S&M&NBC

November 28, 2002 7:32 AM

Well, now that his cover is blown, he'll probably be hired to work for Henry Kissinger on the 9-11 coverup, or with Admiral Poindexter, on "Big Brother." Whips and chains and weapons of mass destruction.
posted by kablam (23 comments total)

he'll whip Saddam into shape and ask him repeatedly who his daddy is!

(but Saddam won't know!)
posted by RobbieFal at 7:45 AM on November 28, 2002

Isn't it a little childish of the WP to bring up the S&M thing? Really, who cares? This is a marginal story made barely sensational enough to publish because of buddy's prediliction for kinky sex.

Grow up, reporters.
posted by Fabulon7 at 8:05 AM on November 28, 2002

more bush sleight-of-hand. spank that saddam bitch, dubya!
posted by quonsar at 8:12 AM on November 28, 2002

Don't ask. Don' tell?
posted by Postroad at 8:15 AM on November 28, 2002

as blackadder would say - yeeesssss.
posted by johnnyboy at 8:15 AM on November 28, 2002

What does his sex life have to do with his credentials? Is this Fox News or something. For christ sake kablam try finding an article that's halfway relevant, and double-shame on the Post for stooping to such lows. I've never heard of the curse that wishes someone to live in absurd times, but these times are certainly that.
posted by holycola at 8:27 AM on November 28, 2002

well certainly the WP has to compete with Fox News, but mefite readers DO NOT have to be distracted by the "BatBoy, Son of Elvis" aspects of this information. What the fuck is the administration up to now? And why isn't this guy already employed as an airport security scanner?
posted by quonsar at 8:32 AM on November 28, 2002

I agree that playing up the sex angle is gratuitous, but the guys qualifications are dubious at best. The experience that he touts as qualifying him for the post came over 20 years ago.

This is one of the guys we're relying on to perform a critical function that may avert a war?
posted by mygoditsbob at 8:48 AM on November 28, 2002

Well, thank God that's in the capable hands of the UN.
posted by dhartung at 8:56 AM on November 28, 2002

Personally, I could care less about his sexual preferences, not my business. It's the fact he doesn't have a specialized degree in any of the fields the UN supposedly requires in their inspectors, as well as offering "seminars on 'weaponization of chemical and biological agents' for $595 a session" and running a firm that sells bioterror products that sort of worries me. That, and the whole issue of not performing background checks TO BEGIN WITH.

Ditto to mygoditsbob's emphasis.
posted by nelleish at 8:57 AM on November 28, 2002

Without a Washington Post login I have no idea whose character your trying to assassinate or which political agenda you're trying to promote.

maybe that's a good thing.
posted by timeistight at 10:02 AM on November 28, 2002

Apologies for the typos.
posted by timeistight at 10:06 AM on November 28, 2002

That pervert-baiting article just makes me see red. That's absolutely disgusting of the Post. I think what they're trying to say (and failing) is that, when the Bush Administration gets wind of this, there's going to be a stink.

Speaking of said Administration, it's quite interesting that there's no quote from them on this, and only a vague assimilated comment from a "State Department official"... who was probably among the people who endorsed/forwarded Mr. Leather's resume to the U.N.

So, how did this story start? Did it start when the Post starting googling the members of the team? Or did it start with a leak from the White House to undermine the results of the weapon inspection team? And, if the weapons inspection team is so weak, then why is this member the only one singled out? Sure, by their report, his credentials sound pretty fucking shabby. But given their scandal-mongering about his sex life, how the hell am I supposed to believe any of this crap?
posted by RJ Reynolds at 10:22 AM on November 28, 2002

And then I left the house and saw the cover of the New York Post: U.N. Weapons Hunt Farce. I felt much better about the other Post. Such good journalism here in New York:

"The Bush administration, which is deeply skeptical Iraq will comply with the get-tough inspection rules mandated by the U.N. Security Council, withheld official comment about the bizarre first day of inspections."

Just wait til they get wind of this whole kinky lifestyle angle! Tomorrow's cover will be a doozy.
posted by RJ Reynolds at 10:56 AM on November 28, 2002

isn't mefi crap these days?
posted by andrew cooke at 12:16 PM on November 28, 2002

Answer: yes.

The whip-'n'-chain-liberation movement still has a ways to go. Until people are free to be humiliated by dominatrixes in the privacy of their own homes, you know this would have been embarassing sooner or later. Don't blame the Post.

Still, better someone who's into whips and chains than someone who is into power as an aphrodesiac.
posted by inksyndicate at 1:02 PM on November 28, 2002

That's absolutely disgusting of the Post. I think what they're trying to say (and failing) is that, when the Bush Administration gets wind of this, there's going to be a stink.


Um, it was the bush administration that sponsored this guy as an inspector.
posted by delmoi at 2:25 PM on November 28, 2002

"Crazy mix-up between theonion.com and the Washington Post results in hilarious article being taken seriously"

Next we'll have left-handed weapons inspectors whose favorite color is -perish the thought- blue!
posted by Poagao at 5:32 PM on November 28, 2002

Personally, I could care less about his sexual preferences

Umm... I suspect you actually mean that you couldn't care less, nelleish. Think about it. (Sorry, but it's a pet peeve of mine.)

FWIW, yes, I agree that the sex angle was gratuitous and distracting. So has anyone written the WP's ombudsman to complain? ["The Post's Ombudsman, Michael Getler, is the readers' representative within the newspaper. E-mail him at [e-mail]"] Links to Getler's articles show up on Romanesko's Media News periodically, and he does seem willing to bite the hand that feeds him.
posted by pmurray63 at 9:31 PM on November 28, 2002

and he does seem willing to bite the hand that feeds him.


Isn't that the point of an ombudsman?
posted by drezdn at 12:10 AM on November 29, 2002

But given their scandal-mongering about his sex life, how the hell am I supposed to believe any of this crap? - RJ Reynolds

Exactly!!

Exactly what I thought when the Post hammered on President Clinton for years. And now the same Post sees no reason for investigations into the Duhbya follies. But then, they're not about sex, are they?
posted by nofundy at 4:47 AM on November 29, 2002

"McGeorge said yesterday that a State Department official invited him to apply for the U.N. team, and officials at State and the United Nations did not ask about his S&M background. But he said he would tender his resignation to Blix if The Post printed a story about it.", says story printed in The Post.
posted by vbfg at 5:56 AM on November 29, 2002

The experience that he touts as qualifying him for the post came over 20 years ago.

It fits well considering that the reports Bush has cited as evidence of big nasty weapons development were over 2 years old, when they said anything at all. This whole effort is an autumn farce to guarantee a new years war.
posted by holycola at 9:26 AM on November 30, 2002