Pure, solid gold cock ring!

August 19, 2007 2:00 PM

A little bit of personal piercing history that intersects with the larger tapestry of world politics. [NSFW, via BB.]
posted by homunculus (64 comments total)

I read this earlier on the Boing...

My thought.. this individual led a private life, and he had a right for it to remain private, no matter who is son is.

I'm sorry this hit the net.... There's really no point to it as far as I can see.
posted by HuronBob at 2:09 PM on August 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

One ring to bind them all...
posted by From Bklyn at 2:13 PM on August 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

You haven't lived until you've accidentally left your steel cock-ring in your travel bag, only to have a TSA employee dump your bag's contents onto an aluminum table for inspection...

Rinnnnnggg-ring-ring-rrrrrinnnnngggg goes the cock-ring as it spins to a stop on the table.

TSA lady as she picks up steel ring: "What exactly is this?"
Matty: "That's my cock-ring."

TSA lady puts down cock-ring, walks over to counter, and puts on some latex gloves.

I had a great trip.
posted by matty at 2:24 PM on August 19, 2007 [31 favorites]

The thing I don't understand is how people think this makes Karl Rove a hypocrite or demeans his character in any meaningful way. Is everyone supposed to be a carbon copy of their parents?

Salacious and entertaining, but in my opinion ultimately irrelevant. There are better ways to attack Rove.
posted by polyhedron at 2:25 PM on August 19, 2007

It makes you wonder how Karl would have grown up if he'd have been raised in a super-strict, super-conservative home.
posted by ColdChef at 2:30 PM on August 19, 2007

this individual led a private life, and he had a right for it to remain private

If by "private," you mean "regularly appearing in Piercing Fans International Quarterly."
posted by naoko at 2:30 PM on August 19, 2007 [2 favorites]

naoko... that was by choice....

Explain to me the point of "outing" this guy, so to speak, on the net... was it a slam on him??? or on Karl???

I just don't get it...
posted by HuronBob at 2:32 PM on August 19, 2007

HuronBob: "I read this earlier on the Boing...

My thought.. this individual led a private life, and he had a right for it to remain private, no matter who is son is.

I'm sorry this hit the net.... There's really no point to it as far as I can see."

I find it very interesting in a "secret lives people lead" sort of way. and regardless, for someone leading a "private life", he sure appeared on the cover of PFIQ a lot. (as naoko points out). To judge by the portrait the article paints, I don't think that Louise would have that much of an issue with his story being told.

However, it does go without saying that the reason this is getting so much play is because of the Karl Rove angle. I know Shannon's political views tend to skew way left on issues like this, and would happily accept the implication that there is a political aspect behind this news post (hell, he'll probably be by soon himself to confirm it), but I think that one can appreciate the story in a non-political context. and I agree with polyhedron that there are more salient points to be made against Rove.
posted by grandsham at 2:41 PM on August 19, 2007

but no child should suffer for the rings of the father.

except Karl Rove that is. Can you imagine what he would do with this material to a political opponent? This isn't proof of hypocrisy, this is just revenge. Not very Christian, but then neither is Karl.
posted by caddis at 2:48 PM on August 19, 2007 [3 favorites]

MetaFilter: Salacious and entertaining, but ultimately irrelevant.
posted by homunculus at 2:49 PM on August 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

I am the proud owner of Karl Rove’s father’s pure, solid gold cock ring!

Actually, I can't think of a better way to attack Karl Rove. The best part is what everyone has said: this says nothing demeaning or false about Karl Rove.

It's all about the company you keep, Karl Rove has made his career by befriending people who care all too much about his father's solid gold cock ring and what he did with it.
posted by geos at 2:51 PM on August 19, 2007

A friend of mine liked to tell the story of the time he was forbidden to take his cock ring on an airplane. He would end the story with detailed speculation on what they could have been worried he'd do with it.
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:56 PM on August 19, 2007

I don't see how this is an "attack." It's kinda interesting, I guess - Karl Rove's dad was gay, and a pierced person! That Rove is leading a life very different from that of his parents is not terribly unusual, is it?
posted by rtha at 3:01 PM on August 19, 2007

Bored of the Rings
posted by growabrain at 3:15 PM on August 19, 2007

His body, his choice... oh wait, Rove?!? This changes... well, absolutely nothing.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 3:19 PM on August 19, 2007

Surely the timing is enough to at least suggest that this story was released in part to reflect poorly on Karl Rove?

Many comments on other sections of the tubes leave no doubt that people want to use this story and the personal choices of a dead man to demean Karl Rove.

It's juvenile, at best. An entertaining story, I will grant, but born of puerile motive.

Gay body mod enthusiasts don't deserve to have their lives smeared across the public sphere for the purpose of demeaning the character of the person whom they adopted and presumably loved.

Likewise, Karl Rove is free to have differing opinions than his parents and it shouldn't reflect on his character that he chose a different path in life than the man who adopted him.

I personally would like to maintain some sort of high ground in the culture wars against dogmatic, fascistic theocrats and neoconservatives.
posted by polyhedron at 3:29 PM on August 19, 2007

I doubt Karl even knew.

Had he known, he would have called the local news outlets and publicly decried the scourge of Godless cock-piercers, had his adoptive-father "disappeared" to an unnamed eastern European dungeon, and payed the local courts and judges to supply him with a new father of his own choosing.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 3:35 PM on August 19, 2007

so now we're outing the relatives of well-known republicans? ... and you wonder why i objected to these tactics

here's why - it never stops with just the people who are passing the laws or advising those who do ... now it moves on to the family members, inevitably

why? ... because once this crap starts, it's awfully hard to stop it as the people who do it enjoy doing it too much

don't even bother to argue, guys ... the proof is right here in this link
posted by pyramid termite at 3:41 PM on August 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't think there's any such thing as being in the closet any more. "Information wants to be free" and all that...
posted by empath at 3:45 PM on August 19, 2007

So THAT'S a Frenum Ladder! I owe an apology to the guy at the Home Depot.
posted by ColdChef at 3:45 PM on August 19, 2007 [3 favorites]

don't even bother to argue, guys

Always a great way to start an argument.
posted by empath at 3:45 PM on August 19, 2007

I'm not too sure if you could call this "smearing" his life. As this sort of thing becomes more and more mainstream, the public is less and less shocked.

When we all first heard about Liberace and Rock Hudson being gay after they died of AIDS, there was some shock in Middle America, but nowadays it seems we hear about someone coming out of the closet at least once a week, with corresponding public ennui.

It's only smearing when it is something to be ashamed of. I think we're all grown up enough to realize being gay is about as outré as nose piercing.

So Daddy Rove was gay. Big fat deal. Let's move on.
posted by ranchocalamari at 3:59 PM on August 19, 2007

If christians had stayed limited by honesty, consistancy, and avoidance of hypocracy, they would now be a sect as small and obscure as the Samaritans.

It was only by realizing that God treasures success above all the commandments that christianity succeded. Well, that, and sucking up to the government of Rome (their erst slaughterers), and all succeeding governments. And continuing to receive God's blessing and support.

Have any believing Bushies commented on this little revelation about Rove's dad? Even to offer their prayers?
posted by hexatron at 3:59 PM on August 19, 2007

It's hardly an outing if Louie was appearing on the cover of PFIQ so often. He was obviously happy to share his piercings. He didn't hide his homosexuality, and Karl apparently had no problem with it, so I don't see how you'd attack Karl with this even if you wanted to. Besides, the base would probably just ignore it.

Of course it's fucked up that Karl made a career out of demonizing gays, but it's hardly news, and he never apologizes about anything anyway. This story is useless as a political weapon (and might even backfire), but it's an interesting story in its own right.
posted by homunculus at 4:00 PM on August 19, 2007 [2 favorites]

ranchocalamari: If there isn't a sensational aspect to this story, if being gay and piercing your dick is no longer provocative... why does anyone care?

Your rationalization doesn't seem to hold water. Liberace and Rock Hudson were public figures. Louis Rove was not. I'm going to need to hear some better justification for the attention this story has received before I'll accept it as harmless.
posted by polyhedron at 4:06 PM on August 19, 2007

Can someone tell me how we know it isn't a hoax? I'm not familiar with the blog or the author.
posted by merelyglib at 4:07 PM on August 19, 2007

homunculus: I don't have a problem with the story so much as the context and apparent purpose.

I agree that as a political attack it would backfire. The base will ignore it, and anyone who seriously attempts to use this story to attack Karl will fail.

That said, it doesn't change my belief that this story has received this attention in an attempt to attach a stigma to Karl Rove. If there weren't political motivations, why would The Huffington Post write multiple articles about it?
posted by polyhedron at 4:14 PM on August 19, 2007

Rove keeps a photograph of his father on his White House desk and has remarked to reporters that his father "lived life exactly the way he wanted to live it."

FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE for giving me a tiny little reason to hate Karl Rove a tiny little bit less. Dag.
posted by ColdChef at 4:16 PM on August 19, 2007

Owie.
posted by mazola at 4:20 PM on August 19, 2007

matty, your story reminded me of this handy column: How to safely fly with your sex toys.
posted by homunculus at 4:22 PM on August 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

But sensationalism doesn't equal smearing. The thought that Rove's father being gay is bad, harmful or something to be ashamed of is plain old wrong-headed. Imagine if you were to "out" someone who is bi-racial. The only traction you'd get is perhaps among the booger picking KKK crowd, but even in the most conservative of political circles most folks wouldn't bat an eye. The reason is that being bi-racial is nothing to be ashamed of (perhaps 75 years ago, but not now.) There just isn't the outrage anymore, and what little there is is only amongst the most pre-historic, bible-thumping of conservatives. I'd like to think we're more grown up than those folks.
posted by ranchocalamari at 4:25 PM on August 19, 2007

Forgive me, I should have written:

The reason is that being bi-racial isn't perceived as anything to be ashamed of (perhaps 75 years ago, but not now.)
posted by ranchocalamari at 4:32 PM on August 19, 2007

ranchocalamari: If you don't think many, many people in this country think there's something wrong with being gay, you are out of touch with reality.

I personally don't hold that view, but the only reason this story has garnered any attention is precisely because there is still a stigma attached to being gay particularly if your sexual preferences are more fetishistic.

Your response is a bit confusing because you essentially restate the point I made yet draw the opposite conclusion. Of course no one would care about this if society was okay with gay fetishists. But then we wouldn't be having this discussion would we?
posted by polyhedron at 4:35 PM on August 19, 2007

I mean the piercing pics, not the gay.
posted by merelyglib at 4:36 PM on August 19, 2007

polyhedron, those Huffington posts were not about the BME piece I posted, they're about a book about Rove called The Architect which came out last year. The authors of that book were trying to call Karl Rove out for his hypocrisy, but nothing came of it, afaik.
posted by homunculus at 4:40 PM on August 19, 2007

So you aren't upset by this, but you are getting upset because other people are getting upset? I'm surprised you can get through the day without having a nervous breakdown.

I'm not going to get hot and bothered when some Neanderthal on Fox news gets in a huff about Bill Clinton getting a blow job, why should I give any more credence to this story?

Gay-schmay. Nothing to see here.
posted by ranchocalamari at 4:42 PM on August 19, 2007

You know, in a few decades when people roughly my age are going to occupy the White House, I figure we'll have at least a few candidates who are pierced and tattooed. That should be interesting.
posted by jonmc at 4:48 PM on August 19, 2007

Rove keeps a photograph of his father on his White House desk and has remarked to reporters that his father "lived life exactly the way he wanted to live it."

Well thats the biggest crock of shit I've seen all day.

Rove Jr. must have hated his father, or at least hates his memory to make a very successful career out of making life hard for gay people. I honestly can't wrap my head around a man who admires his father for "living life how he wants to live it" and then simultaneously working to ensure that millions of others can't do the same.

He either didn't like his father that much or else he did, but just assumes that gay Republicans (or gays with high-level Republican connections) won't suffer badly under the society that he's helped to create, and that makes it okay.
posted by Avenger at 4:52 PM on August 19, 2007

I can just see the first candidate who experimented with bi-sexuality is questioned by the press.

"I sucked cock, but I did not swallow"
posted by ranchocalamari at 4:53 PM on August 19, 2007 [4 favorites]

I can just see the first candidate who experimented with bi-sexuality

Well, let's say 'the first candidate who experimented with bisexuality and got found out,' since at leasta plurality of people I know (myself included) fall under that rubric, so I see no reason that politicos are that different, it's just that there's way more media scrutiny these days.
posted by jonmc at 4:59 PM on August 19, 2007

ranchocalamari: If this were framed as a bio piece on a significant member of the body mod community, it wouldn't bug me. It's presented as a piece on Karl Rove's dad. It is far from an egregious smear piece, but it is the precursor to such.

I care about these things because I see them as an affront to civil discourse. It prevents rational judgement of Karl Rove, and complicates the presentation of a substantive indictment on Rove's character. It greatly simplifies the marginalization of dissenting and critical voices.

Thanks for keeping it civil.

homunculus: Ah, my mistake. I totally misread the date and I'm really bad about telling September and August apart. I thought those HuffPo pieces were posted recently and thus assumed they were relevant to the discussion at hand.
posted by polyhedron at 5:01 PM on August 19, 2007

Avenger: Another possible interpretation is that Karl Rove loved his father but does not have the same morals as him. Love is not a rational emotion.

It would be possible for Rove to love his father and choose to ally himself with powerful dogma that has served his political goals.

I love my parents but disagree with them on plenty of fundamental issues which I ardently defend and pursue. Does that make me a hypocrite? No, I think it makes me human.
posted by polyhedron at 5:13 PM on August 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

polyhedron: I think I would tend to agree with you if it were written as a genuine smear piece, but if anything it seems like someone who was part of this shared community wanted to let a little secret out of the bag. And as somebody has mentioned before, Daddy Rove was already a poster boy for that community. If he were deep undercover, I'd see your point, but as things stand, it's just more information.

As for those who would let this somewhat boring bit of news cloud their minds about Karl Rove and his place in history, they are myopic fools who don’t see the forest for the trees. I wouldn’t give that much credence to their opinion if having a gay dad affects their feelings about a war criminal.
posted by ranchocalamari at 5:19 PM on August 19, 2007

I love my parents but disagree with them on plenty of fundamental issues which I ardently defend and pursue. Does that make me a hypocrite? No, I think it makes me human.

My mom is a fundamentalist Christian. Do I disagree with her? You bet. Still love her? Of course.

But if I had promoted an amendment to the constitution banning Federal recognition of my parent's Christian marriage, or vigorously promoted a culture which viewed my mother as sub-human, or otherwise set out to viciously persecute the group that my mother belongs to, I think one could reasonably wonder weather or not I really cared for my mom that much.

At least thats the way I see it. Rove has made his bed with people who would be thrilled to return to a time when his father would have been jailed or perhaps committed to an asylum for "being who he is". The kind of thinking (or lack of thought) that goes into a position like that is mind-boggling.
posted by Avenger at 5:28 PM on August 19, 2007 [3 favorites]

Last I checked, you can't "out" someone who doesn't hide anything. And there's few things "less hidden" than magazine spreads. It's interesting because it speaks to the differences in generations.
posted by petrilli at 5:39 PM on August 19, 2007

I honestly can't wrap my head around a man who admires his father for "living life how he wants to live it" and then simultaneously working to ensure that millions of others can't do the same.

You'd make a lousy Republican. They are large. They contain multitudes.
posted by ColdChef at 5:42 PM on August 19, 2007

I don't think anyone is really upset about "outing" this guy, he was publicly involved in the piercing community. My issue is the context and ostensible political motivation. If this article were just written about Louis Rove and celebrated his life, instead of framing it in the context of his political son who has lately been receiving national attention, I wouldn't have any issue with it. But if the author did not use this article to draw a connection between Karl Rove and kinky gay sex it probably would never have been published let alone receive the attention it has.

Avenger: If your mother is a fundamentalist Christian, it is probable that she is against homosexual marriage. If you fought to enable homosexual marriage, something your mom probably considers abomination, would that mean I should question your love for your mother?

Of course not. Same thing applies here.
posted by polyhedron at 5:59 PM on August 19, 2007

Avenger: Upon further reflection I suppose you're making the argument that he is working to deprive people of the lifestyle they choose, instead of merely enabling something they disagree with. Please allow me to amend my argument.

If you fought to ban prayer in school, something your mom is likely to consider essential to the development of young minds, should I then question your love for her?
posted by polyhedron at 6:04 PM on August 19, 2007

eww! eww! ewwww! ewwww! ewwwwwwww!

::puke
posted by mike3k at 7:00 PM on August 19, 2007

Well, fuck you too.
posted by fandango_matt at 5:55 PM on August 19 [+] [!]

not without your golden ring you won't you putz
posted by caddis at 7:36 PM on August 19, 2007

Karl Rove's dad is gay? That explains the anal-birth of a son he had.

Piercings, shmircings. Everybody deserves a little adrenaline boost now and then..
posted by Balisong at 8:24 PM on August 19, 2007

"Rove keeps a photograph of his father on his White House desk and has remarked to reporters that his father 'lived life exactly the way he wanted to live it.'"

ColdChef writes "FUCK YOU, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE for giving me a tiny little reason to hate Karl Rove a tiny little bit less. Dag."


Funny, it makes me dislike Karl Rove all the more. Basically, Karl's saying that connected Republicans can do whatever they want -- his father can pose on magazine covers showing his pierce penis, and Mary Cheney can have a baby with her lesbian lover -- but everyone else must live their lives according to the prejudices of the great unwashed masses of Fundies.

It's at best aristocratic arrogance and an implict admission that the Republicans are pushing "morality" not for moral reasons but just to get votes.

It explains not just why Rove's father was left alone to do things that hurt nobody, but why fellow Republicans turned a blind eye to David Vitter's and Mark Foley's illegal habits while at the same time persecuting gays in the name of "family values". It explains the Log Cabin Republicans, who didn't band together to secure rights for all, but just to get their special dispensation tickets punched.

It's the crying hypocrisy of America that Karl Rove boasts his dad can live his life in a way, that should we plebeians attempt it, Karl will make sure we're hounded and persecuted to get votes.

Of course President Bush thinks he's above the law. That flows straight from the standard Republican play-book, that says that every Republican, if he's sufficiently powerful, should be above the law. That there's one law for DC apparatchiks and the rich, and another for the rest of us.
posted by orthogonality at 8:33 PM on August 19, 2007 [6 favorites]

Karl Rove probably loved his dad.

Karl Rove does not care about gay, or not gay. Karl Rove cares about power. If being a proponent of gay rights had been the path to power, Rove would have taken it. The fact that Karl Rove chose the (unfortunately for us) winning team, and that that team is anti-gay (and so on), and that Rove helped that team win, doesn't make him a hypocrite (after all, he's not the gay, pierced one - his dad was).

Dick Cheney is not a hypocrite for loving his lesbian daughter while working to make her life more difficult (almost certainly because it's about power for him, and not because he thinks homosexuality is immoral). It makes him a bad father and a poor human being.

The story doesn't really have a whiff of "Ah ha! Now we've got him!" It's got a sixth-grade scandal sort of feel - sensationalistic, but not really malicious.
posted by rtha at 8:44 PM on August 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

I think people are conflating two issues when criticizing the story as a smear campaign. It was published by Body Modification Ezine. Obviously, body-modification enthusiasts (many of them gay) are not going to consider it a smear to reveal that someone has a parent who is himself a gay body-modification enthusiast. I don't even think they'd even see it as a scandal. The point is neither the gayness nor the gold cockring(s) of the father. It's the apparent hypocrisy of the son.

Unfortunately, bmezine.com had to know that many people will view a gay penis-piercer as scandalous, and will use that part to criticize Rove rather than Rove's hypocrisy. As someone who sees nothing wrong with the way Louie Rove lived his life, and who's undecided about the whole hypocrisy charge, I at the very least find the story fascinating for the insight it gives into Karl Rove's character.
posted by granted at 9:39 PM on August 19, 2007

If you fought to ban prayer in school, something your mom is likely to consider essential to the development of young minds, should I then question your love for her?

Well, I don't believe that forcing religion on school-age kids is the same thing as securing basic civil rights for our fellow human beings, so I'll just leave it at that.

I can tell you that if my mom tried to take away my civil rights, I would probably question her love for me as well.
posted by Avenger at 9:48 PM on August 19, 2007

I will, however, say if you think spreading a story about Karl Rove's father's homosexuality and pierced gentialia is revenge or smear material, well, that says a lot more about you and your views than it ever will about Karl Rove.

In case you're talking to me, since I posted this, no, that's not it. I didn't post this to smear or laugh at anyone; if anything I can relate to Louie in many ways. I posted this because I thought it was a surprising story about a fellow enthusiast who did things his own way, despite his bizarre association to the stolid powers that be.

But I'm tired, and I'm tired of explaining this. If that's not good enough, well, fuck you too.
posted by homunculus at 11:00 PM on August 19, 2007

I wouldn’t give that much credence to their opinion if having a gay dad affects their feelings about a war criminal.

Hear, hear.
posted by homunculus at 11:02 PM on August 19, 2007

Jesus, has no one heard of Human Interest? This is a story about parent/child relationships, their ironies and their effects. Let's not be sensationalist or obtuse about that.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:35 PM on August 19, 2007

Louie did things his own way, and obviously so has Karl. About the only thing this could be used for is an argument against gay adoption.

"Little Karl was adopted by a gay man and look at what it turned him into!!!!!!!"
posted by Enron Hubbard at 5:17 AM on August 20, 2007

"Louie did things his own way, and obviously so has Karl. About the only thing this could be used for is an argument against gay adoption.

"Little Karl was adopted by a gay man and look at what it turned him into!!!!!!!" posted by Enron Hubbard

Except that it apparently turned him into a mahvalous success. KKKarl got Bush elected twice by hook or crook. He commanded the entire Republican Gestapo until the last few months. He has successfully outed a CIA operative for political gain without repercussions. He can even dance like a hip-hoppa. Shit rolls right off him like water off a duck's back.

He is a slimeball, and I know many of us hate the man, but is his success and damn near perfect track record at his chosen profession truly an argument against gay adoption? Puh-lease!
posted by HyperBlue at 1:05 PM on August 20, 2007

Sorry for the delay in replying.

I don't see this as "outing" because he WAS out, the news that he was out has been published in the mainstream for a year, and in terms of the piercing aspect, he was a well-known cover model. Plus he's dead, and his friends knew of his interests, and obviously his family was at least aware he was gay, if not more. I published it because it's a fascinating intersection of piercing history and political history, which is something I document at BME in general (piercing history that is)... the father being an influential architect of one scene, and the son being an influential architect of another.

I certainly hope that no one thinks that Karl's father somehow being gay and being into cockplay in general is a diss on Karl -- given where it was published (BME), I think it should be obvious that we see that as a GOOD thing!!!

That said, it's quite sad to see the son in effect killing many of his fathers friends by denying them healthcare via gay marriage -- I believe there will be a followup interview on BB in the morning that addresses this.

Re: Who Karl Rove is and why, personally I think he's simply a mercenary. End of story.
posted by glider at 8:36 PM on August 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

Remember all those movies from the 60's and 70's that somehow spiked the "man's" punch with LSD or toll house cookies with hash? Why hasn't the The Society for Creative Anachronism or some other crazy mother fuckers dropped a load of X or mescaline in Rove's, Limbaugh's or any of the neo-con's ice tea? I mean, how hard could it be?
posted by ranchocalamari at 8:48 PM on August 20, 2007

Karl Rove's Pierced Family Jewels, part 2: Jim Ward interview (audio)
posted by homunculus at 2:48 PM on August 21, 2007

Karl Rove's pierced family jewels, pt. 3: Fakir Musafar and PFIQ (audio)
posted by homunculus at 4:21 PM on August 26, 2007