Redefining 'Whore' On The Hill?

If you bother to take a gander at either of the two "inflammatory" cards variously cited online for lighting the conflagration between Loretta Sanchez and Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chair Rep. Joe Baca, you'll see they are no big deal. While they are certainly sexier than material associated with the average female member of Congress, they are clearly not worthy of Baca's alleged use of the "whore" moniker. (Baca has denied making the remark.) On one of the cards, Sanchez is fully clothed up to her neck. In the other, she is sitting in a beach chair wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

If Baca's standard is that any pose Margaret Thatcher would not strike is "whorish" when struck by any other female politician, then he needs to fast-forward his standards to the 20th (sic) century. For those of us who know her, they are vintage Loretta. She's a flirt! Does that mean she should be vilified?

I asked her press secretary, Paula Netrete, whether Sanchez may try to form a Latina Congressional Caucus, having split from Baca's caucus, along with a half-dozen other members, who left for a variety of reasons. Sanchez and her allies left claiming that Baca and others are disrespectful toward Latina members. Netrete responded that she could not comment on that.


By Bonnie Erbe