George W. Bush, Bill Bennett, and strange sex (with an update on male cheerleading!)

I thought that yesterday's item would attract some attention. Who could resist a story about a proud and open vampire Satanist, now running for Governor of Minnesota, who claims a friendship with Jeb Bush and Brother Dubya?

Alas, the readers didn't even get a good chuckle out of that one. Okay, lesson learned. Satanism is yawnsville. So let's return to an old favorite: George W. Bush's alleged sexcapades.

Although the "fear of fudgepacking" factor gave W's popularity a huge boost among the Jesus voters (most of whom erroneously believe that he and Kerry had very different stances on the gay marriage issue), many rumors -- and a couple of pieces of evidence -- link our current prez to various claimed homosexual affairs. The best evidence can be found in the White House logs (supply your own pun here) which confirm that he-ho "journalist" Jeff Gannon stayed overnight in the White House on a number of occasions. Quite a few men work in that building, but -- so far as I know -- only one male regularly sleeps there.

We must also keep in mind the fact that George W. Bush's roommate at Yale was Victor Ashe, who later became the mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee -- and who is now the American ambassador to Poland. During their Yale years, the two men were both male cheerleaders.

I never get tired of writing that last sentence. (Update: Some have questioned the accuracy of this claim. Please see the postscript.)

Is Victor Ashe gay or bisexual, as so many have contended? Each reader must come to his or her own conclusions; for my part, I've heard the claim so often that I've mentally transferred it from the "possible" file to the "probable" category. It is said (but not documented) that Ashe was twice arrested for committing homosexual acts in public. Frankly, I find it difficult to believe that any man with political ambitions would act so recklessly -- even so, the details of this rumor (which come to us via the Green party of Tennessee) are intriguing:

It's rumored that NOxVile's mayor, Victor/Victoria Ashe, whose momma (who took Vic's place when busted for "underage legislating") was arrested for hit-and-run while hiding out at the mayor's house, is suspected of two arrests. One was in Washington DC and the other was in Atlanta, while he was a state legislator. They allegedly involved arrests while picking up homosexual prostitutes in public restrooms while dressed in a dress. Our mayor also was allegedly introduced on live TV as "The gay mayor from Knoxville," at a national mayor's conference in San Francisco. Mayor Ashe is rumored to have refused changing Gay Street's name to something less, er, gay, preferring instead the name "Gay Way."

The most common version of the "live intro" story holds that Peter Jennings said those words. Alas, no-one had ever offered any videotaped proof for that allegation.

I've received a number of letters from people in Tennessee "confirming" the Ashe-is-gay rumor: "Oh, everyone here knows..." They may know, and you or I may or may not choose to believe -- but until someone offers proof or eyewitness testimony, no reputable journalists will get behind this one. So to speak.

Does such testimony exist? Gary Buell (without whom I wouldn't have had a blog over the past couple of days) directed my attention to a mysterious web site, which details the story of a "Las Vegas woman" who claims that she can indeed address this matter authoritatively.

The site does not name the woman directly. We will discuss her identity, and her credibility, presently. For now, let's hear her tale:

This situation took place in 1984 in the State of Tennessee. It concerns a 41 year old woman [currently residing in Las Vegas], Victor Ashe and George Bush's encounter in 1984 during the senate debates between Al Gore, Jr., Victor Ashe and Ed McAteer. She was invited to come to Tennessee by Victor Ashe. While attending one of these debates she spoke briefly with Ed McAteer (Senatorial candidate in 1984 who debated alongside Al Gore, Jr. and Victor Ashe, and was responsible in part for the emergence of the Religious Right).

More:

The Las Vegas woman was paid $15,000 to arrange sexual liaisons involving bisexual men for George W. Bush (then private citizen) and Victor Ashe (then a Tennessee State Senator). These adulterous bisexual affairs (3 encounters in all-3 different cities) took place in the state of Tennessee during the 1984 senate debates between, Al Gore, Jr., Victor Ashe and Ed McAteer. An African-American woman was invited to participate in this adulterous sexual encounter with George W. Bush and Victor Ashe immediately following the Chattanooga senatorial debate. This woman was paid $1,500. A few years later the Las Vegas woman was detained in Washington D.C. with Victor Ashe by the Metro D.C. police. She was released but Victor was taken into custody.

Can any of this be verified? Well....

We initially contacted Mr. McAteer back in May of this year. He mentioned at that time Victor Ashe's sexual shenanigans were no secret in Tennessee. He seemed resentful of his party's choice to back a 'sodomite' which is why he ran as an independent. Ed was on chemotherapy and it was extremely difficult for him to talk so we deferred until late August at which time his wife [Faye] informed us he wanted to talk further but was under doctors orders to refrain from all strenuous activity. Sadly, Ed McAteer passed away on Oct. 5, 2004, before we could do a follow-up interview, he was 78. For Ed's sake [and that of his family] we hope his departure was natural [God's will], however, the timing of it all seems rather untimely in our opinion. It bares looking into by the Tennessee authorities.

"Bares." That's my favorite misspelling of the day.

So the only witness is now dead. All righty, then. Who is this lady?

According to Buell, her name is Leola McConnell, a professional Femme-Domme whose working name was Mistress Lee. She got into the blogosphere, or at least on the outskirts of the blogosphere, when she made similar claims about Bill Bennett -- the Republican propagandist who signed his name to books written by others. (The topic, you will recall, was virtue.) He was later shamed by the revelation of his gambling addiction, and by a racist comment he made on the radio.

Here is Mistress Lee's sworn testimony regarding Bennett:

I, Leola McConnell, do affirm that from the year 1998 until May 2003, I was PNAC member and radio talk show host William J. Bennett's Domina. I further stipulate that I counseled him [on several occasions] to seek professional help for his gambling addiction. He declined.

When the first reporters came to me here in Sin City, from the very start they proceeded as if I had the burden of proving that a degenerate gambler was a liar, degenerate gamblers are by their very nature liars, they live a lie on a daily basis.

Is this true? You decide. So far, my only problem is with the claim that a sex worker would care much about a client's gambling problem. Here's more:

Everything humanly possible is being done to torpedo this from being brought to people's attention. I've had two hard-drive viruses, my front door lock vandalized in a failed effort to enter my home. My car locks were tampered with. Whacked out e-mails come at the rate of 20 per day and other silliness I won't bother to waste time mentioning.

In a chorus they (reporters) would ask me if I have any cum-stained sheets from our first encounter in 1998. At first I thought I was the star in a black comedy or that they were trying [like many subs] to have phone sex with me then I realized that most were Bennett's spin department coming upon malicious knavery to start my quiet. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know asking me sexually provocative questions like these would enrage me. It would only take a fleeting glance at me to know this woman would find those kinds of questions offensive. I did find them offensive and here we stand today. The truth untold. I guess one of his CIA psychological profiler buddies told him that any woman that wanted muscles would be less then pleased to be asked such questions (whips with his DNA still attached, hash stained underwear that hadn't been washed. His not mine, apparently I would be collecting soiled underwear).

Well, I'm no subby-boy, and I surely don't want either to enrage this woman or to have phone sex with her. But I can see the forensic value of the blood-stained whips and soiled sheets and such.

Back to willy boy-Those reporters also asked if there were drugs present; did money change hands between us; were their any other women [or men] present; what was his sexual orientation and did we have a written contract, as they were told so many dominas have with their subs. (fyi:That contractual rule of thumb usually applies to a professional dominatrix with a dungeon. Some encounters of that sort can become very violent. A domina will sometimes require a contract for obvious reasons.) They honestly don't want to hear a story of a woman in charge of a man they view as a Washington D.C. power broker. Had I been the 'pleasure unit' type this story would have broke in June 2003, not June 2004.

I have played dodge ball with this issue now for over A YEAR and I'm sick of it. It doesn't seem to want to go away. Republican operatives that wrote me and now people accuse me of seeking publicity. One blog moron claims I wrote him months ago, tell him to post the e-mail, he's a liar. Like all the other republican operatives he seeks attention for his silly blog. I didn't even know what a blog was until mid January of this year, that's how much I follow the latest internet happenings.

The "blog moron" mentioned above is probably Calico Cat, a right-wing blogger. I'm somewhat suspicious of his anti-Leola expose pieces, if only because I don't trust anyone on his side of the political aisle.

Leola, believe it or not, is running for Governor of Nevada. The election will be held in November of 2006; she is not widely considered a leading candidate. (The likely opponents will be Democrat Jim Gibson and Republican Jim Gibbons. Now that's a race designed to give copy editors nightmares.)

To be frank, I like many of her positions. (No pun intended.) Here's the former Mistress Lee's view of the warrant-free spying scandal:

If I am elected by the citizens of Nevada to be their Governor, I will aggressively investigate this affront to our liberties as they pertain to the state of Nevada. If I find that 'any' citizen of the state of Nevada was spied upon by any member of the Bush administration without a warrant from a judge authorizing it, and they are not charged with a felony by The United States Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales at the federal level (Attorney General Gonzales says no crime was commited) -- I will work with our State Attorney General, to have President George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, and any other participants operating under his authority to facilitate these crimes, charged with a felony for each violation of our state law...

Nice -- although a truly hard-core Dominatrix might have thrown in a few words about nailing testicles to a board. (If you work for the Secret Service, please understand that I am speaking poetically.)

So. What do we make of Leola's claims? Hell if I know! Judging from Buell's experience -- and from some of her writings -- she is not the most approachable or trusting person in the world. Perhaps with good reason. She probably would not consent to pointed questioning.

We should note that Wonkette would not touch this story with a ten foot pole. So to speak. I cannot help but wonder why a Vegas pro would have anything to do with arranging a tryst between a DC pol and a failed Texas oilman, especially since the two men already knew each other. (You know...back when they were roommates and male cheerleaders.)

No-one can deny that this woman is well-read and politically motivated. Although she is a poor writer, I suspect that she is smart -- smart enough, perhaps, to engineer a con or a prank.

On the other hand, I cannot see a monetary motive for Leola McConnell to tell such a lie. She has not written a book. A professional Dominatrix who reveals the name of her customers will soon lose customers. Even if she is fibbing, she has done herself no favors, financially speaking.

So why have I bothered to relate tales that even Ana Marie Cox shunned? Because I have spoken to a few "professional ladies" in my time, and they really do tend to store up experiences which read like something out of an absurd novel. For example, there's a certain well-known conservative in the entertainment industry who hires out a "Mistress" with the world's worst boob-job...

Who knows? Maybe Leola's claims have some merit. And even if they don't, they are certainly amusing to contemplate.

POSTSCRIPT: A reader informs me that George W. Bush may not have been a cheerleader at Yale. True, a massive number of websites have stated that he did lead cheers there; some even say that he was the head cheerleader. But the only photographic evidence available on the net clearly shows that he was a cheerleader at Andover prep school. See, for example, this image, which bears an incorrect label.

In 2004, a group called Cheerleaders for Truth wryly asked:

"Did George Bush actually win a Varsity letter in Cheerleading at Yale? Or was this another 'no show' like the National Guard?" current and alumni Yale cheerleaders are asking. "Why haven’t any member of Bush’s Cheerleading Squad come forward and verified that he actually attended practice and the games?"...

More importantly, did George Bush actually earn a Varsity Letter in Cheerleading, or was this, too, awarded to him (like his place in the freshman class) because of his wealthy family’s longstanding relationship with Yale? Were the injuries he supposedly sustained on the field athletic injuries, or did he hurt himself simply because he was intoxicated at the time?"

Nobody has ever questioned Victor Ashe's history as a cheerleader at Yale.

I think I can fairly continue to write that the two Yale roommates were cheerleaders. After all, people referred to Michelangelo as a "sculptor" even when the ceiling gig forced him to spend years without a chisel in his hands. I believe that cheerleading was and remains in George W. Bush's blood. He is, if you will, the Michelangelo of male cheerleading.

Only a pedant would insist that one roommate was a former cheerleader while the other was currently practicing.