Run for cover

When an AP story doesn't mention the political party of misbehavior or ethical lapse, we can usually assume the people are Democrats, because if it involves Republicans, it will be plainly and repeatedly noted.

But what if it is about sex, and the gender of the perp isn't mentioned?

Supposedly there was a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" in the office of a Denver Minerals Management Service from 2002-2006 according to a story I read last week. During that period the Interior Department found some employees were getting drunk and having sex with oil-company personnel. The report also noted instances of cociane use in the office.

There were apparently 55 people employed in the office, so we have no idea how many were part of this "culture." But it would seem they were all women given there are only two choices, and most oil company personnel are men. Although it could be gay sex, I suppose. And what an interesting take NYT has--moving an unrelated story to the clause to introduce the story:

As Congress prepares to debate expansion of drilling in taxpayer-owned coastal waters, the Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal — including allegations of financial self-dealing, accepting gifts from energy companies, cocaine use and sexual misconduct.

After reading the NYT account, I was totally confused about who was zooming whom, and what was Royalty In Kind--an oil company exec, a government official or a quasi-government entity. "The Royalty in Kind (RIK) Program is responsible for managing Minerals Revenue Management’s (MRM) [Department of the Interior] commercial oil and gas commodity sales activity. Currently, the RIK Program is competitively selling over 800,000 MMBtu of natural gas per day and over 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Revenues from sales and other dispositions of RIK oil and gas in FY 2007 were over $4 billion." Link

My take-away is that when female officials or staff, whether working for the government, industry or some sort of hybrid contractor, are involved it is "promiscuity" and "unacceptable behavior." But when males did it, there will be hell to pay, careers ruined, and probably prison.