dealings while he was Secy of State (which is where Ryan's downfall was). Even Big Jim's name is being floated and he has the 9/11 commissioner tag with him now...plays even more to the die-hard pubs in this state.

I can see Barr-Topinka carrying it off as a hard challenger to Obama, and that worries me.

Personally, I think they should just take the #2 candidate off the primary and live with that. The rest of the party would be more likely to get behind a decision like that, IMO. It's riskier putting in a hand-picked candidate that the voters did not select in the primary, even if that person has a track record of political experience.

[Judi Lynn]

17. Bah bah, Ryan!

Ryan will never get to meet Trent Lott, or that nice Mr. Santorum... sniff, sniff.....

[NWHarkness]

22. Replacing candidates is cheating!

Isn't that what the GOP said about Torricelli?

Of course, they feel differently now.

[VolcanoJen]

25. Torricelli... good point!!!

[StopThief]

27. To be fair. . . .

the issue with replacing Torricelli was that NJ law said you could not within 90 days of the election. In this case, Illinois law says that if the candidate steps down before August 27, he can be replaced by the party.

Apples and Oranges.

[Frodo]

30. That's true... BUT

it's all about perception. They picked a guy that they are now unhappy with and want to replace him. Obama has tailored his campaign for a particular opponent - now they can swap him for someone who doesn't fit that model.

It's the same concept.


I frankly didn't think it was right to be able to replace Toricelli... I'm sure not going to give the other guys a pass.

That's why I asked when the filing deadline is (or what other laws might be in place).


You ARE technically correct... but it's still an argument that leans our way.

[dArKeR]

24. Is this what Democracy is? Is this what Moral Christian Republicanism is?

Is this America?

'his only options were to withdraw or to redouble his campaign efforts with a massive infusion of money from his personal wealth.'

[Judi Lynn]

26. "His personal wealth," or a shadow Republican sponsor?

If they could determine anyway whatsoever to spin this, as in, "BUT Jeri committed adultery with a Star Trek executive" and thought anyone would respect that stupid trick, they'd put him right back in the game (...speaking of "situational ethics....").

Maybe it's not too late for him to "take Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior!" That'll close the books on this ration of bad publicity, just as it shut everyone up on _Bush's cocaine habit. (That was before _Bush was a Christian! As _Bush said, "Hey, Jesus forgave me!)

[Raskolnik]

28. This is NOT great news for Obama.

The campaign had prepared and strategized to run a contest against Jack Ryan. Now all those plans are out the window and have been replaced with an unknown.

I think that Obama will win no matter who the Republicans throw out there, but I for one would have been much more comfortable with the race as it was.

[goodhue]

65. exactly n/t

[WyLoochka]

86. Obama is going to win in a

landslide - no matter who they throw at him

he will adjust easily

the tide has turned - mark my words...

[PurityOfEssence]

29. Did he ask to have that other couple watch as he pulled out?

n/t

[Debi]

32. Now THAT's funny!!!

[VolcanoJen]

45. LMFAO! You are SO naughty!!!

Thanks for that, Purity!!!

[Debi]

31. I just hope we're not opening up a can of worms...

I mean...geez...the guy tried to have sex WITH HIS WIFE!! Seems it will be hard to run for office as a 'family man' w/out admitting having sex with your spouse.

Should have kept him in an let Obama beat him on their merits as candidates...kept it CLEAN.

I don't believe this bodes well for any of the political parties.

[Judi Lynn]

35. She becomes objectified when you use her to make a public display

of yourself.

That's depersonalizing, no matter HOW many consenting people are in the area.

[Debi]

40. Her word vs. his

in a custody battle....did she have anyone to corroborate her story?

[Frodo]

43. Him.

I just read him admitting he "took her places she didn't want to go" specifically in response to a question about the sex clubs.

[Debi]

46. So if it's leaked that our next candidate tried to have sex with his wife

in any position other than Missionary....should he be thrown off the ballot? (or asked and she said 'no' and then he said 'please?' and she said "No and if you ask again I'm going to go public!"

[TheWraith]

49. Kids, PLEASE!

He took his wife to sex clubs AGAINST HER WILL and attempted to COERCE her into having sex with him in front of strangers, again AGAINST HER WILL. And it was not once, but MULTIPLE TIMES, even after she made it clear that she didn't want to. Those are the salient points. The sex is irrelevant. It's the evil that matters.

[Debi]

51. The man I am married to asks me to do the laundry....against my will

and when I say no he asks me to again AGAINST MY WILL every week he hands me dirty clothing and requests that I make it clean even though I've clearly expressed that I do not want to do laundry....he is evil ... okay maybe that's a little over the top

nobody knows what discussions were had....only what was put into a court document during a custody battle...

the point I'm trying to make is that we may be reaching too far in determining the appropriateness of candidates...where does it stop?

Any before we all join hands in defense of poor ex-Mrs. Ryan...she didn't have any problem having sex with another man WHILE STILL MARRIED TO MR. RYAN...but that's not evil, I guess

[sybylla]

55. Do you know of Dems pointing moral fingers at everyone's bedroom?

(besides you, I guess) That's because to Dems, sex doesn't matter. This isn't about the sex, it's about the hypocrisy. Republicans get elected by pointing their moral fingers at sodomy, adultery, premarital sex and blow jobs in the oval office while they engage in their own sex games behind supposedly closed doors. He's dropping out because he's been caught and his "family values" constituency won't vote for him, not because the Dems teased him and made him feel bad.

Reveling in the stupidity of the opposition isn't lowering the bar any more than it already has been. Dems who have sex, in whatever legal, consenting shape or form will still get elected by Dems. We don't care what they do in private. The pukes tried to make hay out of an extra-marital blow job in the oval office and got nowhere. It only matters to people who vote based on some perverted sense of family values. Ryan got hung, as another poster pointed out, by his own family values petard.

on edit: AND my husband doesn't ask me to do anything against my will let alone try to force me. Last I knew, that was called slavery, not marriage.

[Debi]

58. You know what...

Fine...I obviously should not have stated an opinion..or concern...maybe I should just join in the mindless revelry. Maybe I'll be more welcome over at the free republic...

[arlib]

60. Please go....

...your leaps in logic are making me dizzy......

[Debi]

63. You're correct

Easier to go along with the crowd than have an opinion of your own.

Was Ryan right to ask his wife to do something that she didn't want to do? NO

Was it right for his ex-wife to use (or maybe embelish) that information in a custody battle? NO

Was it right for the press to insist those sealed documents be released to the public? NO

And most importatly...where are we headed with this kind of witch hunt and when will it stop?

[arlib]

67. Um, ok....

....snip....<<<Was it right for his ex-wife to use (or maybe embelish) that information in a custody battle? NO

Why do you feel it may be embellished? Just your opinion?

This is hardly a witch hunt.

Get a grip.

[Debi]

75. Because she didn't want the records unsealed either and

she then went on to state that he was a good and loving father.

If not a witch hunt then what? If we start acting like those we loath all we do is become them...

[sybylla]

62. Yep, you stated an opinion, and I stated mine

If you have a problem with that, perhaps you are correct.

[Debi]

64. You didn't just state your opinion...

You tried to let me know how mine was wrong (solely because it was different than yours)

Gee how we're becoming more like the GOP every day...

[sybylla]

83. You're accusing me of being like the GOP

merely because I disagree? If I don't march in line with you I must be marching in line with everyone else? (you said that to someone else in this thread so to be fair I admit I'm extrapolating)

Do you really think I'm not capable of independent thought? That I march in line like the GOPpies?

Really, I understand that this is a subject you are very passionate about and judging by your reactions to everyone else, I can imagine it is for a very good reason. And you've bumped into several people at DU who are also apparently very passionate about it as well. We just don't agree with you. Last I knew, this was a discussion forum, not a pontification forum. If you expect absolute agreement on everything, you certainly are in the wrong place. I've been here since the beginning and have yet to see absolute agreement on anything. Which is not really like GOPpies at all.

Just as I don't believe the abortion issue is about abortion but rather about choice. The issue here is not about sex, it is about hypocrisy. I really could care less about what Mr. Ryan wanted to do, did, or will do with his sexual partners, except for the fact that he seems to care very much what I wanted to do, did, and will do with my sexual partner. That puts a target on his back.

You are right that this shouldn't have been made public, that the court documents should have remaind sealed. But as another DUer pointed out, Pandora's box was opened by the Republicans in 1996. I wasn't clamboring for the information. But now that it's here, I'm certainly going to revel in the fact that it brought down a hypocrite, that the Republican's so-called family values have come back to bite one of their own in the ass.

And as for it hurting us, I was trying to point out in my original post that it can't, because Dems don't vote on whether or not someone has consentual sex. We vote on whether or not the candidate is a hypocrite.

Naysay away. Call me a GOPpie. You can't destroy my mirth.

[Debi]

66. nice edits..

and moral superiority

[arlib]

70. Better to edit....

...than to appear illiterate.

e.g. embelish, importatly.

[Debi]

72. Do you really think it's necessary to make this personal

since we don't even know each other?

What ever problems you have I'm certain I did not cause them...you should try and find some inner peace.

[arlib]

73. Classic....

....dish it out but can't take it.

[Debi]

76. I wasn't trying to dish out anything.

I just think your personal attacks on me are unwarranted...and you may have other issues you're dealing with...why I became your target of the day I don't know...but I'd really like you to stop..

[arlib]

78. Sorry if I offended or upset you...

...truce?

You're not my "target of the day"....

I'm waiting, Susang....

[arlib]

61. That's quite a stretch....

....no pun intended.

[Susang]

69. Hey, I thought I was the only one doing bad puns!

I just can't seem to stop myself. Though I must admit, the "You can't close Pandora's Box" one was pretty damn good, if I do say so myself!

on edit: I just thought I'd bring to your attention the number of this post.

[arlib]

71. ...nice one

...I'd comment further but the cat's got my tongue!

[Susang]

74. And the hits just keep on coming!

See, I really can't stop this.

Damn you Jack Ryan, damn you!!!!!!!

[benburch]

47. Unless...

SHE wants to have sex in public too, at which point nobody is dehumanized.

[Debi]

50. ZZZZZZing!!!

[Frodo]

36. I think we can be fairly sure that "family men"

DON'T "try to have sex with their wife" in front of an audience at a sex club.


The only argument I can see is that in a nasty divorce it isn't unusual for someone to make wild accusations (a frequent one is child abuse so that you can get custody of the kids) that may not be true. We obviously don't know one way or the other. Most of what I've heard of this guy (inner city school teacher etc) sounds pretty good (other than his politics), so I have to wonder.

But we don't have him to kick around anymore.... who's next?

[Debi]

42. Agreed....

I think more people on all political parties will be hurt with this...now is it open season on anyone who has been divorced? In a custody battle? not monogamous during the marriage?....John Kerry??????????????

[BiggJawn]

38. Uh, yeah, but most of us don't boink our ESSO's

IN FRONT OF and WITH other couples....

Or am I just a naive mid-western farm boy who's been missing out all his life?

Please, tell me I haven't been missing out by not bringing other couplkes home for "fun" all these year......

[Debi]

41. Not on the list of my favorite pasttimes either

But 'two consenting adults who are married to eachother' kind of gets rid of whether or not the act is 'wrong'....

[BiggJawn]

80. "Right" or "Wrong" isn't the question, though...

It invloves SEX (gasp!) and the "Family Values Party" has been positoning themselves as the party of "Under the covers, lights OFF, and ONLY to create GAWD'S Greatest Blessing..." ever since the Starr Chamber, so I think what goes around needs to come around.

The Church has been telling us for centuries that Sex is Dirty, and now that the GOP has taken up that message (among other teachings of the Church) they need to have it flung and flung HARD back in their faces...

[Susang]

53. I don't recall the Democrats saying anything about this at all

It was the Republicans that went batshit over it. I've been monitering the news, looking for some sort of reaction from Democratic leaders, etc., and all I've heard so far is basically: "I don't want to comment on that".

The can of worms was already opened when they went after Clinton so violently. You can't close Pandora's box (really, no pun intended)once it has been opened. Like it or not, there is no going back. News media will now look into every aspect of a candidates life and he or she better damn well be ready for it. Ryan wasn't. Being the person that he is, he thought that he would coast through on his good looks, money and charm and once again get what he wanted. The fact that he didn't even have a contigency plan regarding this possibility just speaks to the sheer amount of hubris this man possesses.

As far as the guy wanting to have sex with his wife, that's just fine and dandy, but when it involves public displays that she runs crying from, I hardly think that fits into the definition of marriage that the GOP keeps trying to ram down all of our throats. After all, according to them, only homosexuals engage in this type of deviant behavior. Married or not, the hypocrisy is simply mind boggling.

[Debi]

54. I agree with you...Obama has been a Class Act

Leaving the subject in the dust.

The only place I may differ is that Ryan may not have thought sealed court documents would be used in the race (even his ex fought to have them remain sealed).

[Susang]

56. That would be naive of him to think

Particularly for a politician in the post-Clinton era. I really think he should have known that the possibility existed that the records would be made public. The Chicago Tribune has a lot of money behind it and they were the driving force behind the freedom of information act that made them public, as I understand it. You would think that a Republican would realize that corporate wealth trumps individual wealth almost every time.

I know I probably sound harsh, and I actually disagree about making these records public, but considering the party he affiliates with and the way they've treated scandals involving members of the Democratic party, I think he's gotten off (I swear I didn't mean that pun either, they just keep unintentionally appearing) pretty easy when it comes to criticism from the opposition. Can you imagine the scenario had the tables been turned and he was a Democrat?

[Debi]

59. right now I'm just thinking that I will never be able to run for office

b/c I have had a custody battle and so I better just sit on the sidelines and not get involved.

and the next time the lawyer I work with (who happens to be my husband) requests of the court that records be sealed I will just respond "why bother" I mean it really is "the people's" business isn't it?

[Susang]

68. Soon, nobody will be able to run for office

After all, you have to have great person wealth, lead a perfectly spotless life, both present and past, and be willing to put up with an amazing amount of humiliation, indignity and invasion of privacy along the way. Or, as in our current president's case, you have to have a family so rich and powerful that your indiscretions just magically "disappear".

And we wonder why we end up with the evil bastards we get. I'm amazed that anyone of integrity even bothers anymore.

[Debi]

77. But don't you think there is a way for the pedulum to swing back

from where it is now?

By us being better than that?

Isn't that how great movements get started?

[Susang]

82. No, I don't

I wish there was, but the sexual history of politicians has always been investigated. They've just gotten much better at finding and publicizing the scandals.

It doesn't help when the politicians themselves feel it is their right to discuss and legislate citizen's individual sexual practices & rights (i.e. homosexual marriage, sodomy laws, discrimination, etc.). That sets up a perfect dramatic scenario for revealing the scandal. Which in turn, sells papers or gets ratings, etc....

There's also something called "Tall Poppy" syndrome. Its a term that is used to describe the satisfaction that many people feel when an important or "tall" person is cut down to size. Its very common and very human. So even if we do act "better than that", I don't see this kind of behavior going away any time soon.

[struggle4progress]

33. Gosh. That's too bad.

I was looking forward to the campaign.

[mainer]

34. Democrats didn't care about this nearly as much as the GOP!

Hey, as a fun-loving Dem, I wouldn't have been bothered by it as long as his politics were clean. But I guess if you live by the Bible, then you die by the Bible.

[masshole]

84. exactly, Mainer

Sums up my feelings about this as well.

[Insider]

37. everybody quits on thursday & friday

[Debi]

44. In the hopes

that the announcement will be buried in the sports scores and police reports.

[Swamp Rat]

52. Good! Though I wish he "hung" around at least until August.

The Pugs will stick in their replacement and tell all the lemmings he's a man of god or something... at which point we should say, "oh, you found another hypocritical sexual pervert?"

[jamesinca]

57. He should have stayed in for awhile longer

Blew his own personal fortune and still lost. Better yet, blew his own personal fortune, making him bankrupt a couple of different ways and drag the holier than thou Republican name into the mud destroying others chances of even being considered while burning the precious time that it takes to get a replacement onto the ballot.

Sorry about the run-on sentence above, I am just to excited to think grammatically.

[thebigidea]

81. Ha! I called this one pretty good...

... then again, it doesn't exactly take Cassandra to predict a sweaty GOP group sex enthusiast with a messy divorce would be asked to step aside by the RW Immorality Squad. No doubt there's some flat tax pedophile ready to take his place.

[chookie]

85. There go his dreams of being Ahnold's VP

Gee -- this guy was creepy....not a surpise something as seamy as this turned up.

I guess he thought that if Ahnold could become governor of CA after having been revealed to have participated in gangbangs and gropings, that he would be a shoo-in for being found out for merely going to sex clubs and pressuring his reluctant wife to blow him in public.

CBS News Tonight had a clip of "upstanding" Illinois GOP guys defending him -- the "blowing off steam harmless fratprank" defence we are soooooo familiar with at this point -- and showed Ryan trying to pitch it as "my crime is propositioning my wife."

Kinda funny to hear people whine about how their privacy has been violated when they get caught in public sex clubs -- particularly when these same people want to proscribe what gays do in their private bedrooms....

If you're a "swinger" who gets off on sex clubs -- best to be open about it, and not mew in public about your strong family values and moral clarity. It goes a lot worse for you when you are hypocritical about shit like this.

But these bastards just can't help themselves, can they? Pathetic.

[lil-petunia]

89. there were also

other secret allegations that were about to come out from his former traders at Sachs - apparently, that is how he learned of the clubs in the first place. Even behind green doors rumors of special trips to Thailand and Cambodia for some younger entertainment.

Watching the Keystone Kops from DuPage scramble trying to find someone to replace him is almost as much fun as watching the Pink Panther movies.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

90. Ryan Candidacy Vetting Process:

RNC rep: Mr. Ryan, before we throw our support behind you, is there anything in your record that could undermine your candidacy that we should know about?

Ryan: You mean THIS record? (spreads several Ben Franklins out on the table between them)

RNC rep: Mr. Ryan, thank you for your time. Good luck in the race!

[mndemocrat_29]

91. Reportedly

Both For Govs. Jim Edgar and Jim Thompson and Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka have turned down the run-though Peter Fitzgerald (who recent polls have losing to Obama 49-40 percent) hasn't point blank said he won't run.

[Kukesa]

92. So, what's NORMAL sex for a politician?

And why are we so obsessed with it? Interesting article in Salon.

Link here:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/06/26/jack_ryan/

[Chovexani]

93. I have no problem with what he did except the crying & hypocrisy of it

My motto is "safe, sane, and consensual". I'm kinky and proud of it and I had no problem with what he did until I read the bit where she started crying and he told her that crying wasn't a turn-on. What a PIG! If Mr. Chovexani told me that, he'd never be able to have sex again if you catch my drift.

I could care less about what two (or more ) consenting adults do with their naughty bits, but if one of these people is harping on about other people being sick and deviant...glass houses, I'm just sayin'.

--C