Sex, Scandal and Photoshop

Sex, Lies and Photoshop: China's Racy-Photo Scandals

So! This Times Magazine article is about how activists are blackmailing Chinese government officials with Photoshoped pornographic photos of the officials.

"In mid-March, police arrested eight suspects from four gangs that were accused of trying to raise $7.35 million through doctored pornography. Since last year, 37 suspects have been arrested in connection with 127 such extortion cases, according to local media."

By that quote, I can only say these guys have a lot of time on their hands. But here's the snag. Some photos of officials shown on online shows and "shame campaigns" are apparently real. There is even a video of Lei Zhengfu, a district-level official having sex with an 18-year-old woman. The video was uploaded by a journalist, can you say someone is going to get sued for libel.

So what should we, the public, believe? Do we believe the activist who is trying to expose the government officials ditry side or the government official who can easily say "I've been framed!"? (Pun intended)

This brings me back to my fellow alumni and former congressman, Anthony Weiner who had a sexting scandal back in 2011.

Via Twitter, Weiner accidentally posted a sexually suggestive photo of himself meaning to send it privately to a female follower of his. In a panic, he took it down and told the media he had been hacked. But instead of calling on an investigation, he hired a lawyer. This is when everyone groaned and said, "It's Elliot Spitzer all over again," minus the prostitution.

Before Weiner's scandal, I really liked his attitude. He wasn't afraid to yell at a reporter or two who was trying to flip a situation and many officials try to stay calm with the media to show they were collected, but Weiner was passionate. Although he didn't handle his sex scandal well at all, but sex in politics is always scandalous. It's even worse when government officials have wives.

In these types of situatutions, people panic and they start the blame game. Their careers and their families happiness are on the line, but maybe they should have thought of those before they gave someone a reason to blackmail them.