Much as I occasionally appear to be a moron,
I was given a classical education. Despite the fact that I was a grotesquely over-sexed adolescent, as many of us all are, I did in fact, absorb a lot in those days of overwhelming reading assignments.
One assignment, which I shall never forget was a essay, written in Latin, taught by my incredibly racist and antisemitic Latin teacher, who hailed from Britain, which discussed the importance of access to sex and sexuality as a prime reason to attempt to ascend in the political and social power structure. I was looking for that particular essay and rather than spend a whole lot of time going over one Google search after another, I came up with this article.
https://ancientromanhistory31-14.com/home/gaius-caligula/sex-madness-and-imperial-power/
And yes, of course, Caligula and his ilk are known for their debauchery, but in fact it was going on since, well, since forever. All this pearl-clutching by the masses show how ignorant they are of what is going on at the tippy top of the power pyramid.
I have a story of my own: I was loosely connected to the power structure in Philadelphia, not as a member, but as an observer because people would come to me and tell stories about themselves, their family members, their bosses, their constituents, and technically all these things were told to me in confidence -HIPAA and all that. That being said, I can relate stories since most of the individuals who are involved are now dead. . I would not dream of naming anyone, but if you are a Philadelphian or lived in the suburbs, you might be able to figure some of this out if you wasted a lot of time thinking about it.
I treated a high ranking policeman, one of whose jobs was to procure prostitutes of high-quality for various people in city, government and power brokers. The policeman would act as a go-between who would handle the finances and it was all done, surreptitiously, except this guy, this cop, love to talk and show off as to what a macher (Yiddish for one who is a ‘big deal’) he was. Among our conversations, which generally went in only one direction, he would tell me about the proclivities, abilities, and inabilities of these various individuals who had commissioned him to provide services for them. By name…unbelievable, right?
Having listened to the stories for more than 30 years, one of my significant conclusions is that a lot of these guys talk a real good game, but in fact would have benefited from modern pharmaceutical technology which was non-existent in those days. The other issue which arose, or didn’t arise, was that the policeman told me that several of these individuals came to terms with the fact that they really were not interested in young women, or perhaps women of any type. And that’s when things got difficult. Not difficult in the procurement, but difficult in keeping it a secret. I was privy to some really scary stuff and people’s lives being threatened post facto. Perhaps someday I can elucidate if anybody were interested, but not at the present time.
I will say, and this was public knowledge here in Philly, that we had a mayor, a Democrat, married to a significant woman for many years, who would indiscriminately “come on“ to almost any female within his say 12 foot radius. I observed this myself at the.Sporting Club at the Bellevue for many years before during and after the time in which he was mayor. Everybody in the city knew what was going on, and I knew many women who had been approached repeatedly. But did it make the papers when he was running for any office including twice for mayor and then twice for Governor? Absolutely not. Not one frigging word. You would think he was as clean and pure as the driven snow as the cliché goes.
I am not certain with respect to sex and sexuality why people do not understand that one of the great drives which possesses individuals in power, (some, not all), is to be able to almost indiscriminately select, approach, and procure sexual partners. If you ask the common man, why did you think that so-and-so became senator, mayor, president, their response is “Well, to get the power”. Mainstream press intimates that the power attained is simply political power and completely ignores the fact that these people hold sway over an indeterminant number of individuals who would Give themselves in a sexual manner to this individual simply because he or she has attained that level of political office.The term for these individuals when I was growing up was generally assigned to music-lovers or perhaps artists or writers, and were called groupies or star-fuckers. Of those incidences we speak, tell stories from our youth, see it related in fan magazines, or what passes for fan magazines these days, but you don’t see the same statements made out loud in the political theater unless a problem arises with the assignation. Or so we thought until the “pussy-grabbing video”.
I will tell you one thing: from what I have heard over the years about several politicians whom I knew, and knew of, there is no behavior, absolutely none which is beyond the pale. From a sexual standpoint, we tend to think within our own experience or the kind of literature/pornography which we may or may not partake of, but I will tell you that even I at times had to stop what I was doing and process some of the tales that were told to me over the years, and I have a pretty wide-ranging contextual sphere of knowledge. You literally have to think outside the box. You can never make assumptions about anything ever with respect to this subject. Ever. Trust me.
I will leave you with a sort of funny anecdote: I knew a psychologist who was one of the grand old men of Philadelphia mental health, and he was a great guy. I asked him once who was his most interesting client and he told me that that was an easy answer. When he first started practicing in the mid 1950s, a young couple, newly married, came to him and their chief complaint was that the act of sex was extraordinarily painful for both participants. So he went to his closet and took out a pair of anatomically correct dolls, male and female, and “put them together“, and the male member of the couple stood up, punched him hard, and said “That is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen!”, grabbed his wife by the hand and ran out the door never to be seen by the psychologist again. My psychologist friend has spent his entire life, and he is now in his nineties, wondering what they were doing in actuality.
Have a great Sunday and may your football team win, as long as you’re not from Detroit or KC. Or Dallas.
Go Birds!! 🦅
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I've known that sex drives people so that they can live the life they want to live, but I hadn't realized that this drive is the primary reason.
BTW: You're not a moron! Not now, not ever.
Opinions vary in that regard. 🤣
your posts are always click-worthy and informative. And let me preface these next comments with something that applies only to me: "You can take the boy out of the copy editing department, but you can't take the copy editing department out of the boy."
Given the overall context of your post, the next time you relate that story might I suggest: "...the male half of the couple stood up.." or just "the male stood up...." Or even something akin to "...the husband stood up..." or "...the guy stood up...."
I'm gonna have to spend most of my Sunday repeatedly hitting the mind's eye "Unsee" button as it is, and my wife has already asked me, "Why are you giggling so much?"
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When I mentioned that something arose or didn’t arise.
...
