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News :: Elections & Legislation |
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Stick a fork in Jack Ryan |
Current rating: 0 |
by AP via gehrig
Email: zemblan (nospam) earthlink.net (unverified!) |
22 Jun 2004
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"Calls for Ryan to leave the race came almost immediately after the revelations, but Ryan rejected them." |
June 22, 2004
Ryan Vows to Run Despite Sex Allegations
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:36 p.m. ET
CHICAGO (AP) -- Republican Jack Ryan vowed to stay in the race for U.S. Senate despite embarrassing allegations that he tried to pressure his former wife to perform sex acts in clubs while others watched.
``My intention is to stay in the race,'' Ryan said Monday after a California judge unsealed records of his divorce from to Jeri Lynn Ryan, the actress best known for roles on TV's ``Boston Public'' and ``Star Trek: Voyager.''
Calls for Ryan to leave the race came almost immediately after the revelations, but Ryan rejected them.
``I think this is a new low for politics,'' Ryan said Tuesday on Chicago's WLS-AM. ``It seems to me it's just a new standard, and I don't think it's healthy for our democracy.''
``There's no breaking of any laws,'' he said in an interview on WBEZ-FM. ``There's no breaking of any marriage laws. There's no breaking of the Ten Commandments anywhere.''
Jeri Lynn Ryan charged in a custody hearing that during surprise trips to New Orleans, New York and Paris in 1998, the year before they divorced, Ryan insisted she go to sex clubs.
She described a New York club ``with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling.'' She said she refused when Ryan asked her to perform a sexual act while others watched.
Ryan denied the accusations and said he felt bad for their son, now 9, that she would falsely accuse him.
``I did arrange romantic getaways for us, but that did not include the type of activity she described,'' Ryan said in court papers. ``We did go to one avant-garde nightclub in Paris which was more than either one of us felt comfortable with. We left and vowed never to return.''
Ryan, a millionaire investment banker-turned-teacher, won the GOP Senate primary in March despite having little political experience.
He faces Democrat Barack Obama. Recent polls show Obama holding a wide lead over Ryan in a state that has been trending Democratic in recent elections.
Ryan and his ex-wife vigorously fought the public disclosure of the files after their existence became known during the primary campaign, arguing that making them public would harm their son.
The Chicago Tribune and Chicago TV station WLS sued to have the documents released. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert A. Schnider ruled in their favor last week because of Ryan's high-profile candidacy.
In a news conference Monday, Ryan refused to comment further specifically on the allegations, saying his response in the court papers spoke for itself. ``I am sticking by the exact things I said five years ago,'' he said.
Ryan has tried to shore up support from Republican leaders in recent days. But one GOP member of the Illinois congressional delegation, Rep. Ray LaHood, called Monday for Ryan to withdraw his candidacy.
``There's no way the people of Illinois are going to countenance this behavior from a Senate candidate from the Republican Party,'' said LaHood, of Peoria.
Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, who is retiring and whom Ryan is hoping to replace, remained supportive of Ryan.
``Divorce cases and child custody cases are by nature acrimonious and allegations on all sides are often unreliable or sensationalized. The Jack Ryan that I know very well is a good and decent man,'' Fitzgerald said.
Obama did not return calls seeking comment. But he told the Chicago Tribune that it would not be ``appropriate'' for him to comment on the revelations. ``Obviously, Mr. Ryan and his supporters will be discussing this and I don't think that's my role,'' he said.
Democratic leaders have targeted Illinois as a key battleground in their effort to regain control of the Senate. Thirty-four seats are up for grabs in November.
In a statement issued Monday evening, Jeri Lynn Ryan did not mention the allegations but said she now considers Ryan a good man and loving father.
Divorce papers also dogged another millionaire Senate hopeful in Illinois this year. Blair Hull was an early front-runner for the Democratic nomination, but papers were unsealed from his 1998 divorce alleging that he struck his ex-wife and threatened her. Obama won that nomination.
@%< |
Copyright by the author. All rights reserved. |
Comments
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We Know Him Well |
by UC IMC reader
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
22 Jun 2004
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Unapologetic hypocrisy?
Preaches family values to the public while boasting of his sexual prowess with multiple partners here?
Too proud to admit he's wrong even when the facts indicate the opposite and are obvious to everyone else?
Megalomaniacal narcissism?
Readers of UC IMC have known for nearly two years the kind of candidate Jack Ryan is, because of his far-too-numerous comments here. Now it looks like the voters of the state now know, too, what a disreputable bum he is.
Just use the UC IMC site search feature by inputting "Jack Ryan" if you want to know more. |
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Re: Stick a fork in Jack Ryan |
by ijustkrushalot
uiuc.edu (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
22 Jun 2004
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if you honestly think that the guy posting on this site is the same guy who is running for office, then i truly feel sorry for you |
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Only himself to blame.... |
by 5
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
22 Jun 2004
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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040622/ap_on_el_se/illinois_senate_3
"Ryan, who said he had no plans to withdraw, had repeatedly assured GOP leaders the files contained nothing embarrassing enough to torpedo his bid for the Senate against Democrat Barack Obama.
Rumors about the documents' contents have been circulating since before the March 16 primary. Some of his GOP opponents raised them as an issue in that campaign, but Ryan won the primary handily."
I wonder why Ryan thought this would not "torpedo" his bid for the senate seat. While many Republicans will vote for Ryan regardless, I think his downstate support has taken a blow. Don't forget that "family values" and "Christian Coalition"-type Republicans won't approve of this. And, whether this is true or not, Ryan had to know this information would be damaging to the Republicans' attempt to retain this seat.. |
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Re: Stick a fork in Jack Ryan |
by NRA4Freedom
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
22 Jun 2004
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What an idiot...but then, UNLIKE Bill Clinton, he apparently didn't sexually harrass multiple subordinates, and UNLIKE Bill Clinton, he apparently didn't expose himself to strangers, and UNLIKE Bill Clinton, he apparently didn't commit adultery with subordinates, and UNLIKE Bill Clinton, he apparently rape anyone. When Bill Clinton was dripping sex from the White House, all you people had to say about it was that his personal sex life has NOTHING to do with his job and everyone needed to just shut up about it...but NOW it matters to you somehow???
LOL!!! |
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Re: Stick a fork in Jack Ryan |
by Joe Futrelle
futrelle (nospam) shout.net (verified) |
Current rating: 0
23 Jun 2004
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I personally think the sex-club affair mentioned in the divorce papers is absolutely irrelevant to this senate campaign, and it does not change my opinion of Ryan at all.
Which is not to say that I support him; I disagree sharply with him on policy and strongly support Obama.
And for God's sake let's vote, this next election, on policy, because we are seriously headed in the wrong direction and it's not because the people in power are getting divorced and going to goddamned sex clubs. I honestly would not care if G. W. Bush was getting blown by howler monkeys every night in the Lincoln bedroom; if I thought that what he was doing was good for the country, I'd vote for him. But he's destroying everything I value about this country, and he needs to go. And we need to take back the Senate and the House while we're at it. And Obama is gonna be a big part of that take-back here in Illinois. |
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Re: Stick a fork in Jack Ryan |
by IMC supporter in Charleston
btfstl (nospam) consolidated.net (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
23 Jun 2004
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The guy who calls himself "Jack Ryan" is a lot of things - you can practically set your watch by when he posts his rubbish - but he's definitely not the Jack!-Ass seeing his already sputtering campaign going down in flames.
Hey "Jack," if you see this, the Mayo Clinic called.
Your heart transplant is set for next week.
Have a nice day. |
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Re: Stick a fork in Jack Ryan |
by gehrig
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
23 Jun 2004
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What's interesting about this is -- although it's been clear for a long time that Dems are going to recapture this Senate seat, and that Kerry is going to carry Illinois -- is the way it's going to hurt the Republican ticket. Take a look at the head of the ticket -- a Presidential candidate that won't carry the state, and a Senate candidate that now can't carry his own neighborhood. What does that do to the party fodder lower down the ticket? It means that a lot of them are going to be sleeping with the electoral fishes that otherwise wouldn't. And it also means the party will have that much deeper a hole to try to dig itself out of for the next big dance.
I agree with Futrelle that it really _shouldn't_ matter whether Jack Ryan whacks off with the Reader's Digest or whatever. But the awkwardness with which the conservatives are trying to handle the news in this thread is indicative of the displeasure over the news. Added to the displeasure over Bush II -- whose disapproval rating continues its slow climb and approval rating continues its slow fall, the two having crossed a month or so ago, depending on which poll you follow -- and an awful lot of Illinois Republicans are likely to sit this election out.
By the way, here's our other Senator, Dick Durbin, giving hell to Rumsfeld.
http://durbin.senate.gov/sitepages/Issues/OIF-prisonerabuse.htm#defenseapprops
@%< |
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Re: Stick a fork in Jack Ryan |
by ijustkrushalot
uiuc.edu (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
23 Jun 2004
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basically, here are my choices for senator...
1. A squeeky clean, very honorable person who i happen to dissagree with on just about all of the issues...
or
2. The republican candidate, who i agree with on many issues, but happens to be a slimeball personally...
FREAKING REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!! COME BACK EDGAR!!!! |
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Re: Stick a fork in Jack Ryan |
by smann
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
24 Jun 2004
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I agree with Joe Futrelle; we should win this one on policy. I was exceedingly happy to see Barack Obama's response, refusing to try to get any sort of negative mileage out of the event.
That said, it's hard not to take a modicum of guilty pleasure in seeing the hypocrisy of the "family values" types exposed, in the tradition of recent revelations about William Bennett's gambling or Rush Limbaugh's drug problem. |
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Ill. GOP House Members Discuss Jack Ryan |
by AP
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
25 Jun 2004
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CHICAGO (AP) -- The state's Republican House members met privately to discuss Senate candidate Jack Ryan's campaign as he faced mounting pressure to drop out amid embarrassing sex allegations.
Although campaign spokesman Kelli Phiel declared that ``Jack Ryan is in the race to stay,'' Ryan abruptly canceled a fund-raising trip to Washington on Thursday.
Republican House members from Illinois met privately in the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. A Republican official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hastert agreed with fellow Illinois Republicans that Ryan should step down.
Another source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the campaign intended to conduct an overnight poll to gauge whether the campaign is salvageable.
Well-educated, articulate and glamorous-looking, Ryan was considered the GOP's best hope for reinvigorating an Illinois Republican Party demoralized by a corruption scandal and devastating 2002 election losses.
But those hopes were dashed in lurid fashion this week with the unsealing of divorce papers in which Ryan's ex-wife, ``Boston Public'' actress Jeri Ryan, alleged that Ryan took her to swingers clubs and tried to get her to have sex with him while others watched.
At least one Republican congressman has asked him to withdraw, several major newspapers have called on him to step aside or questioned his honesty, and the late-night comics are snickering. (Jay Leno: ``Jack Ryan, I've heard of going after the `swing vote,' but this is ridiculous!'')
In the court documents, Jeri Ryan, the blond actress who played a cyborg in a skintight outfit in ``Star Trek: Voyager,'' said her husband took her on surprise trips to New Orleans, New York and Paris and insisted she go to sex clubs with him on each trip.
The 44-year-old Harvard-educated Jack Ryan disputed the allegations, saying in court papers: ``We did go to one avant-garde nightclub in Paris which was more than either one of us felt comfortable with. We left and vowed never to return.''
For his part, Ryan's Democratic opponent in November, state Sen. Barack Obama, has avoided talking about the allegations, saying he wants to stick to the issues. Even before the GOP campaign took its embarrassing turn, Obama held a wide lead over Ryan for the Senate seat held by retiring Republican Peter Fitzgerald.
Hastert spokesman John Feehery said the speaker would not comment until he talked to the candidate.
The GOP cannot force Ryan off the ballot. But if he drops out before Aug. 27, the party can put up a new candidate. Among those mentioned: state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger and dairy owner Jim Oberweis, both of whom lost to Ryan in the primary, and former state Board of Education chairman Ron Gidwitz.
------
Associated Press Special Correspondent David Espo contributed to this report from Washington.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press |
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Re: Stick a fork in Jack Ryan |
by Joe Futrelle
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
25 Jun 2004
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.... and, that'll do it for Ryan.
He's dropping out of the race.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/25/il.ryan/index.html |
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Re: The True Jack Ryan |
by Jack Ryan
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
25 Jun 2004
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Dear Fans,
I know you are just as sad to my namesake go as much as I am. As I have been repeatedly asked and always denied. We are not one in the same.
I am dissapointed in Jack and proud at the same time. When confronted with the opening of private information, he did not ask what the meaning of "is" is. He fessed up and took his punishment like a man.
Republicans could not stomach this lapse in morality like you on the left and we simply told him to go. If he were a democrat or a green, I think this new found information would have enhanced his candidacy.
As for Barach Osama Bin Obama, I wonder if his cocaine problem will warrent the same scrutiny. I must admit, however, that he was smart enough to come forward prior the allegation.
Anyway, God Bless, Jack Ryan who is now teaching intercity black kids how they can, through hard work and not government handouts, reach their ultimate heights. God Speed Jack,
Jack |
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