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On the Daily Show last night ,correspondent Samantha Bee decided to come clean about her involvement with a prostitution ring. Bee discussed the first rule of political press conference admissions: bring a date. She trotted out her husband, fellow Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones, to accompany her while she exposed her own transgressions. Watching this clip along with this NPR gallery of disgraced politicians and their wives makes us wonder: has a female official ever stood in front of her constituents, flanked by her main man, and admitted to wrongdoing? More »
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It's been a little over 36 hours since the Spitzer sex scandal broke, and the focus of the media is slowly but surely turning to the prostitutes with whom he was involved, or, rather, prostitution in general. In today's New York Times, Melissa Farley and Victor Malarek, both authors of books about prostitution and policy, argue that prostitution is anything but a victimless crime. They wonder about "Kristen," the prostitute hired by Spitzer from the Emperor's Club: "What is she going through now? Is she in danger from organized crime because of what she knows? Is anyone offering her legal counsel or alternatives to prostitution?" Farley and Malarek say that the concept of prostitution-as-victimless-crime is a myth perpetuated by the powerful men who frequent them. More »
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So, Eliot Spitzer, huh? As most know by now, the muckraking, ethically-superior New York Governor is said to have been "involved" in a prostitution ring. There were federal wiretaps at play, and the sexual congress took place at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington on the day before Valentines'. In light of Spitzer's transgressions, today's Since You Asked advice column in Salon seems oddly prophetic! A distraught reader asks Cary Tennis, "Have I ruined my karma by sleeping with prostitutes?" The reader feels his life has been destroyed by years of whoring, and wonders if he's a horrible person for cheating on his wife with hookers. Tennis gives some drawn out, hippy-dippy response as per usual, but ultimately decides "It is not about abstract forces and balance sheets. It's about conduct and relationships." This dude should probably forgive himself, but it begs the question — if you knew your guy had frequented prostitutes, would it be a deal breaker? More »
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