John Paul Mitchell: Republican Likes Nekkid Roommate Photo

Ahh, those conservative fundamentalist “Christian” Republicans, their hypocrisy knows no bounds, eh? One of them, Kim Cappello, gets himself arrested for a sidewalk fucking tryst with a woman not his wife. And another one, prospective Republican gubernatorial candidate, John Paul Mitchell, is going down the garbage tube for posting a roommate’s topless photo in his Flickr account.

From the Arizona Republic: “A Republican gubernatorial candidate found himself in hot water Tuesday after someone discovered a topless picture of his roommate taking a bath on the candidate’s account on Flickr, an online photo-sharing site. John Paul Mitchell, a 30-year-old yoga teacher and doctoral student at the University of Sedona, plans to challenge Gov. Jan Brewer for the Republican nomination in 2010.”

On Tuesday he said he had made a mistake in posting campaign photos to an account he shares with his roommate.

“In a way I feel ashamed for my mistake, but in a way I feel more human, closer to reality,” Mitchell said on his account on Twitter, a social networking Web site. “But if I truly believe in myself and what I can do for this state, then I must accept my mistake and move on.”

The pictures were discovered late Monday by Kevin Spidel, a Phoenix-based social Web consultant who frequently spars with Mitchell on Twitter over political issues.

UPDATE: John Paul now claims that it was the woman, his roommate, who posted the photo to their shared account. Excerpt from an interview with AZ Central:

Was it her that posted the topless photos to the account, or was it you?
Yes, she uploaded the picture in question to our shared Flickr account. She never intended for it to be made public and thought she flagged the item to be viewable only privately. It was done completely in error.

As well, she is the copyright holder of the photograph, and I was not directly involved in taking or uploading the picture itself.

Why would she post topless photos to the Flickr account?
Because she has hundreds of photographs on there. She uploads pictures from family gatherings, to vacations, to self-taken pictures. What she does in the privacy of our home or elsewhere is her personal business.

Again, the picture was meant to be flagged as private and not viewable by the public.

Why do you have a shared account?
Because I initially set it up for my use, but later allowed her to use the Flickr account to have an online storage space for her photography.

Did you and the woman ever date or have a romantic relationship?
Yes, at one point, we were involved romantically. However, we made a mutual agreement that it was best we remain only friends. Our friendship is going on its sixth year and we consider each other best friends.