Luckily he’s a Democrat, so the media can treat this as a bawdily amusing curio rather than a woeful case study in how little regard Republicans have for the feelings of women.

Detroit View’s instant-classic headline: “Mr. Smut Goes to Washington.”

The video and pictures – first posted by ex-Detroit News reporter and New York Times Pulitzer Prize winner Charlie LeDuff on his Facebook page – were taken by an anonymous passenger seated in the same row as the 81-year old congressman. Conyers – in his aisle seat – is shown flipping though pages showing two nude gal pals in the August issue of Playboy. And he also apparently reads Hefner’s product for the articles! He appears to linger on an article titled “La Chatte” by Maureen Gibbon.

Of course, Mr. Conyers is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, so it is entirely possible he is preparing for a committee hearing on the legal definition of pornography. Or perhaps he is studying new TSA pat-down procedures for female passengers.

Thank goodness there’s a TSA joke in the blockquote; I was worried I’d have to turn super-hack here and say something about junk-touching. As for Conyers’s sin, I’ll give you three mitigating factors. Take ’em or leave ’em as you so choose. One: Hey, at least he’s flying commercial. Looking at T&A on a private government jet would be a Roman-esque exercise in elitist indulgence, but looking at T&A while stuck in coach on a major carrier? Why, that’s almost populist. Two: At least he went with something high-end like Playboy. Next time you’re at the airport, have a look at what’s on sale at the newsstand in this particular “genre.” Some of it’s downright scandalous — or, er, so I hear. Three: Dude, he’s 81 years old. He really is reading it for the articles.