Letters to the Editor
-
macgupta
Yes - if an elected official has broken the law while in office, or is in office while the statute of limitations has not yet expired and is found out, then he/she ought to resign.
Another edition of simple answers to simple questions.
-- macgupta
Wouldn't that potentially leave us with virtually no one left in office or left to run for office? Are you drawing any lines in the sand as to what laws broken constitute a resigning offense? Because if you are not then you have a problem. And if you are, then you also have a problem. No, that was not a simple answer to a simple question. Unless you think the world is replete with people who possess angelic souls.
-
to Glenn Greenwald
If you wrote that response, I find it extremely nasty and very unprofessional.
I know that buying another person's body is wrong. The fact that some people are driven to the extreme of selling their bodies doesn't make it suddenly right. If buying poor Indians and Pakistanis and using them for cheap labor in the Gulf under slave-like, inhumane conditions is wrong, why is buying women for prostitution all right?
ohhhh, yes...it involves sex, and liberals must defend all sex all the time. Because all sex is good.
Calling me a follower of Jerry Falwell and engaging in other cheap ad hominem attacks isn't going to change my knowledge that buying other people is wrong.
Again, very unprofessional. But I'm glad I got under your skin. You screwed up on this one, man. Why do you feel compelled to defend this guy just because he's a Democrat? Did you defend Larry Craig for trolling for dick in a public bathroom? I mean, after all, both parties would have been consenting adults, right?
Be fair, Glenn.
-
no elected officials left
Is it really the case that any elected official who ever breaks the law should be righteously condemned by all decent people and then forced from office -- without regard to how serious the offense is or whether there are even any victims? If so, I don't think there are going to be very many elected officials left.
So which laws are acceptable to break and which aren't? This argument seems to make the case for changing some laws but not the rule of law.
p.s. I think if only the righteous and decent were making a fuss, it wouldn't be loud enough to even be an issue.
-
macgupta
Then while Spitzer's particular prostitution ring may be victimless, prostitution in general is not victimless. Surely you've read and heard enough about women being forced into it, even in New York City.
Some people abuse alcohol by driving when they're drunk. Therefore, alcohol should be illegal? No. Therefore, drunk driving should be illegal.
Some people force women to work as prostitutes. Therefore, prostitution should be illegal? No. Therefore, forcing women to work as prostitutes should be illegal.
First time I've been disappointed here. GG should be leading the charge asking Spitzer to resign. Instead.....
Even if I spent the rest of my life trying, I could never adequately express how little I care about what Eliot Spitzer does in his private life with other consenting adults. Nothing is of less concern to me than that, literally.
Can't people just stay out of each other's private realm? What's this constant need to intervene in other people's private affairs and pass all sorts of judgment and try to restrict and punish them? I really find it very disturbing.
-
Bill & Hill:
Must be having flashbacks. I hear this is what happens when you fuck around on the job.
-
Xrandadu Hutman
You know way, way too much about what prostitutes think.
And you know way too little.
And that's much worse, since you're the one who wants to imprison them, their clients and their employers. I'd say the burden is on you to know how they think and what their lives are like before running around demanding that they be turned into criminals for the work they choose to do.
Do you have a scotoma? Have you done any research into the way many prostitution rings work? Do you know anything about the psychological and other pressures for women who do that kind of work?
Prostitution didn't just arise this week. It's been around for awhile. And there's tons of literature on it -- on how the market works, the different types of prostitution, why women go into it, what opportunities they create for themselves by doing so.
I don't opine on things without knowing about them. I certainly don't advocate that my fellow citizens be thrown into prison and turned into criminals all because I don't like the choices they make for their lives.
-
GG's new principle
If a public official breaks a law and no one is demonstrably hurt, then it is A-OK.
And uust who are the victims of the President's warrantless wiretapping program? Yeah, I know, you can't find out whether you're a victim or not because the government won't reveal to you whether you were wiretapped or not. But if you're ignorant of any possible loss without someone giving you information, then how are you a victim?
Therefore, what the President did is perfectly fine. If the law is not the law for Spitzer, it is not the law for Bush and not for anyone else. If the law is an ass, you have the right to try to change the law through any number of methods. You have the right to civil disobedience; though that is hardly what Spitzer was doing.
Otherwise, there is one law for those whom GG supports and another for those that he is opposed to.
-
My position on porn and prostitution
I have to go to sleep but I've been asked my position on the legality of porn and prostitution.
I think prostitution should remain illegal and that pimps and johns should be punished pretty harshly. The prostitutes should be offered drug treatment and therapy but if they keep offending they should be punished for breaking the law and keeping an evil industry alive.
Porn should be judged by community standards as it is now. People like me can ignore the fact that some porn is out there that I think is repulsive, and others who want an "anything goes" atmosphere will have to live with community limits i.e. no child porn, no rape porn, no snuff films, etc.
The community standard is a good way to go because it's a living standard - someone is offended and actively decides to complain and the "offending" article is brought into the public for examination and judgement.
My standards are obviously pretty conservative - maybe yours are liberal, but together we make the community and together we can decide what is and isn't permitted.
I will come back tomorrow and read what you all have to say. My mind is open and I will consider your opinions, but I am firm in my belief that porn and prostitution are harmful and exploitative. That is the place from which all my positions on this topic eminate.
Goodnight