The problems are real: lack of affordable housing, the debt-inducing cost of health care, inflation, underemployment. But these issues are all also complicated and honestly not something Republicans even pretend to have any plan to address. They are in the business of supplying villains, not solutions. And, mere days after a teenager armed with a legally purchased AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and large-capacity magazines entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and gunned down 19 students and two teachers, GOP lawmakers cast porn as the villain.
Now, what do school shootings and porn have in common? Absolutely nothing. But that didn’t stop Gov. Jim Justice (R-WV) from shifting the blame over to it (and, of course, video games).
“Let’s stop all the porn that our kids are absorbing every day,” he said before arguing against an assault weapons ban.
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Sure, that makes sense as a safety plan: take young men who suddenly lose their masturbation material and give them guns. Feels pretty safe, right?
The statements echo comments previously made by Ohio Senate candidate and Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance, who even called for a total ban on porn.
“I think the combination of porn, abortion have basically created a really lonely, isolated generation that isn’t getting married, they’re not having families, and they’re actually not even totally sure how to interact with each other,” he opined.
Has anyone told Vance that no one has ever, ever required an abortion from watching porn? Actual “interaction” is still required.
Vance’s silliness comes as no surprise to adult actress Skye Blue.
“Most politicians are thinking of any other thing to blame rather than being able to hold themselves accountable for the era they’ve created,” she observes. “If you want people to have babies, try fixing the actual problems in our economy because I’m pretty sure anybody watching porn is more likely to be having sex than not.”
Sex worker Liv Revamped agrees, explaining that pornography is just another form of entertainment.
“It honestly makes no sense. We are encouraging people to live happy and sexually open-minded lives. How would that stop people from creating families?” she asked.
Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) called the First Amendment protection of porn flimsy, which should send a chill through pornland.
“When you talk about limiting the freedom to watch pornography, you’re also talking about limiting the freedoms of any kind of expression that can be deemed offensive,” warns adult actress Jupiter Jetson. “Sex workers are the canary in the coal mine. J.D. Vance and his ilk aren’t fighting to protect your family from the evils of smut—they’re fighting to prevent you from free and open communication with a legal right to privacy.”
No one is arguing that adult content is great for marriage and families. Adult content, after all, is for adults, and should be consumed responsibly, like alcohol and cigarettes, contends award-winning porn star Ana Foxxx. The former fashion model suspects politicians speaking out against porn are doing so out of a personal motivation to remove their own temptations (just ask GOP Senator Ted Cruz).
“It seems to be a personal problem. I think a lot of senators engage in porn, have sex, or hire sex workers. They consume porn and then feel shame when the scandals come out. They want to remove porn to help themselves,” she reasons.
Remember that President we had before this one who signed off on a platform branding porn a “public health crisis” before his alleged tryst with porn superstar Stormy Daniels became public knowledge?
So, why now?
If the Republican Party can blame everything on porn it moves the conversation away from the real issues at hand. It’s an old magician’s trick—the art of misdirection.
Porn is not a gun, and watching porn kills no one. But making it the villain can cover up all sorts of real obscenity. Don’t let these slimy politicians steal your attention.
This story has been updated to reflect that J.D. Vance’s anti-porn comments were made prior to the Uvalde shooting.
