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Kerry girlfriend won't give up web shame

Gee wiz: this is bad

One of the Internet's more embarrassing episodes looks set to linger on with John Kerry's ex-girlfriend reviving her web site - hedgefundmistress.com.

Lee Whitnum - who writes under the name Lee Roystone - brought her site back online today. So, curious types will once again be subjected to her whimsical collection of Kerry photos and petty musings about the good old days with John. Whitnum had pulled down the site after being flooded with hate mail, interview requests and an overwhelming amount of attention - even though that is exactly what she seemed to want in the first place.

For those who haven't had a look, it's probably best to start on the John Kerry Scrapbook page. [Well, that link joined Jimmy Hoffa in less than two hours, so we now give you this.] If there were such a thing as a teen fanzine for presidential candidates, this would serve as the model to follow.

"I was in his world for 20 months," she recalls. "We were both single. For me it was interesting and significant."

Whitnum apparently dated Kerry in the early 1990s before the presidential hopeful married Teresa Heinz. She created the web site to promote her books "Hedge Fund Mistress" and "What About the Dead?" Despite thousands of hits, however, Whitnum told the BBC that she is yet to sell a single copy of either book.

This is hardly surprising given the desperate commentary that occupies most of her egomaniacal web pages.

"I took this picture of John right before he made a flirty, playful comment to me," she writes. "This picture is so him - I always knew when he was about to say something humorous  - he'd get that ornery, bemused look.  His eyes would turn into thin laugh eyes."

It's amusing to think that Whitnum expected her site to generate a favorable reaction to Kerry with messages like that adorning every photo. She certainly seems to be a Kerry backer, saying he is he a brave, handsome and smart. Although her feelings on George Bush seem to be in flux.

Earlier this week, one part of the site read, "John KICK GEORGE'S BUTT for all of our sake. We need a real leader who makes decisions that are in the best interest of the United States. George took 7 minutes before reacting to 9-11? You need your VP before reacting?! In Vietnam if John had waited 7 minutes or for someone else, he and his men would be dead."

This has now become, "John KICK GEORGE'S BUTT for all of our sake. We need a real leader who makes decisions that are in the best interest of the United States."

And this is from a Harvard grad.

There are also a couple of now deleted parts of her web diary on the revamped site, but we're happy to bring the old messages to you. Here from Aug. 2, we have,"August 2, 2004.  I have decided not to have a blog, but I wish to dispel a rumour:  A journalist (who I'm not naming because he's been critical of John for years), two days ago on national TV, said that John was living on other people's couches before he married Teresa.  Not accurate.  I'm not saying John didn't go through rough times in his life (most people do) but by the time he met her in ’90 he had a gorgeous place on Commonwealth Avenue:  A huge floor through, high ceilings, etc.  In June ’91 he moved to 89 Beacon Street to a more modest place that had better parking.  More modest but still lovely and still prime real estate directly across from the Public Garden and a block away from the Ritz.   Homeless?  Gimme a break!"

This is fascinating stuff.

And then there is Aug. 18 - the day the web terror began.

"Gee wiz - what a commotion.  Perhaps this was a bad idea.   No one is even buying any books.  So what is the point? Democrats and Republicans are all sending me hate mail.   I concede defeat.  I'm a wimp.  This was a bad idea."

Gee wiz - it sure was a bad idea. But that moment of self-reflection wasn't enough to keep June Cleaver off the web for long. Nope, she's back up today, saying a flood of mirror sites made her reconsider the badness. "I don't want to be imitated so, I'm back up."

Whitnum has vowed to pull many of the Kerry photos down at some point but seems to struggle with the Yahoo! web site management features. We can only hope this ends sooner rather than later. ®

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