This Barton story is nonsense.

[Loki Liesmith]

I’m not even sure what he did wrong here? Had a consensual relationship with someone while separated from his wife?

Even if he wasn’t separated from his wife at the time, whoever leaked these photos should see jail time.

[jberryhill]

1. It sounds as if she was blackmailing him

I’m having a difficult time understanding how the “victim” repeatedly received cash reimbursements for travel to see him.

One way to avoid having sex with him might have been to not buy airline tickets to DC.

[Loki Liesmith]

5. Go pound sand

Seriously what did he do worth having his genitals plastered all over Infowars?

[LisaL]

8. If you don't want your genitals plastered all over, don't send the photos of them to people.

[msongs]

19. perhaps dont take pics like that in the first place nt

[Glamrock]

46. Don't make that statement about women...

I did that once.... once.

[jberryhill]

48. Yep. Thats what revenge porn publishers say

[NickB79]

68. So you're saying he was asking for it?

I hope you realize what your post sounds like.

[True Dough]

90. Just astounding

and disappointing that people let the veil of politics cloud their vision when it comes to who is the victim in this instance. I have zero respect for Barton's politics, but his privacy has been violated here.

I'm glad you see that too.

[jberryhill]

47. Shes concerned about Alex Jones potential liability

[Achilleaze]

76. He demonstrated "republican family values"

Deplorable.

[womanofthehills]

117. In congress for 32 yrs and he thinks it's a good idea to get pics of his stuff on the internets

It shows he is BEYOND STUPID. Do we really want men who are this stupid in congress? He obviously is too narcissistic to know anything about women. OMG! If I got a gross pic like that there is no way I would not show my best girlfriends. He should have learned a lesson from Monica/Clinton - women usually talk about this kind of stuff with their besties.

[NickB79]

123. If your sexual partner sent you pics, you'd show them around?

If it was, say, your husband or boyfriend? Remember, he is saying he sent the pics AFTER he'd been in a consentual relationship with this woman for a while. He didn't send them to a random stranger.

I had a girlfriend in college who gave me a few nude Polaroids once. Would I have been in the right to spread them around after she cheated on me?

[madville]

3. I agree

I'm looking for the scandal. Besides it being embarrassing, I'm not seeing much else. He's actually a victim of revenge porn, the Capitol Police and Texas authorities have initiated investigations. Sounds like the whole thing was a jilted lover revenge thing, petty.

[gopiscrap]

132. he's a republican so fuck him

go after him with what ever is available

[DeltaLitProf]

4. Must say I was hoping it would result in his resignation and disgrace

. . . because the guy is dog manure basically. But this case reads like he's the victim.

[Loki Liesmith]

7. Oh sure

He’s a crap person and politician. Love to see him resign. But This is dirty pool.

[gopiscrap]

133. who cares if it is dirty pool

this is how the reukes play and if we want to keep up, we need a tougher shell and play the same way

[Blue_Adept]

134. You mean we need to be just as despicable as they are

No high road here.

[gopiscrap]

135. actually yes

we lost because of dirty tricks...we need to be just as shitty as they are to win. It's all about the win because if you don't win...then you can't enact your vision

[treestar]

138. Well it does not work any more

Once the Pussy Grabber won. So it would be suicidal. We'll be living in their world.

[Skittles]

151. look where we are after "taking the high road"

you cannot take the high road with snakes

[Loki Liesmith]

141. Im not into breaking laws

Or encouraging others to do so.

Your mileage may vary.

[BeyondGeography]

6. Bringing the Capitol Police into it was a nice touch though

I think that, um, angle, could stand some more illumination. Kind of fascist, don't you think?

[Loki Liesmith]

11. Revenge Porn is a crime in many jurisdictions

Glad they are investigating

[BeyondGeography]

17. It had nothing to do with intimidation

Purely a legal maneuver by Joe. Sure.

[jberryhill]

49. You think the Capitol Police...

...are at the whimsical and personal beck and call of any of 435 legislators?

[BeyondGeography]

56. That isnt the point; he was strong-arming her

He’s a powerful congressman and she’s a nobody. How would she know what the Capitol Police were ready to do on his behalf?

[jberryhill]

57. When someone is threatening to extort you, and you threaten to call the police..

...that's not my definition of "strong-arming".

It's pretty obvious that she then proceeded to send the material to other people.

I can't recall ever having a problem with someone saying "I'm going to call the police."

She was threatening to commit a crime, and it looks like she may have done so.

[BeyondGeography]

59. What extortion? He was afraid his whole bullshit life was going to be exposed

The depth of your empathy for Joe Barton is touching.

[jberryhill]

61. I couldn't give two shits about Joe Barton

Among the less pleasant things I do for a living is to review abuse complaints sent to an online service provider.

While I gather you think the law should have an "unless it happens to people we don't like" exception, the world of revenge porn and extortion is a very, very dark one.

This kind of thing happens to people who are not conservative Republican Texas Congressional representatives, and I really don't see how it matters.

[BeyondGeography]

63. You gather wrong

He has the right to go to the police, we have the right to decide why he would hold that over the woman’s head in this instance. I think it was a blunder at best and heavy-handed at worst.

[jberryhill]

67. I'm confused by your use of - hold that over the womans head

Since subject lines don't allow quotation marks, let me re-state that:

You are saying he was going to "hold that over the woman's head in this instance".

I'm unclear on the meaning of that.

She was threatening to release intimate material obtained in the course of a consensual relationship, for what purpose?

How on earth is it "holding it over her head" to suggest that if she commits a crime against him, then he would call the police?

[BeyondGeography]

69. And I'm confused by your inability to recognize the power dynamic here

This wasn't just Joe Blow going to the police. Figure it out already.

[jberryhill]

71. The power dynamic in extortion of a public figure?

I think anyone with embarrassing photographs or information about a public figure is the one with the power in that situation.

I'm sorry I'm dense, so you are going to have to spell this out for me...

One day, an innocent dear sweet lamb is recording a telephone conversation she's having with a representative in Congress because, yeah, sure, that's what you do when you call people in relationships, and he suddenly starts saying that he'll call the police on her, in order to obtain what result?

Or maybe you mean it is somehow disproportionate for someone to state that they will call the police when threatened with a crime, if they happen to be a representative in Congress?

[tazkcmo]

139. Since you don't understand...

I'll help you. Apparently, if you are a person in a position of power and you share intimate feelings/pics/poetry/anything with your consensual partner in a legal activity then you have no recourse through the law when that partner tries to embarrass/extort/bribe or other wise violate the intimacy and implied confidentiality in such an exchange because it's abuse of power.

I hope you get it now because my head is spinning and I have to rest.

[jberryhill]

147. Did you forget a sarcasm tag?

On this part:

"then you have no recourse through the law when that partner tries to embarrass/extort/bribe"

Are you saying if someone attempts to bribe or extort a Congressperson, then saying "I'll call the cops if you do that" is an inappropriate response?

If I say to Rand Paul, "Do what I want or I'll break your ribs", then it is an abuse of power for him to say, "If you do, then I will call the police"?

Did you really mean that?

[tazkcmo]

161. Yes, sarcasm

Sorry, we're on the same page.

[jberryhill]

162. Dang, that was good

Hard to tell sometimes.

[moriah]

155. Well, she was the one recording, not him, so she was apparently collecting evidence.

Blackmail isn't cool.

Had he been recording the phone call, and knowing it was recorded, one could say he was just "talking for the recorder" about what he'd report to the Capital Police when she asked.

And what he said, in his "effort to intimidate" was:

In the 2015 phone call, Barton confronted the woman over her communications with the other women, including her decision to share explicit materials he had sent. In that context, he mentioned the Capitol Police, a comment the woman interpreted as an attempt to intimidate her.

“I want your word that this ends,” he said, according to the recording, adding: “I will be completely straight with you. I am ready if I have to, I don’t want to, but I should take all this crap to the Capitol Hill Police and have them launch an investigation. And if I do that, that hurts me potentially big time.”

“Why would you even say that to me?” the woman responded. “The Capitol Hill police? And what would you tell them, sir?”

Said Barton: “I would tell them that I had a three-year undercover relationship with you over the Internet that was heavily sexual and that I had met you twice while married and had sex with you on two different occasions and that I exchanged inappropriate photographs and videos with you that I wouldn’t like to be seen made public, that you still apparently had all of those and were in position to use them in a way that would negatively affect my career. That’s the truth.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/congressman-told-woman-he-would-report-her-to-capitol-police-if-she-exposed-his-secret-sex-life/2017/11/22/e3345862-cf10-11e7-a1a3-0d1e45a6de3d_story.html?utm_term=.f268d4a56e1b

I think if she was going to consider that "intimidating", that he would tell them all the dirt on himself and that she was threatening to disclose it to ruin his career in violation of Texas law (depending on when in 2015 she recorded the call and distributed the photos to the other women, at least), that she had a reason to feel intimidated that had nothing to do with abuse of power but her own illegal conduct.

[spooky3]

54. The woman claimed she did not post the photo.

[jberryhill]

58. Yeah, it magically left her device and made it onto the internet

She was so offended by the video (the "photo" is a screen cap of a video, as is plainly obvious by looking at the time bar at the bottom), that she kept it for a couple of years and held it over his head for leverage.

[womanofthehills]

118. It probably did - I bet her girlfriends had copies

[spooky3]

119. Yes. The article also said she shared it with other

women she learned had affairs with him. Any of them could have posted it.

[madville]

9. If I was his PR advisor

I would get him affiliated with a revenge porn advocacy group. Record some PSA videos for them explaining the damaging effects revenge porn has on its victims using his experience. Release far and wide, the victim angle is how he gets by this and its not untrue.

[LisaL]

10. Yea, real good. Instead of conservative values republican, he can now be known for "revenge porn."

[madville]

14. The actual term is nonconsensual pornography

It's a real thing, usually more of a women's issue in nature but I would run to it, not away from it.

[LisaL]

16. That doesn't make sense, considering he took the video of himself and send it to her?

So how is it non-consensual?

[madville]

18. Her distributing it without his permission is the nonconsensual part

She can't distribute it without his consent. Against the law in both Texas and Washington DC.

[LisaL]

20. She says she didn't distribute it.

[madville]

21. She obviously did if she was the only one he sent it to

According the Washington Post (who she also gave it to) she shared it with the other women she found out Barton had been seeing. That is distribution, it doesn't matter if she wasn't the anonymous person that posted it to Twitter, she initially shared it with others and has admitted that to the WaPo reporters.

[LisaL]

22. What in the world makes you think she was the only one he sent it to?

She found out he had relationships with multiple other women, according to Washington Post. If he sent it to her, what makes you think he didn't send anything to these other women?

[madville]

26. She said she is the one that shared it with the other women. The investigations will hash it out

She admittedly is the one that shared it with the other women, according to the Washington Post writer she spoke with.


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">She didn't threaten to release the pics; she was sharing them with other women he was involved with. And it didn't end.</p>— Mike DeBonis (@mikedebonis) <a href="

Link to tweet

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 23, 2017</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[LisaL]

28. But that doesn't mean he didn't send photos and videos to other women.

[madville]

36. Possible, then one of them could be guilty under existing revenge porn laws

If they then distributed it as well. The authorities may be making multiple arrests in this case now that you bring that up. The woman who went to the Washington Post has already admitted to distributing it.

[jberryhill]

60. Okay, so...

She just happened to record a telephone conversation in which she threatens to release the material, and he says he will call the police, but she's NOT the person who released the material?

Is that what you want to go with?

[riversedge]

31. ummm. that is a possibility. The Truth will drip out.

[NanceGreggs]

12. I agree that it's nonsense. n/t

[chillfactor]

24. of all the people who post reguarly here...

you are the LAST person I would suspect of posting your own nonsense.

[sl8]

148. OK, I'm stumped.

I read your post this morning and didn't understand it, and it's been in the back of my mind all day.

Ignoring the "nonsense" characterization for the moment (you're certainly entitled to your opinion), I'm unable to parse your statement in such a way that it would make sense.

"Of all the people who post reguarly here...
you are the LAST person I would suspect of posting your own nonsense."

It seems that she would, almost by definition, be the FIRST person you would suspect of posting her own material, nonsense or otherwise.

It seems comparable to telling Stephen King that he is last person you would suspect of writing a Stephen King novel.

How have I misunderstood?

[OnDoutside]

13. Yes, it appears so, but what's great is that it's one more

Dent in the family values party hypocrisy.

[Loki Liesmith]

32. Thats fine I suppose

But if they can identify the person who leaked the tape they should be prosecuted.

[OnDoutside]

45. What for ?

[Loki Liesmith]

70. Unlawful Disclosure of Intimate Visual Material

Here’s the text of the law in question:

http://codes.findlaw.com/tx/penal-code/penal-sect-21-16-nr2.html

[LisaL]

15. And by the way, he was married.

Even in the taped conversation with the woman, he admits he had this relationship with her while married.

[Loki Liesmith]

29. Separated apparently

But so what? Can’t adulterers be victims of a crime?

[LisaL]

33. By his own taped admission, married.

[Loki Liesmith]

37. Yes. Married people can be separated

Separation is not divorce.

Surely you are aware of these basic facts of vocabulary?

[LisaL]

43. Well, he didn't call himself separated in that taped conversation.

He called himself married. Their relationship lasted 3 years. Are you going to claim he was separated all that time?

"Said Barton: "I would tell them that I had a three-year undercover relationship with you over the Internet that was heavily sexual and that I had met you twice while married and had sex with you on two different occasions and that I exchanged inappropriate photographs and videos with you that I wouldn't like to be seen made public, that you still apparently had all of those and were in position to use them in a way that would negatively affect my career. That's the truth.""

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/powerpost/congressman-told-woman-he-would-report-her-to-capitol-police-if-she-exposed-his-secret-sex-life/2017/11/22/e3345862-cf10-11e7-a1a3-0d1e45a6de3d_story.html

[jberryhill]

50. Yes, this poster thinks the my-ex-wife revenge porn sites are fine

Because, sure, if someone commits adultery, they are fair game.

[LisaL]

25. My feelings exactly.

OP like this belongs on Free Republic. Let them defend this conservative married republican having a relationship in which he send this woman videos and photos and had sex with her while married, by his own admission (which she taped).

[Loki Liesmith]

27. Why would I care that you are sick and tired?

Barton is an enemy to democrats.

He also appears to be a victim of a crime.

If you can’t see this, I don’t see any point in furthering this interaction.

Cheers.

[cwydro]

72. That is uncalled for.

A personal attack against another DUer simply because you want Barton to go down?

[fleabiscuit]

35. +1

[tammywammy]

44. Is this post of yours good and thoughtful?

I mean really. I fucking live in Barton's district and I've never voted for that awful SOB. But at the same time I can recognize that it appears that he's actually a victim of revenge porn. I also don't think Franken should resign.

I don't think Barton will resign. He may lose in a contested primary, but considering how gerrymandered the district is, that just means I'll end up with some other POS republican as my "representative."

[W_HAMILTON]

30. A similar incident forced Anthony Weiner to resign from Congress...

...and I don't believe he ever threatened anyone like Barton has.

[LisaL]

34. Exactly. Weiner resigned over sexting with adults.

When I pointed that out, some people started to claim, well Weiner was married. But so was Barton.
Some people are on the wrong website, clearly. They should go to free republic.
And by the way, weren't Weiner's photos all over the internet too? Why didn't anyone defend him as a supposed victim of revenge porn?

[Loki Liesmith]

40. Weiner should have fought back harder...

Although his interactions with underage interlocutors would have complicated that.

[LisaL]

41. Underage interactions was years later.

He resigned over sexting with adults.

[jberryhill]

53. The only person who could make Weiner resign was Weiner

That's what he chose to do. Of course, he also knew the full extent of his activities in a way that no one else did.

[RhodeIslandOne]

143. Multiple times after he got caught and apologized and promised not to do it again. n/m

[onenote]

87. Revenge porn wasn't illegal in NY at the time Weiner got caught

In addition, in at least one instance, he was the one that publicly disclosed the photo of himself (by posting it on his public twitter feed).

[W_HAMILTON]

99. All this "revenge porn" talk is silly.

The person that recorded the conversation and threatened to go public about Barton's sexual indiscretions wasn't even the person that apparently leaked the nude photo.

It's not illegal to go public about sexual indiscretions and sending a nude pic doesn't change that.

[onenote]

101. How did the picture/video get from her to the public?

And yes, making public visual depictions of another persons private parts is illegal in around 40 states.

A lot of people use bad judgment and send explicit "selfies" to people expecting them to remain private. Many times it is the woman that does so -- and the law protects them when the person they sent it to gets pissed and decides to go public with those photos.

[spooky3]

120. The article states that she previously shared it with

other women. Any of them, or people they many have shared it with, could have posted it.

[onenote]

125. Disclosing it to other women would itself be a violation

The law doesn't require that the disclosure be to the general public.

[spooky3]

127. But its hardly revenge simply to share it with

Other women. Seems a lot more evidence of an intent to harm someone would be necessary.

[NickB79]

126. Even sharing it with one person can violate the law

If it was done with malice. And she was the one who subsequently called his office to tell him about it, which doesn't look good for her.

[spooky3]

129. I was responding to the assertion that she must

have been the one who released it to the media. If she or he shared it with other people, then it’s not clear that she was the one who shared it with the media.

[RandySF]

38. He threatened to call the police if she exposed him

Is that enough?

[madville]

42. The police confirmed an investigation

Because it looks like she possibly broke some laws in both Texas and DC.

[jberryhill]

52. Im curious about something...

If you aren’t engaged in committing a crime, such as the apparent extortion going on here, then how is “threatening to call the police” a big deal?

So what?

[Corvo Bianco]

39. This is why Weiner was pushed out.

[onenote]

88. there were many reasons he was pushed out. Lying about his actions was one big one

After he stupidly posted a picture of himself on his public twitter feed he made up all sorts of stories about being hacked or the picture being doctored etc.

When it came out that he had done this himself and done it multiple times, all while claiming to be happily married, he left himself little option but to quit Congress so he could work on "healing" his marriage.

[Corvo Bianco]

149. I had actually forgotten about that mess. Thanks for the reminder.

[pwb]

55. Another republican Religious pig is exposed and the leak is the big story?

Russian bots at it again defending the worst of us and making it look not so bad. Barton is a two faced scum talking shit out of both sides of his mouth. A man of values would not do that to his family. Phoney fuck republicans and roger Moore evangelicals deserve no defense of any kind, they fake and are evil.

[GulfCoast66]

62. Revenge porn?

If I make a tape with or with a person knowledge and then release it when pissed off I could see your point.

But this SOB sent her a photo of himself apparently unsolicited. She had absolutely no responsibility to keep it private.

What a fucking family values hypocrite.

[wasupaloopa]

65. You don't know it was unsolicited.

[GulfCoast66]

73. Point made.

But recording someone then releasing it is, in my opinion, totally different than forwarding something you were sent. It’s like he willingly gave up ownership of his image.

Besides being a blatant hypocrite he is a total dumbass.

[wasupaloopa]

64. Some people on this board don't care about freedoms when sex is involved. What two consenting adults

of legal age do sexually that does not harm anyone is nobody's business here.

Their arguments very much parallel the basis for some homophobia.

[Kaleva]

108. But apparently one of the consenting adults decided to harm the other.

[wasupaloopa]

114. Which one was that?

[Kaleva]

124. The one who released the pics and video of Barton.

[NCTraveler]

66. .

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=9875824

[GoCubsGo]

74. Maybe it's nonsense, but it's also Karma.

This asshole voted to impeach Bill Clinton for over a consensual sex act. Now the old coot was caught sending dick pics to his own mistress. Fuck him. At least his constituents now know he's a dirty, old adulterer and hypocrite. (Not that his will phase many on Team Republicans. IOIYAAR.)

[shanny]

121. Being a dirty old adulterer and hypocrite is not a crime.

Revenge porn or possibly extortion is.

[GoCubsGo]

122. I never said it wasn't.

Just saying that what goes around comes around.

[Skittles]

154. according to many here

we cannot think revenge porn is a crime AND think that this man is is a poster boy for repuke "family values"

[GoCubsGo]

159. Yeah, I noticed that.

And, apparently, we're not allowed to call a hypocrite a "hypocrite", or enjoy it when he gets caught, either.

[Vinca]

75. If you take a photo of your private parts and send it to someone, I don't think you should have any

expectation of privacy. Phones get lost and picked up. People accidently hit a response for everyone. If it's gone out through the Internet it's as much fair game as every other bit of information about you. Whoever leaked it should be given a medal. I haven't laughed that hard since election day.

[GoCubsGo]

78. Yep. At the very least, he's guilty of lacking common sense.

The dumbass just created his own "blue dress" with his selfies. What a boob.

[Blue_Adept]

84. Hurray for more victim blaming

She was just asking for it, right?

But it's ok if they're a republican.

[bearsfootball516]

92. The amount of hypocrisy can be astounding, sometimes

If the sexting was between two, consenting adults, I have no problem with it. And if she leaked the photos, as much as I dislike Republicans, he's the victim here. Doesn't matter which party he belongs to.

[Vinca]

96. He's only a victim in that he has a fat, flabby, repulsive body and poor judgement.

You think if any woman was dumb enough to send him risqué photos he didn't show them around? Lots more of this story to come.

[True Dough]

93. Aha! Here you are again

trying to counter the hypocrisy.

We all can, and should, be opposed to Barton's politics. It's fair game to say he's not the poster boy for "Republican family values," but to cheer for a violation of someone's privacy is just low. For shame.

[Blue_Adept]

94. I had to walk away for awhile yesterday as it as getting pretty disgusting

And seeing much of it continuing here knowing that if it was on the reverse side or if it was a woman that had it happen to her how'd they react to it.

[Loki Liesmith]

79. The law disagrees

http://codes.findlaw.com/tx/penal-code/penal-sect-21-16-nr2.html

[Vinca]

82. It's a misdemeanor so anyone convicted would probably get a fine.

I imagine once the judge stopped laughing he'd let the lady go with a warning.

[Blue_Adept]

83. Keeping in mind that most of these laws are designed to protect women

I'm glad that you think that men who do such things as sharing pictures of their former partners should be let off so easily and that the women will be laughed at.

[Loki Liesmith]

105. How did you feel about this:

http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/hollywood/jennifer-lawrence-leaked-photos-violating-4949243/

[Vinca]

106. I'm not familiar with it, but I think if you send intimate pictures to anyone you shouldn't be

surprised when this happens. The laws meant to protect people are fine, especially when it comes to children. I'm not disputing that at all. I'm saying Joe Freaking Barton is an old fool with a teenager's mentality who should not be in Congress. My mind is kind of blown at this point over how many people are in support of Joe Barton in this forum. I hope the rest of Joe's lady friends release their photos, too. The people of Texas need to know about the immature Viagra fan they elected.

[Loki Liesmith]

115. I dont disagree but...

this is still wrong. If its disclosure makes him more likely to lose an election fine, but pretending like this is part of the abuse narrative and that his ex-lover was justified in doing this is not credible imo.

[onenote]

89. therefore you have no expectation of privacy of anything at all on your phone?

[Vinca]

95. I think that's very true. People are hacked every day. Other people use your phone.

What if the lady's grandchild decides to look at Grandma's photos? The bottom line is any individual who thinks it's a wise thing to send photos of his privates to people does not belong in the Congress of the United States. I would hope we can elect leaders who have an emotional age of at least 12. If Joe Barton was smart he'd slink away into the night and hope that 20 years from now people will have gotten that repulsive image out of their heads. Joe should try sending a nice brooch from Tiffany's instead.

[onenote]

98. If there is no expectation of privacy on phones, why is hacking them illegal?

[Vinca]

100. You can expect anything. It doesn't mean it won't happen.

I expect my house won't be broken into, but it could be even though there are laws against it. Now . . . I am not going to waste the rest of a perfectly good day in a discussion over Joe Barton's dick pic. He's a fool, end of story.

[onenote]

103. Yes he's a fool But the law protects fools.

Young women who send explicit selfies of themselves are fools. But the law protects them, too.

[Blue_Adept]

102. Smartphones. Landlines. Computers connected to the internet in your home. Expect no privacy

is what you're saying. Are you sure you're a Democrat?

[Vinca]

107. You have heard about all the hacks that have occurred recently . . . right?

There can be a million laws in place "protecting" people and the next thing you know a person on the other side of the country has taken out a mortgage in your name. Why does protecting my privacy make me not a Democrat? You shouldn't expect the guy who finds your lost phone at McDonald's won't share photos of your bare behind.

[onenote]

112. The law creates an expectation of privacy.

Yes people violate the law. But that doesn't mean that there is not a legally enforceable expectation of privacy.

[Vinca]

116. Expectation isn't certainty.

If someone has their private parts broadcast all around the Internet, it can't be taken back no matter how many laws are in place or how many people are convicted. That dick is there until the end of time. "Expectation" is a pretty low bar in my book.

[Kaleva]

111. Nope.

Legally, one may expect a measure of privacy but in a practical sense, one should not because not everyone is a nice person.

We all have the expectation of not being assaulted or robbed but most everyone of us takes steps to prevent or reduce the chance of that happening. We shouldn't have to lock our homes but we do. We avoid bad neighborhoods.

[Skittles]

152. well, you SHOULD

but in the real world? HELL FUCKING NO.....these people are dumber than fence posts

[RhodeIslandOne]

144. Did you make a similar post....

....when Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson and Ariana Grande had their nude photos released?

[Vinca]

146. I'm afraid I don't keep up with the stars and was unaware of it.

That said, if a person puts out compromising photos of themselves they have no guarantee they won't end up spread far and wide across the Internet forever and ever and ever. Whether or not it's prohibited by law is immaterial. The photos will still be there. You have to be pro-active in protecting your privacy and not allow anything you don't care to share with the world out of your control.

[Demsrule86]

77. He is in the bible belt, but they usually excuse such behavior which goes against their pretend

family values. They will probably go after whatever woman posted it...she after all a jezebel who led this poor Christian man astray (sarcasm).

[riverwalker]

80. Members of Congress making masterbating videos

Is a national security risk. If he doesn’t know this, he should not be a Congressman.

[Blue_Adept]

81. I spent a good part of yesterday arguing much the same as you

Last edited Thu Nov 23, 2017, 11:08 AM - Edit history (1)

Suffice to say, there's a lot of people here that have lost their soul as to what it means to be a liberal and a democrat. They've fallen to the same level of those that they hate.

[cwydro]

97. Spot on.

Something odd here lately.

[Blue_Adept]

85. This is turning into a perfect view of how tribalism impacts both sides

It may not feel as strong when you see it on the Democratic side but the amount of victim blaming, shaming, and essentially saying that it's okay because he's a republican, even if what happened to him is wrong and likely illegal, and with what he did being perfectly legal, is just astounding.

This is one of those areas where I get hugely disappointed in my side of the aisle. A cheap scoring of points that degrades your own soul for too many around here.

[nolabels]

91. It's all relative

I once tried to belong to a side or two but found it funny every time something didn't work out so well they ended up writing new rules.

We don't live in a perfect world and we also born imperfect in kind of a perfect way. So this being a known, we then we must just live in this one knowing we are perfect for it all along.

I have also heard to said in somewhat similar terms somewhere "We should never try to live up to others expectations because mostly we cannot even live up to our own"

[Kingofalldems]

86. Extremely illuminating thread I must say.

Wow.

[Irish_Dem]

104. For me, it gets to an issue of judgement. We hope our leaders have some basic common sense.

I don't care about his sex life with consenting adults.
I do care about whether he can make reasonable decisions, since our leaders are making decisions
every day on our behalf.

[Kaleva]

109. To me, it shows a lack of common sense.

[Irish_Dem]

110. Exactly, and could be dangerous, making him a blackmail target.

And we know what blackmailed leadership looks like.

[MFM008]

157. There's the problem

I don't care what consenting adults do as long as they don't scare the horses....
Demo or repubo.
I hate set-ups, hit jobs and stupidity........

[Irish_Dem]

158. Exactly. Also objectionable, it appears these congressmen have a tax payer funded slush fund

to pay off victims and also use the capitol police as their personal goon squad to harass
victims who speak out.

[Skittles]

153. THANK YOU

how FUCKING STUPID is this man???

[Kentonio]

113. Completely agree.

Admittedly a little (well ok, not so little ) part of me enjoys watching the GOP get a taste of their own medicine, but morally he doesn't seem to be in the wrong here. We shouldn't play the same dirty games they do.

[gopiscrap]

137. actually we should

we should do what ever it takes to win...otherwise we don't have the seats to govern

[no_hypocrisy]

128. It was private and now it's personally embarrassing.

Big nothingburger.

Yes, he threatened to call the police, but he had to have known that it was a hollow threat. Once the toothpaste is out of the tube . . . . ,

[fleabiscuit]

130. The real laugh is someone assuming that email or texting is a private means of communication.

Don't want it out there? Then don't send it anywhere with your phone or device. Walk or snail mail it there. Otherwise assume everyone might see it.

That's what I taught in my computer use classes. Assumption of privacy is just exactly that. When are adults going to start adulting?

[gopiscrap]

131. bullshit all is fair in a political war

and that is what this is

[treestar]

136. Agreed.

Make it about the issues again please! We are letting the right wing troll us big time. They know full well none of this will keep them out of office and are trying to get us to deny our own representatives. They know what they are doing.

[Bleacher Creature]

140. It's the hypocrisy.

He's had no problem taking positions on how others live their lives. This is just his comeuppance.

[Roland99]

142. Not like it was leaking names of undercover CIA agents

[RhodeIslandOne]

145. Barton is a dirty old man

But it is illegal what this woman is doing. If you are against revenge porn you must be against this. It's hypocrisy otherwise.

And considering I think the Al Franken stuff is dirty pool, I'm not picking this hill to die on.

[Skittles]

150. these sanctimonious repukes are always carrying on about God and FAMILY VALUES

may I remind you they're also HOMOPHOBIC, MISOGYNIST and ANTI-BIRTH CONTROL

ZERO sympathy here

[riverwalker]

156. It could be a national security risk

Compromat and all that.

[Deb]

160. Republicans at the dinner table called him "a filthy pervert" yesterday