> Damn, Spitzer's a prick, but why is any of this a political scandal?
> How many men would be left in Congress if all those who'd seen
> prostitutes had to resign?
I feel sorry for the sex worker. She was the one who, after all, had to get fucked by a politician. She stands in for all of us in the body politic.
In fact there was a time when this information would most likely not have been reported. J. Edgar Hoover would have filed the information away and used it for blackmail of any pol who wanted to get rid of him or of any pol he thought was hurting the FBI.
Thinking through the old actuality leads to the following thoughts. What has often been the main "fear" of prostitution among spooks and other undercover types is that it might lead to blackmail. There is in fact some truth in this if you look at some of the spy-sex-trap scandals of the past.
If you actually want to attempt to survive a prostitution scandal you only have two choices:
The first choice, the Pol can take a positive view of prostitution. Say that you believe that prostitution is not a bad thing it should be legalized. It is difficult seeing any politician taking this line. (Or the old revolutionary line, "Legalize prostitution; shoot the pimps.")
The second choice, is the usual American choice: Get religion, become "born again". Plea for forgiveness and talk about your sin. I don't think that this choice is available to Spitzer. He doesn't have enough time to weather the scandal.
Of course only legalizing prostitution can overcome the "blackmail' problem.
>
> Just saw Ken Langone, the Home Depot founder whom Spitzer harassed
> over Dick Grasso's pay package at the NYSE. Langone said that
> considering how many reputations Spitzer had besmirched, he couldn't
> be happier to see him in trouble now. "We all have our private
> hells," Langone said. "I hope his is hotter than most."
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