Stormie Janzen, Sessions Aide and Former Blogger

Hotline’s Blogometer reports on the sad case of a congressional staffer’s free expression being squelched.

Montgomery Advertiser reports, Stormie Janzen, an aide to Sen. Sessions, shut down her MySpace blog after the office received a complaint about “a provocative photo of her bare midriff in unzipped jeans” on the site.

Having an interest in Alabama, the United States Senate, blogging, and (depending on the subject) provocative photos, this required further investigation. Here’s the Advertiser story:
Sessions’ aide revealed on sexy Internet diary

Photo: Stormie Janzen, shown in a photo from her MySpace.com blog, did not appear to use the blog to comment on congressional business. An aide to Sen. Jeff Sessions agreed Friday to shut down her Web diary, which included a provocative photo of her bare midriff in unzipped jeans, after the office heard about a complaint, the senator’s spokesman said. Stormie Janzen would not speak to a reporter Friday, but the blog indicated she was logged onto the site Friday morning during Senate business hours.

[…]

The Montgomery Advertiser on Thursday received an e-mail about Janzen’s blog on MySpace.com, a popular site that allows users to post details about their lives and to connect with friends. By Friday afternoon, the photo was taken down and entry to parts of Janzen’s site were restricted to “blog owner friends only.”

Janzen, 34, who describes herself as “single, straight and a Scorpio,” did not appear to use the blog to comment on congressional business. She entered observations on dating, hanging out with girlfriends, and one of her biggest turn-ons — men in button-fly jeans. But the photo of Janzen’s midriff in open jeans, with her hands curved on her lap and the waistband of her underwear showing, attracted a lot of attention and comments from visitors.

Janzen said on the site she graduated from the University of South Alabama in Mobile in 1994. She is a scheduler, arranging meetings between the senator and constituents, and was paid $64,139 between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2005, according to the secretary of the Senate.

I can see where a conservative Senator might not want sexy pictures of his staffers on the Internet. Still, it’s a shame to deprive the world of Janzen’s thoughts on such weighty matters.

Update: The thong in question.

Photo screen capture of the infamous photograph showing Senate staffer Stormie Janzen's bare-midriff-cum-thong.
Courtesy Wonkette

So far, that’s the only photo I’m coming up with.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Anderson says:

    The public interest requires that the bare-midriff photo be posted.

  2. ken says:

    “She is a scheduler, arranging meetings between the senator and constituents, and was paid $64,139 between Oct. 1, 2004, and Sept. 30, 2005, according to the secretary of the Senate.”

    Does anyone think a ‘scheduler’ is worth even half this amount?

    No wonder we are going broke as a nation.

  3. yetanotherjohn says:

    Under the rules of Danish cartoon protests, aren’t we supposed to start burning something about now?

  4. Anderson says:

    Wonkette has the goods. A small picture, but worth a good 975 words or so.

  5. Guesst says:

    Give me a break. The Congressman from Arizona has a staffer who appeared in “Fakeout” with Pia Zadora. In that particular movie, everyone has bare midriffs, and then some. Does anyone care?

    If Stormie stenciled the word “God” on her bare midriff, she’d be a fashion icon.