I see why Camille likes talk radio - she and the hosts are vicious birds of a feather. It's one thing to assert a strong opinion, it's another to spew invective.

Why Salon supports this putrid excuse for discourse is beyond me. And I'd feel the same if she was accusing Obama and his male staff members of being "girly men".

Where's Glenn and the legalize prostitution choir now? Sex slaves shipped to Amsterdam for servitude? They say it ain't so! Legal prostitution stops this sort of thing and promotes human freedom, according to Glenn and the choir.

The world needs more Benjamin Skinners. Thank you for your dangerous and difficult work. You do more good than you even know.

I thought this piece was too boring to read through completely, but I am shocked by the targeted venom in the letters section. People seem angry that she's pretty and white. If the letters section was full of attacks on a writer for being ugly and black would that be tolerated?

My lilly white son and his white friends call each other "nigga" sometimes.

"S'up nigga?"

"Nigga, please."

I tried to tell him he couldn't use that word but he laughed at me.

Then he started to bring around his biracial (black/white) friend. As a joke this kid always says, "I think that's racist." He'll see a burger commercial or point to a coffee mug and say it. He says it deadpan. It's kind of disturbing and funny at the same time.

They also joke about "kunta kinte". The first time they did it I almost fell off of my chair. They have no idea what "Roots" is - they said they know the name from the "Dave Chappell Show".

What does it all mean? Oh, and they all wear baggy pants.

I have never personally seen a major improvement in a carpet that was brought about by cleaning. Stains are stains - no amount of soap and machine scrubbing will change that. Most professional carpet cleaning is a scam anyway - it just doesn't work.

However, if you tell your landlord that you are willing to pay for new carpet, and give him/her the right to approve your selection, I am sure s/he will be thrilled to have you pay for that expense. Saves LL a pretty penny.

Ten dollars says you get no resitance whatsoever.

I need more than the word of one lawyer to buy this story. I'm not saying it's not true, but I think any lawyer representing an inmate/detainee/prisoner is going to make it sound as dire as possible to benefit the person they represent. That's their job.

"So adults who come from a poor background and have been abused can't consent or make choices for their own lives?"

Of course that's not what I mean. But according to many posters this person earning all this money for sex was not going to fit the "typical" profile of a hooker. Yet she does. She comes from a poor, abusive background. There is a reason why many sex workers have this in common - because prostitution is not a choice that most "healthy" people would make. Usually poverty, past abuse, or drug addiction are a big part of the equation. To deny that and pretend that the standard is "the happy hooker" is denying reality.

If you're really interested go read my letters from yesterday in which I specifically mention male sex workers and explotation.

This isn't life or death, this is just a bunch of people on soapboxes. It's meant for entertainment and sharing ideas, not for getting very upset. It's not worth all that angst. Take it easy or you'll give yourself heart disease.

Do you recall a recent story about a 15-year-old girl who was locked in prison in Brazil with men who told her that in order to get food she had to have sex with them? Is that consentual? I mean, she had to choose to have sex with them. They didn't throw her down and attack her. They gave her a choice - technically.

When you have a poor woman who has been abused and offer her the money she needs to survive - if and only if she consents to sex - I say that it isn't really consent.

So, she was abused and has been very poor - gee, how unusual.

I'm rolling my eyes at Glenn and the other Salon posters who are so certain that prostitution is all about empowerment and consent.

We too look at what might have been with disappointment. We had such high hopes for Spitzer. Still, this was an incredibly foolish risk for him to take. I can only hope he finds another way to contribute to society cause he has a lot to give.

PS Rusty, I think the deal is Mccain's cheating is not illegal, tho it may be deplorable. A more apt comparison is between Larry Craig and Elliot Spitzer - both broke the law yet one stays in office and the other resigns. Of course Spitzer's case is hobbled by the financial "structuring" issue.