November 12

Aaron Schock

It was not a good week for all Republicans. On Thursday “Not Gay!” Aaron Schock (b. 1981), former Representative from Illinois, was indicted on 24 counts by a federal grand jury on charges ranging from wire fraud, making false statements and filing false tax returns to theft of government funds.* Schock had resigned his House seat in March, 2015, to avoid an impending congressional ethics inquiry. 

His taste for government funded first class travel and lavish Victorian office decor (spending $5,000 in government funds on a chandelier for his office**, which was a dead ringer for a Downton Abbey set) did not serve him well. When he took his seat in the House on 2009, he was the youngest member of congress, but financial impropriety had already dogged him from his prior terms in the Illinois legislature. His own father admitted that Schock had notorized documents with false dates while helping his parents establish tax shelters. 

When in the U.S. House of Representatives, he voted against every pro-gay piece of legislation, even though he was outed by a reporter who caught him showering naked with his male roommate. Not to mention that TMZ cameras caught him trolling the streets of Tampa's gay neighborhood. Before that Schock had been dogged for years by accusations of gay activity. Oh, the hypocrisy! 

*Among other things, it was revealed that he spent campaign money on workout DVDs. Those six-pack abs needed a lot of special attention.

**Again, $40,000 of government money was used to pay for his office furnishings, in addition to the fees of an interior designer.

I know this post is flippant and mean-spirited, but that's just me.

Weekend at the frat house, Part II