Republicans ♥ porn

I'm not surprised. Not in the least.

A recent study has concluded that people in states that are predominately conservative -- or "red states" -- purchase more pornography than those in "blue states." It's impossible, of course, to determine whether the consumers themselves are Republicans, Democrats, or something else, but you certainly can extrapolate based on the Zip codes where people order the most porn:

However, there are some trends to be seen in the data. Those states that do consume the most porn tend to be more conservative and religious than states with lower levels of consumption, the study finds.

"Some of the people who are most outraged turn out to be consumers of the very things they claimed to be outraged by," [says the professor who conducted the study, Benjamin Edelman of Harvard Business School].

[...]

[A company that operates a large number of adult websites] did, however, provide Edelman with roughly two years of credit card data from 2006 to 2008 that included a purchase date and each customer's postal code.

After controlling for differences in broadband internet access between states – online porn tends to be a bandwidth hog – and adjusting for population, he found a relatively small difference between states with the most adult purchases and those with the fewest.

The biggest consumer, Utah, averaged 5.47 adult content subscriptions per 1000 home broadband users; Montana bought the least with 1.92 per 1000. "The differences here are not so stark," Edelman says.

Number 10 on the list was West Virginia at 2.94 subscriptions per 1000, while number 41, Michigan, averaged 2.32.

Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year's presidential election – Florida* and Hawaii were the exceptions. While six out of the lowest 10 favoured Barack Obama.

Church-goers bought less online porn on Sundays – a 1% increase in a postal code's religious attendance was associated with a 0.1% drop in subscriptions that day. However, expenditures on other days of the week brought them in line with the rest of the country, Edelman finds.

Residents of 27 states that passed laws banning gay marriages boasted 11% more porn subscribers than states that don't explicitly restrict gay marriage.

To get a better handle on other associations between social attitudes and pornography consumption, Edelman melded his data with a previous study on public attitudes toward religion.

States where a majority of residents agreed with the statement "I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage," bought 3.6 more subscriptions per thousand people than states where a majority disagreed. A similar difference emerged for the statement "AIDS might be God's punishment for immoral sexual behaviour."

"One natural hypothesis is something like repression: if you're told you can't have this, then you want it more," Edelman says.

I've been talking about repression in this context ever since the scandals of Larry Craig and Blowin' Bob Allen. I'm no psychologist, but it seems obvious to me that if religious or moral pressures cause one to repress certain behaviors and urges that are otherwise natural and appropriate (say, sexual activity between consenting adults), it won't stop a person from satisfying those urges secretly ... and in the case of GOP politicians, when their predilections are discovered, it usually makes headlines.

A close cousin of repression is hypocrisy. And that's my biggest gripe about the Right: they're more than willing to condemn, even forbid, activity that they claim to find distasteful (say, non-missionary sex between consenting adults, or marriage between persons of the same sex), but they're still doing those things, or things like them, behind closed doors, as this study suggests. (Especially in hyper-repressed Utah ...)

Anyway, no, I'm not surprised that Republicans are porno fiends. I just think it would be better if they accepted such interests openly ... and if they stopped telling other consenting adults what they can and can't do in the privacy of their own homes.

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* Well, of course America's Wang™ is in the top ten. Duh.

Too stupid to breathe: Chris Buttars

Is it just me, or does Chris Buttars bear an ironic resemblance to the notoriously self-loathing (and gay) longtime FBI director J. Edgar Hoover? Just saying ...

Sure, I delight in making fun of certain backwards, anachronistic attitudes in certain places in Florida (*cough* Santa Rosa County *cough*), but then I'm reminded that it always could be worse. For example, I could live in Utah, where state Sen. D. Chris Buttars gives a whole new meaning to "batshit crazy."

Buttars, (far right) a Republican (like you had to ask) legislator from West Jordan, near Salt Lake City, has developed quite a reputation for bigotry and hate during his eight years in the Utah Senate. Last year he referred to a school funding bill as a "black [baby] ... a dark, ugly thing," but he's directed his truly offensive statements towards the GLBT community.

Over time, he's called same-sex relationships "abominations" and has compared gay activists to Muslim radicals. But the man who once called the gay rights movement "probably the greatest threat to America" outdid himself recently when he spoke to Reed Cowan, a documentary filmmaker now based in Miami:

Buttars told Cowan the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community doesn't want "equality, they want superiority."

"It's the beginning of the end," the West Jordan Republican said. "Oh, it's worse than that. Sure. Sodom and Gomorrah was localized. This is worldwide."

On Wednesday, gay-rights activist Jacob Whipple, founder of the All For One Initiative, called for Buttars' resignation from the Senate, urging supporters of the LGBT community to e-mail Buttars and Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville.

"He basically labeled my community as virtually the devil incarnate," Whipple said. "I don't think that he represents Utah any more. … Saying something so hurtful has no place on the Hill."

Rep. Christine Johnson, a Salt Lake City Democrat and a lesbian, also labeled Buttars' statements "hurtful," adding that she expects Senate leadership to address the remarks "in a responsible and timely manner."

Sadly -- but predictably -- Rep. Johnson's pleas will go unheeded. Buttars' pals in the Senate are rallying to his defense. After all, he's only saying what Republicans are thinking anyway.

But Waddoups defended Buttars, saying the anti-gay comments did not violate any Senate rules. He suggested that Cowan, a former [Salt Lake City] reporter, has a "vendetta" against Buttars.

"It's just unfortunate in my mind that someone wants to continue to [hurt] someone by virtue of a person's position on the issues," Waddoups said.

Cowan, who is openly gay, countered Waddoups' accusation.

"That is a cowardly attempt to direct attention away from what was actually said," the filmmaker and Miami TV anchor said. "I believe the world that is now hearing the words of Senator Buttars will judge it the way they will."

Elsewhere in the Rocky Mountains, another well-known (and plausibly gay) Butters could not be reached for comment.

Perhaps Sen. Buttars (you'll note I haven't made fun of his richly ironic name even once!) needs to hear from more people. Conveniently, his contact information is available right there on the Utah Senate website. I'll just copy it over here for convenience ...

9241 South Lisa Ave.
West Jordan, Utah 84088
Home (801) 561-0535
Fax (801) 561-3242
Email dcbuttars@utahsenate.org

Not sure what to send him, but I'm skeptical that bags of shit will make it through the mail. We could always email him the Donnie Davies video ... but he'd probably enjoy it too much. At any rate, every time he opens his mouth, Sen. Buttars shows the world that he really is too stupid to breathe.

(h/t reader MWG)

Today's Daily Schadenfreude: Fred Thompson

Utah Fredheads meeting? Table for four? Please follow me ...

Looks like Fred Thompson's campaign is off to a rollicking good start in one of America's most conservative states:

A handful of Utah "Fredheads" - political activists supporting the late entry of Republican Fred Thompson into the presidential sweepstakes - gathered Thursday in Salt Lake City to kick off their campaign for the oldest fresh face in the race.

Just four Thompson supporters showed up at Utah Republican Party headquarters for the event, leaving dozens of untouched cookies and vegetable snacks provided in hopes a much bigger crowd would materialize.

Those present listened in on a live nationally broadcast conference call in which the new candidate thanked his supporters and told them he would be the candidate who wouldn't just give lip service to topics such as the war in Iraq.

Yep, that's right. Four. F-O-U-R. As in count them on one hand. As in fit them all into a red pickup truck, comfortably. As in you can't even put together a basketball team. As in one for each of Utah's electoral votes, with one vote left over.

Four. People.

Maybe Utahns just don't like Aqua Velva?

"He's a solid conservative," [Brenda Caine of Salt Lake City] said, adding that his acting experience allows him to better communicate with the media and personally connect with people through television.

Screw acting. He'd better be a magician and make some voters appear, and fast, or he'll be "personally connecting" with a quick exit from the race.

Well, Freddie, ol' pal, with that kind of showing in Utah, I can't wait to see how your juggernaut does in, say, Massachusetts. In the meantime, congratulations to you, Fred "Crumpled Paper Bag" Thompson, for today's Blast Off! Daily Schadenfreude is for you!