The Weiner Effect

In my last post (Bad Boys, June 11) I mentioned that Mildred, Arnold Schwarzenegger's housekeeper, had kept a discreet silence up until that time,  but we could be sure she would be enticed into telling her story for a generous sum. 

She apparently got an offer she couldn't refuse. She and her Arnold look-a-like son are featured in Britain's Hello magazine and also the National Enquirer in the States (and you know your eyes skim over it in the grocery check-out line, don't lie).

She is different from the other bad girls out there, who are even now considering monetary offers, in that she apparently did not want the story to become public knowledge. By some accounts it was Arnold's wife Maria who leaked the story to the press in an understandable fit of fury. Mildred and her son then found themselves the center of a maelstrom. They have remained in seclusion until now. Since we can assume her housekeeping career is over, she may have decided it was wise to take the money and talk.

When confronted by Maria in a non-aggressive way, Mildred broke down and confessed. They both cried. Mildred told Maria "not to blame Arnie because it takes two." She offered to resign immediately, but in an incredible display of self-control and suppression of homicidal instincts, Maria asked her to stay through the Christmas holidays. Well, women do know how stressful the holidays can be without help.

Today porn star Ginger Lee came forward, in what she implies is her patriotic duty, to tell us that Congressman Anthony Weiner asked her to lie about all the sexy tweets he sent to her. As I write this, she is probably considering monetary offers that have come her way since she appeared before the cameras, while Weiner gets ready to face them in order to resign from Congress.

Speaking of Weiner, have any of you wondered if the men we see constantly checking and punching their cellphones, presumably "doing business," are actually sending salacious tweets? It had never occurred to me before but now, well, it does cross my mind.

I'm calling it the Weiner effect.

Bad Boys

What is with these guys? Can you even keep track of all the self-destructive behavior we're reading about every day? What causes men in powerful positions to behave like rutting jerks? Do they really think the object of their lust is not going to talk?

Obviously not. Dominque Strauss-Kahn may have thought the maid he accosted would think she was lucky to be raped by the future president of France, or worse, that no one would believe her because she was a black maid.

The other Lotharios must think the women are content just to be on the receiving end of their bad behavior. The gals, while feigning breathless passion, are probably thinking about who they can sell their story to. Maybe it will help launch their careers, they think, into show business, modeling or Playboy. At the very least, they will get their fifteen minutes of fame.

They have reason to think it, too. Several of the many mistresses of Tiger Woods were profiled and photographed in a lavish spread for Vanity Fair. They revealed things about their relationships with him you would really rather never know, but with each detail they could hear the ca-chink! of the cash register.

Ashley Dupre, aka Kristen, the call girl who cavorted with Eliot Spitzer, former governor of New York, now writes an advice column for the New York Post. She donned a pair of glasses to show she is a serious person.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's housekeeper has kept a discreet silence so far, but what do you want to bet she has received a few lucrative offers to tell her story? Can't you see it as a made-for-TV movie?

The young women on the receiving end of Congressman Anthony Weiner's lascivious tweets seem to be enjoying their few minutes in the spotlight. Will you be surprised if a few of them end up featured as Weiner's Girls in some magazine? Here's a thought: Why not photograph them roasting wieners on a grill?

The bad boys effectively flush their powerful careers down the toilet. You'd think history would have taught them that they might get caught with, well, their pants down.

Bad girls seem to benefit, at least temporarily, from bad boys' behavior.