Do the sex lives of our politicians have to be strictly vanilla?
Politics is a cruel mistress. If Jack Ryan were a masochist instead of an exhibitionist, he might be having the time of his life right now. The 44-year-old Illinois Republican is the latest politico to taste scandal's lash, and it's left the poor guy battered and bruised. In fact, the multimedia drubbing has cost the Harvard-educated aspirant and millionaire his senatorial bid: Friday, the AP announced that he has withdrawn from the Illinois Senate race.
Sucks to be him.
It all started Monday when Ryan's divorce records were unsealed. His ex-wife, "Boston Public" and "Star Trek: Voyager" actress Jeri Ryan, 36, alleged therein that during their eight-year marriage, Mr. Ryan took her to sex clubs in New York, New Orleans and Paris. Ms. Ryan claims her then-husband encouraged her to engage in sexual activity with him while another couple watched. Eager to protect his self-interest, his career and his 9-year-old son, Mr. Ryan denied her claims, calling them "ridiculous" and "smut," but still, the flames were fanned on this scandale erotique, and Ryan's political career just might be over for good.
Ask your average, everyday sexpert how Ryan's alleged exhibitionist streak ranks on the 1-to-10 kink scale and they'd give it a blasé 5. But by milquetoast network media standards, it's pretty hot stuff. Throw a foxy celebrity wife into the mix, and you've got all the makings of a month's worth of wire stories and late-show monologue jokes. What makes it so fascinating? Is it the whiff of coercion? The frisson of kink? The thought of a parent having a non-procreative sexual urge? No. The Triple-X factor that takes this peccadillo over the top is that Ryan is a politician. The much-manicured image of the political type is clean-cut and old-fashioned -- the earnest cowboy, the forthright soccer dad, the buttoned-up do-right kind of guy. His presumed position in sex? Strictly missionary.
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http://salon.com/mwt/feature/2004/06/26/jack_ryan/index.html