The party of "Family Values" strikes again

This is one I would probably leave alone. The black evening gown and fishnet stockings were simply a fashion statement. There being no history of attempting to deny rights to others, a guy can dress any way he wants. Hell, I'm betting he was more tastefully attired than some of the businessmen I passed this morning.

Just because a Bush appointed federal judge exercises poor judgment and gets behind the wheel... pissed...

OK. That's a reason to criticize. Still, he had the good sense to resign after pleading guilty.

However, this next one is a little different. Robert McKee, a Republican delegate to the Maryland state legislature and child protection crusader has found himself forced to resign.

Robert A. McKee, a long-serving Republican delegate from Western Maryland, announced his resignation yesterday after authorities, who say they are conducting a child pornography investigation, seized two computers, videotapes and printed materials from his Hagerstown home.

First elected to the House of Delegates in 1994, McKee was chairman of the Western Maryland delegation and sponsored legislation to protect minors from sexual predators. McKee, 58, also resigned yesterday from his post as executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Washington County, a child mentorship program where he has worked for 29 years.

"For me, this is deeply embarrassing," McKee said in a statement. "It reflects poorly on my service to the community."

Gee. Ya think?!

If your representative is wearing red stockings, he might be a Republican

Via Box Turtle Bulletin and Bene Diction Blogs On we have this report from the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

A Republican state legislator from southwest Washington had sex with a man he met at an erotic video store and then told police he had been targeted in an extortion attempt, according to police documents released Tuesday.

State Rep. Richard Curtis, R-La Center, who on Monday declared, "I have not had sex with a guy," told police he was the victim in an extortion attempt by Cody Castagna at the posh Davenport Tower hotel on Oct. 26, search warrant documents said.

Castagna, 26, of nearby Medical Lake, told police that Curtis, 48, agreed to pay him $1,000 for sex, then reneged on the promise. Police reports also said witnesses told them Curtis dressed in women's lingerie at the erotic store, and records showed Curtis purchased two gay pornographic films from the hotel to watch with Castagna.

You'll have to go to the Seattle PI report if you want to read the rather complicated and sordid details of Curtis' situation, but as has become the standard fare in these instances, Curtis is insisting he's not gay.

That changed, according to police, as the investigation continued.

But as the investigation continued, police said Curtis admitted to having sex with Castagna in Curtis' hotel room.

According to the report, Curtis said he initially gave Castagna $100 as gas money, and said he did not consider that paying for sex.

Police interviewed several witnesses at the Hollywood Erotic Boutique, and according to the report, Curtis walked into a bathroom at the store early on the morning of Oct. 26 and a few minutes later left the bathroom wearing long red women's stockings and a black sequined lingerie top. A witness told police that shortly after that he saw a man with a cane performing a sexual act on Curtis in an upstairs room.

Yeah, well, I don't know about Curtis' fashion sense, but it in the end he told the investigating detective,

... he "would have to tell his wife the truth and he would have to get a divorce attorney."

In the grand scheme of things, this would be a nothing story. Nobody outside Curtis' personal circle would care. He's just another person who got wrapped up in an extortion scheme which has exposed his sexual appetite.

It shouldn't matter. However, Curtis, another Republican dragged out of the closet, gets attention because of this:

In 2005 and 2006, Curtis voted against a bill that granted civil rights protections to gays and lesbians.

In 2007, Curtis voted against a bill that created domestic partnerships for same-sex couples.

Despite the fact that both bills passed and are now law in Washington state.

Which exposes yet another Republican hypocrite.