Y’all will be comforted to know that Todd Courser, the Michigan legislator who attempted to smear himself with an e-mail claiming he solicited sex from a male prostitute — this so that worried voters would be relieved to learn that he was actually betraying his wife and children with a woman — has decided not to resign.
A Michigan lawmaker said he won’t resign after sending an email to Republican supporters falsely claiming he was caught having sex with a male prostitute and said in a statement released Monday he was the target of a blackmail attempt.
The Detroit News, citing audio recordings, reported Friday that Rep. Todd Courser of Lapeer had someone send the email to distract attention from his alleged extramarital affair with another lawmaker.
He now claims that it all had something to do with a blackmail attempt.
The retiring Republican Congresswoman that Courser would like to replace in 2016 has called for his resignation.
“Todd Courser, a man who never passes on an opportunity to preach about his supposed morals and his close relationship with God, constantly evoking religion in his personal and political stances, has proven to be completely unfit to represent the hardworking residents of Lapeer County, using taxpayer dollars to abide and assist his gross misconduct,” Miller said in a statement.
Even a Tea Party leader has called for his resignation:
“I think probably the best thing for them to do is resign and get their own personal lives straightened out,” said Gene Clem, president of VanKal Patriots, a Van Buren and Kalamazoo counties tea party group.
This is fun, don’t you think? I imagine legislative affairs are common enough, but how often does someone attempt to soften the bad publicity by preemptively smearing himself with rumors of homosexual dalliances?
And if I were gay I think this story would give me a severe case of indigestion. After all, gays have just won the right to marry throughout the United States, and their relationships are being cynically exploited? As in, “Whew. At least he wasn’t doing … THAT!” We can enjoy the ridiculous aspects of this story, but shouldn’t fail to recognize how casually gays are marginalized throughout American society.