Rep. Pete Sessions defines "strip club" and "hypocrite"

Welcome back to the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

"What bothers me is if you say one thing and do something else."

-- Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), talking about lobbyists on National Public Radio's Marketplace.

It bothers us too, which is why Sessions is this week's winner of the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week. Oh, we just love it when Republicans go out of their way to define "hypocrite" for us, especially when they're in the process of trying to explain away their own hypocritical behavior.

Last spring, Sessions, who is rated at 92 percent on family values by the Christian Coalition, held a fundraiser at a Las Vegas burlesque club called Forty Deuce. While being interviewed for Marketplace, Sessions protested the interviewer's characterization of the place as a strip club:

"It is what I would call a burlesque show, where there's a woman who comes out and has a dress on... Uh, she never gets naked. There's no nudity, there's no nudity in there."

And then, the program quotes the club's owner, Ivan Kane, about his brand of burlesque:

"The key component would be to have girls who were dancers taking their clothes off, not just girls taking their clothes off."

A description of the "burlesque show" is displayed on the front page of the club's Web site:

"Jaws drop and drinks are ignored as the tempo picks up and the dancer steps up, shedding boa, gown, and gloves towards the electrifying finale."

Sessions was highly critical of the "wardrobe malfunction" by Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at the halftime show during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, blaming it on their "liberal" crusade against America. Guess it's not just liberals who enjoy a titillating show, huh?

Sessions scored a fair amount of criticism for himself from Texan pols, Republicans and Democrats alike, for his Vegas burlesque night.

After reading the Marketplace story online, constituent Linda Coleman left this comment:

"I'm in Pete Sessions' district. He's one of those 'family values' types who's always on his soapbox about issues pertaining to morality. Why am I not surprised that he has fundraisers in Las Vegas strip clubs?"

So, let's ask the expert. Congressman Sessions, would that be like when "you say one thing and do something else?"

Some of that criticism apparently sunk in, because this year Sessions' annual Vegas party was held at a sports-bar-themed place owned by rapper Jay-Z.

One final note: Sessions supports legislation to ban desecration of the American flag. But here's a picture from Forty Deuce that might change his mind:

Remember our motto: So many Republican hypocrites, so little time.

See you next week!

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