Republican State Representative (and Peter Griffin double) Ross Paustian of Iowa, got caught with his nose in a book titled “Sex After Sixty – A Guide for Men and Women for Their Later Years.” No one would have cared; but he was reading during a House debate. Paustian did not disclose whether the senior sex tips he picked up from the book are sufficient compensation for the embarrassment he is now enduring.
A Statehouse reporter for the Des Moines Register first Tweeted the image, and national ‘fame’ soon followed for Paustian. I am quite frankly torn about jumping on the national bandwagon to report this silly incident. After all, we do want to encourage Republicans to read and learn about lady-parts – as they are an area of great legislative focus for them.
In his own defense, Paustian said the book was not his. (In that case, it’s okay to read it and not pay attention to your job,carry on Ross) The book belonged to fellow Republican State Rep. Robert Bacon who had received it as a gag gift for turning sixty. Paustian who is 59, would be well-advised to ask for a Kindle for his upcoming 60th birthday.
Paustian defended himself, saying:
“I’m getting a lot of pretty vicious emails from people, so I have to explain. The main thing is I was totally engaged in what was going on the floor… I knew what was going on. I knew how we were going to vote on amendments. So it wasn’t like I wasn’t paying attention to what was going on… If any of my constituents were offended, I apologize. I certainly wasn’t trying to offend anybody. I’m doing my job here for my constituents… It’s unfortunate. That stuff always gets political, too. But that’s just part of the job.”
I’ll say, your job IS political, Sparky!
While Paustian read, House Dems introduced amendments to a bill altering collective bargaining rights for teachers. The claim that he was ‘totally engaged in what was going on’ is reminiscent of parent/child ‘discussions’ about doing homework while TV, music and phone conversations run concurrently. The difference is, kids aren’t getting paid by thousands of constituents – but you knew that. Someone needs to tell the Readin’ Republican.