Bryon Noem, the husband of recently fired DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, was revealed to be fond of dressing up in women’s clothing, often with massive fake breasts, while paying to interact with others portraying “bimbos,” the Daily Mail reported in a “scoop” that appears to be well-sourced.
His wife issued a statement to the New York Post saying she was “devastated” and her family was “blindsided.” President Trump only commented that he felt badly for the family and that his former DHS head’s husband’s odd hobby was “news to him.”
Predictably, the revelation, which 56-year-old Byron Noem has not denied, thrilled progressives, who pointed to his wife’s alleged hypocrisy in opposing LGBTQ rights, and horrified conservatives, who are as kinky as anyone else but don’t like admitting it.
What’s going on here?
Ethics Alarms 
I would assume Weiner will eventually be rehabilitated by the Left. Unless, of course, they never forgive him for helping tank Hillary Clinton’s candidacy.
I am leaning to the side of Kristi not knowing; however, you are correct that there really is no way to know one way or another. Plenty of women, especially busy women, simply trust their husbands. I would hope Byron would have thought better of his internet activities, but the Noems don’t seem to be the most savvy of pols.
Who’s up for putting together an Ethics Program for family members of elected officials?
Me! Me!
Rule #1: Stay off the internet!
As someone who travels some of these circles…. I’d bet that this is more common that you think, although the specific form of this isn’t as familiar to me, bimboification is in the same family as pup play or ABDL.
Not exactly my scene, but I’ve been told that regardless of whether the people we’re talking about, usually very high-powered straight men, like dressing up as dumb ladies with stonking huge tits, or dogs, or infants, the point of the exercise is a loss of responsibility. These guys usually have very high paying, high stress jobs, and the experience of being able to put all that stress on a shelf and just be a dumb bitch for an hour or two is apparently therapeutic. I would be willing to offer odds on the average person knowing someone that partakes in an exercise like this, even if they don’t know it’s happening.
I’d give even money either way on whether she knew… He’d have had to tell her, he wouldn’t have had to, and I have no idea what their relationship is like. There are places you can go to do things like this, the best part about having very high paying, high stress jobs is that you can afford the people and place to do your thing discreetly and safely.
Which brings me to the ethics point that I think will be missed:
Whoever took those pictures and blew that story is a raging, gaping, cavernous asshole. The ladies who talked to the press should all be fired. Outing someone is incredibly taboo in the kink scene, everyone has something to lose…. I can’t imagine that they would have gone public had Byron not been married to Kristi. This guy isn’t being outted for being kinky, there are tens of thousands of freaks in America, this guy is being outted for being Republican.
Yes. How did all this come to light? Very nasty.
No doubt the lightspeed travel at which this news was reported is connected to him being a Republican and the spouse of someone who worked for Trump. Nevertheless, spouses of politicians need to find more…I dunno…respectable…ways to blow off steam.
No, it isn’t fair. If you are in the public eye, you are going to be criticized more than the Average Joe. Anyone who works for Trump should already know that minding their Ps and Qs is essential. Any step outside the box is going to be discovered and reported faster than the coyote can be squashed by an ACME anvil. They need to make sure their family members are on board with being extra careful about their online activity and their recreational pursuits. There are people out to get them.
Most guys I knew blew off steam by playing golf or swimming or running or just having a beer after work.
But wait! Aren’t we supposed to be kind? Couldn’t this be a teaching moment? This guy is either transgender or questioning. That’s two letters: T and Q! Shouldn’t he be doing presentations in elementary schools? He’s not cisgendered, so he’s got that going for him. What are his pronouns. Isn’t it wonderful a Republican is married to such a paragon of so many great things? If Noem were a Democrat, she’d be scoring more points that Pete Buttigieg.
…and that makes five or six keyboards the contributors to this site now owe me. OB, this is at least three from you alone!
And there’s Ann Althouse commenting on a NYT article (making the Times morally superior to the Daily Mail): “As the yard signs in my neighborhood say: Kindness is everything.” Hah!
Ah, but Joel, it’s the serious commenters like you, and Ryan, and AM, and HT, and so many others too numerous to mention, that do all the heavy lifting.