Tuesday, May 13

drip...drip...drip

The Spitzer Sting
Alexander Cockburn
and
Eliot Spitzer: John Q. Public
Katha Pollitt
in
The Nation.
March 31, 2008

In this issue of The Nation, Mr. Cockburn and Ms. Pollitt both present views of Eliot Spitzer. For those not in the know, Mr. Spitzer disgraced himself by having a long-term dalliance with a prostitute, all the while condemned those unfortunates who get caught with their, um, pants down. One wonders if Mr. Spitzer will demand the same harshness upon himself as he did upon others. Oh well, I can dream...

However, there is a more serious side to all of this. If New York is comparable to Connecticut, we can safely say that convicts take a hefty sum out of this budget. Please don't misunderstand me. I do believe that certain offences deserve punishment, the most serious to the most vile.

But prostitution? This doesn't hit the mark by any means. Consider what happens in the average transaction. First, the two haggle over what will be done, second, price will be negotiated, third, enjoy yourself.We may or may not like the idea but we certainly are not forced to have our pockets picked to enforce this idiotic"law".