No, not all "sex scandals" are created equal

Kari Chisholm

Just about every media outlet in town has written some version of the painfully predictable "look at all the sex scandals" story. It's easy-to-write, juicy-headline, lazy journalism. And worse, it excuses some pretty horrible behavior by putting it in the point-and-giggle "sex scandal" bucket.

Willamette Week's Aaron Mesh:

Cogen joins Adams on a dirty laundry list—from U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood to Congressman David Wu—of Oregon’s politically elite men behaving like tumescent teens. (Neil Goldschmidt’s repeated rape of a teenage babysitter is in an entirely different category.)

Oregonian's David Sarasohn:

What we have instead, from Bob Packwood to Portland Police Chief Derrick Foxworth to Sam Adams to David Wu to Jeff Cogen, are repeated episodes of resignation vigils based on sexual behavior.

Portland Tribune's editorial board:

Cogen, thankfully, is no Neil Goldschmidt, but the public now has a chance to measure his transgressions against the likes of Sam Adams, David Wu, Bob Packwood, former Police Chief Derrick Foxworth and former Sheriff Bernie Giusto.

And worst of all, the Oregonian's Becca Stanek did a rundown that includes Packwood and Wu - and includes Goldschmidt in the mix; along with Sam Adams, Matt Wingard, Jim Bunn, and the Palm Springs Seven who attended a strip club.

Lots of people have lots of opinions about Jeff Cogen's behavior, and whether it constitutes grounds for resignation or recall.

But I think we can all agree that drawing parallels between what he did -- consensual sex between willing adults -- is a far cry from Neil Goldschmidt's repeated rape of a teenager, Bob Packwood's repeated sexual assaults, and David Wu's "aggressive and unwanted" assault on a family friend.

Let me be clear: Jeff Cogen behaved badly. But equating Goldschmidt, Packwood, and Wu with Cogen lets Goldschmidt, Packwood, and Wu off the hook. And it communicates to those who behave like them that what they're doing is nothing worse than having an affair.

Consensual sex is not the same thing as rape and sexual assault. (And, for that matter, neither is going to a strip club, no matter how point-and-laugh hypocritical it is from family-values conservatives.)

Any reporter who puts Packwood and Wu in the same paragraph as Jeff Cogen (or Sam Adams or the Palm Springs Seven) is being lazy and irresponsible.

By Kari Chisholm Aug. 01, 2013