Amanda, I, too find myself a little bereft that the Rep. Lee sex scandal is over so quickly. I’m disappointed that he, of the poignantly flexed biceps, didn’t try to fight for his career. It’s always interesting to see which tropes the cheaters use: Stricken wife standing by one’s side (Jim McGreevey, et. al.); lying defiance (Bill Clinton, Larry Craig); acknowledgement of psychological problems (John Edwards, narcissist); declaration of love (Mark Sanford, although this isn’t applicable in the case of hooking up with a stranger via Craigslist).
You also make the excellent point that society gives a pass to teenage girls who, realizing just how hot they look, want to memorialize this with a self-portrait snapped with the phone-camera while looking seductively into the bathroom mirror. This episode should be a lesson that anyone over the age of 16 who can’t resist this temptation should store the photos in a personal file labeled “Destroy Upon My Death.” (Or better, label the file, “JPEGS of My Favorite Coffee Mugs.”)
Chris Lee is a clownish jerk who has surely caused his wife no end of anguish over the years and will have an interesting time explaining to his young son why Daddy is not in Congress anymore and everyone is laughing at him. But a part of me loved seeing that besides exposing his chest, Lee exposed that even being handsome, rich, and successful does not protect all men from the anxiety of aging. Lee is 46, but in his e-mails to his potential paramour he claimed he was 39.
