The Sinking of Jack "Respondent" Ryan and the Hope of True Debate

Bad times for Jack Ryan, Illinois' Republican candidate for the United States Senate. See, Jack was once married to Jeri Ryan, smokin' TV actress. Jack and Jeri got a divorce a few years back. Why? Well, it's none of our business, really. But it's on the front page of the : Chicago Tribune today.

In her 2000 filing, Jeri Ryan alleged that after she and Jack Ryan left the first sex club they entered in New York, he asked her to go to another. She said he told her that he had gone out to dinner with her that night even though he didn't want to and "the least I could do in return was go to the club he wanted me to go."

She described the second place as "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling."

"Respondent wanted me to have sex with him there with another couple watching. I refused," Jeri Ryan continued. "Respondent asked me to perform a sexual activity upon him and he specifically asked other people to watch. I was very upset.

"We left the club and respondent apologized, said that I was right and he would never insist that I go to a club again. He promised it was out of his system."

But later, Jeri Ryan said, Jack Ryan took her to Paris where he again took her to a sex club without first telling her where they were going.

"I told him I thought it was out of his system. I told him he had promised me we would never go. People were having sex everywhere. I cried. I was physically ill. Respondent became very upset with me and said it was not a `turn-on' for me to cry. I could not get over the incident and my loss of any attraction to him as a result. Respondent knew this was a serious problem. I told him I did not know if we could work it out."

Ouch. Does this make Jack unsuitable for public office? Well, the good folks of Illinois will have to be the judge of that. My guess: in November, it will not be a turn on for the Grand Olde Party to watch Jack Ryan cry.

So, the smaller part of me is admittedly giddy about the fact that Ryan, who was already dragging behind Democrat Barack Obama in the polls, now has about as much chance of becoming Senator as David Duke has of becoming Alderman of Bronzetown.

The better part of me, though, thinks that Ryan's personal sex life should not be an issue in the campaign. He didn't do anything illegal, after all. When will we finally reject discussions of people's sexual behavior in the public discourse about government? Truly, it has absolutely nothing to do with Ryan's fitness to argue policy or legislate on behalf of the people of Illinois.

And Ryan was shaping up to be a worthy opponent of the phenomenal Obama. I truly hoped for a vigorous debate between the two Harvard law grads... Ryan, who left a lucrative partnership at Goldman Sachs to teach at an inner city school in Chicago, and Obama, the first black editor of Harvard's law review, U of Chicago law professor, and longtime civil rights lawyer. This could have been a truly classical political matchup.

And it still might be. I honestly don't think that Obama will ever raise or discuss the issue of Ryan's sex life. In fact, my opinion of him (and it is nearly reverential) would be obliterated if he tried to use this for political advantage. I hope that the rest of the Democrats in Illinois will also let this unseemly dog lie. It's out there, it happened, it's unfortunate for Ryan that it became public, but it is not a real issue.
Let's not act like a bunch of Republicans about it.

UPDATE: He who shall not be named agrees:

And I can't get too excited over the turn this Senate race has taken. I want to beat Republicans because their ideas are discredited, not because of accusations hurled during divorce proceedings, however salacious those accusations may be.