I Must Be Living Under a Rock

Living in the Washington, D.C. area—hey, right off Connecticut Ave., baby—and tracking high-tech and the Internet for work, you’d think I’d know about what’s going on. Apparently, I have too much in common with Patrick the starfish from SpongeBob Squarepants. There’s a reason he lives under a rock, folks.

This morning, while checking the couple hundred or so RSS feeds I monitor, I stumbled onto this tantalizing headline, “Sex Scandal Rocks US Congress,” from Express India. So exactly how far around the world do I have to go to get local news: “Washington loves nothing as much as a summer sex scandal, and the season is off to an early start this year, as a Congressional aide was sacked after posting her lovemaking exploits on the internet”, according to the story, with a dateline of today. 

Apparently, some 24-year-old congressional aid blogged about her sexual exploits in and around Capitol Hill under the name Washingtonienne. I’d like to think I would have been aware of the brewing scandal that is a) local, and b) about blogging. Hell, the Washington Post had a big story on Sunday. That’s what me, Mr. dumb sophisticate, gets for subscribing to the New York Times, rather than a local paper. I would do well to watch the local news on TV, occasionally, too.

Near as I can tell, the original Washingtonienne blog is gone, but archived here. Express India is right. Washington loves a good scandal. This one is the makings of a movie: Young, beautiful intern; six unnamed sexual partners, some supposedly in government; raunchy sex; and scandalous secrets about politicians on Capitol Hill.

Too bad, too, because there are more important things going on in the world than another Washington sex scandal. Hell, maybe I’m not so dumb for missing this scandal after all. Americans are too hung up on sex, anyway, and consumption, too. But the consumption economy is topic for another blog.