So far, the only allegations of illegal activity by Gaetz, the Florida Congressman who appears to be a prominent target because he was an aggressive supporter of President Trump, involve an investigation by the Justice Department regarding possible sex crimes involving underage women. Investigations are not evidence of anything, as the despicable Russian collusion tactic against Trump illustrated. If we are to presume innocence after charges are filed against an American, we must certainly presume innocence before any evidence of a crime has been found.

Sadly, progressives and Democrats have increasingly drifted away from the concept of presumed innocence as they flirt with totalitarianism. Men are presumed sex criminals: all that’s required is an accusation by a woman. Whites are presumed racists. Well, let me clarify that: these things are presumed true if they involve conservatives, Republicans, police officers, celebrities and teachers. If they arise in reference to leaders of the Democratic Party, the rules are different. In fact, the news media makes them up as the situation demands.

I have seen enough to conclude that Rep. Gaetz is a creep. I don’t like creeps, and as a general proposition I don’t think creeps should be in positions of influence and power, because you can’t trust creeps. They are ethically “bent.” Still, we have had a lot of creeps in our history who have, despite themselves, been, at least arguably,net positives to the nation. Thomas Jefferson was a creep, for example. Jack Kennedy. Bill Clinton. Donald Trump.

I know that Gaetz is a creep because he screams creepiness, like his stunt of wearing a gas mask on the floor of the House of Representatives during debate over the first pandemic aid bill, and joining a group of Republicans who forced their way into a closed congressional witness deposition during the run-up to Trump’s first impeachment in 2019. Gaetz travelled to Wyoming to join a rally against GOP Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted to impeach him. Then there’s his revelation last year that he has been living with a 19-year-old non-biological male, non-adopted “son”, Cuban immigrant Nestor Galban, whom he met when Galban was 12 and Gaetz was dating his older sister. Whatever it is, it’s creepy.

Or just listen to the guy.

As in so many other cases, the fact that someone like him could be elected speaks horribly about the voters in his district, the party that nominated him, and the state of democracy generally. His various statements show him to have a scarlet “C” on his forehead. In one op-ed he signed his name to this week, Gaetz wrote, “Washington scandal cycles are predictable, and sex is especially potent in politics. Let me first remind everyone that I am a representative in Congress, not a monk, and certainly not a criminal.”

“Not a monk” sets off my creep-dar (“creedar”?), and coming from someone like Gaetz, “not a criminal” does the same. (Richard Nixon said “I am not a crook,” but as Bill Clinton would note, it depended on what the meaning of “crook” was.) Gaetz also drew parallels to what he described as the political persecution of Trump and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. I agree that both of these were indeed persecuted. The AUC’s present approach is that if you are a creepy cosnervative, you must be guilty of something terrible.

This weeks’ allegation against Gaetz is that he shared nude photos of his various sexual conquests with colleagues on the floor of the House, among other places. He denies it, and showing nude photos isn’t illegal, but it is a) unethical b) despicable and c) signature significance for a creep. It is also signature significance for a creep to look at such photos offered by someone else, or to know about a workplace colleague doing that without pulling him aside and saying, “Look, asshole, you don’t do that here or anywhere, and if you do it again, I’ll hold a press conference and blow the whistle on you. Capiche?”

There have been some interesting developments in this story that I should mention here, although the Gaetz saga is, as usual, an example of the partisan news media focusing on anti-GOP or anti-Trump stories so they can avoid covering more important news that reflects poorly on the party they pimp for.

For example, Gaetz has claimed the investigation of his sexual activities arose from a blackmail scheme. The man he accused of trying to extort $25 million from his family admitted yesterday that he indeed asked the congressman’s father for money, but denied that it was extortion. Also yesterday, former state Rep. Tom Goodson revealed that Gaetz, when he was serving in the Florida legislature, opposed a “revenge porn” bill because Gaetz believed that recipients of nude images had a right to share them. This gives a bit more weight to the cell phone creep allegations, and is itself creepy—but it’s also hearsay.

Also this week, certifiable creep Katie Hill, who had to resign from Congress for having her own nude pictures online and also having a sexual affair with a campaign worker, wrote a Vanity Fair piece arguing that Gaetz should have to resign like she did if the allegations against him are true. (The allegations against her were true.) So far, Hill has refused to accept responsibility for her own misconduct: why is anyone asking her to weigh in on Gaetz?

But thanks for the segue, Katie. She exemplifies why the Axis of Unethical Conduct that dragged Joe Biden across the finish line to a tainted election victory is ethically estopped from calling creepiness a disqualification for high office. I can do it, they can’t. They can’t because despite their attacks on Donald Trump for being a sexist and alleged sexual predator (before he was elected), and despite their smearing of Bret Kavanaugh based on weaker than weak claims that he attempted sexual misconduct as a minor, and despite the grandstanding by progressives, the news media and Democrats while pandering to #MeToo ( which sprung from the guck known as Harvey Weinstein, whom prominent Democrats like the Clintons chose to enable knowing what he was as long as he donated enough to their causes), they knew that Joe Biden was a serial sexual harasser while Vice-President, which by their own declared standards disqualified him for high office. They knew because of this…

…and more. Not only did they choose to ignore it, one of their most vocal #MeToo panderers agreed to run with Creepy Joe as Vice-President.

Oh, believe me, I promise that I’ll insist that Gaetz leave office if even some of the allegations against him prove to be true. I, however, am concerned about mega-creeps being in positions of power for the right reason—ethics—and not the hypocritical, double standards advanced by other creeps for pure political gain.