Just the Porn, Ma’am

There are times when governmental action is to be lauded. And then there are those times it should be mocked relentlessly.

In what’s most likely a symbolic move to appease social conservatives, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has asked the FBI to form an anti-porn vice squad. It will be small — eight to ten agents — but doubtless dedicated, as it ferrets out materials of prurient interest made for consenting adults.

Thankfully, FBI agents are treating the vice squad with the gravitas it, uh, demands. On 9/20/05, The Washington Post reported:

"I guess this means we've won the war on terror," said one exasperated FBI agent, speaking on the condition of anonymity because poking fun at headquarters is not regarded as career-enhancing. "We must not need any more resources for espionage."

Among friends and trusted colleagues, an experienced national security analyst said, "it's a running joke for us."

A few of the printable samples:

"Things I Don't Want On My Resume, Volume Four."

"I already gave at home."

"Honestly, most of the guys would have to recuse themselves."

It’s safe to say that social conservatives are still more than a little hung-up on sex. The Bush administration has funded programs promoting marriage (not a bad goal per se, but the cost-value and effectiveness of these programs is questionable). Certainly some in the administration do not approve of sex outside of marriage, although with Ashcroft gone a certain zealotry may have vanished (interesting that this Meese-like push is under Gonzales!). Nor do they apparently want even married couples to use porn... the less sex, the better, it seems. Teenagers should not be taught about birth control, nor should those who live in poor, emerging nations. When a teenager gets pregnant, she should be forced to have the child. However, supporting the child is the new mother’s own damn problem. That’ll teach her.

I just have difficulty making sense of that world view. Continuing on this theme, website Crooked Timber has a fun and insightful dissection of Professor Leon Cass’ laments about the loss of feminine virtue and how, as a result — wait for it — society is going down the tubes. Basically, if young women had less sex and held out for marriage like they did in the good ol’ days, America would be a better place. The Crooked Timber poster, Kieran Healy, keenly pegs Cass’ view as a “desire to return to some kind of Victorian nightmare.” While Cass does not mention Victorian sexual mores (he's only posted part one of his three part series on "The End of Courtship"), it’s painfully apparent that he holds them in high ideal. Of course, I doubt Cass would be aware that the British Victorian prudishness is historically something of an aberration (earlier eras were less uptight), or that he would know of the stunning sexual hypocrisy of the era (prostitution was absolutely rampant in Victorian London). In other words, were the world suddenly to change and become as Cass thinks he wants it to be, I think he would be extremely dismayed. (The tip for the Crooked Timber post came from an Atrios post from Friday 10/21/05).

Frankly, if I want some insight into the destructiveness of contemporary dating rituals, I’ll read Patrick Marber’s Closer yet again.