I'm sorry things are hard for you right now. I really, truly am. But your anger here is all directed against women.

You are the one who wishes for the police to persecute women who happen to engage in prostitution.

And you think I'm the one who is angry at women?

I'm not angry at women, I'm angry at moralists who will not look at what the results of their moral prescriptions might be.

This nation already incarcerates one in every hundred of its citizens, the highest percentage on the planet, you wish to add to that number while I wish to subtract from it.

This argument is getting tedious and tiresome. Let's discuss which girls from the club's website are the hottest instead.

Personally, I'm partial to Patricia from Chicago and Savannah.

Does your mouse not have a scroll button?

Glenn, I generally appreciate your column and scrupulous attention to issues that might otherwise be swept aside. But on this one I don't see where you're coming from.

A victimless crime? Would you like to be a prostitute? Would you like to be the innocent spouse who contracts an STD, perhaps a fatal one, as a result? Or the child whose father did this?

I realize full well that I am a very flawed human being, and I do not mean to be judgmental of Spitzer the person; furthermore, I like Spitzer the politican. But I do judge the act. Not to mention that, as AG, he prosecuted this very thing, and as governor presumably he takes the same stance. The hypocrisy shoots all credibility. A public official can't just pick-and-choose which laws are valid for him or her and ignore the rest. It is a package deal.

It actually has a wheel-thingie. It's pretty cool. Which girl happens to be your favorite?

I didn't have time to look through all the comments, but I did find one that suggested that the NSA fishing found this originally (so I don't know how much this has been discussed). Leaving aside the hypocrisy and the foolishness of using prostitutes while being such a public person, I do find it interesting that this is getting the attention it is along with the amount of effort that went into it. Especially with all the attention that has already been noted by Glen.

I have always felt that the Bush administration is using the FISA wiretaps to listen in on political rivals (any Democrat). It will be interesting to see where this all goes and what will come out.

Perhaps, but there's good reason to think this specific instance was a warranted tap. Trust me; I don't think the NSA was involved in hijinks with Spitzer....

Cheers,

There are "victims" here, but its not the public .......

A woman who has sex after someone spends a lot of money on a date ...... a woman who marries a rich man ....... its all prostitution and marriage and dating have become an affair of business ......

I do not believe prostitution is a crime per se ........ and it is certainly none of the public's business even if he is a public employee .....

The victims ultimately, will be his family ...... who will feel betrayed and part of a circus and an invasion of their privacy ....

I'd certainly consider being a prostitute for a 1,000 dollars an hour. While being a third world woman and being forced into prostition, not so much. Its a word that covers a little too broadly, if you ask me. Much like the words "porn" and "drugs", oddly enough.

However, I do want to reiterate my stand. As this thing emerges, the prostitution thing will slough away, and the real issue will be the account transfers and skullduggery, and that seems to me like impeachable stuff. I liked Spitzer, or should I say, he didn't inspire in me the same revulsion as most politicians. But a deal's a deal.

I haven't bothered to look..

At risk of further offending some of our moralists, I already have a few dozen gigs of real pr0n that caters to our rather refined tastes stored on DVDs along with a stack of VHS tapes in the basement if I happen to get that particular urge.

Too bad they won't let you sell the stuff on ebay, I could use the money right now. ;-)

Oh, and since I never have enough clear desk space for a mouse I use a trackball that doesn't have the wheel thingy :->

I don't get the Hypocracy complaint.

Let's say Spitzer had been caught speeding 80 mph. Lets say also

that he was against dangerous and reckless driving. If he would

get caught he would be subject to the law, of course. But would

people demand he resign as a hypocrite? I don't think so.

There are laws, there are consequences. The consequences should

be distributed equally to all. Including a former Attorney General.

But Spitzer should be forced to resign for going to a prostitute no more than for speeding, DUI, or whatever.

If, on the job, he broke a law related to his job, that would be

another thing. Off the job, he should be a citizen subject to the

rules just like the rest of us. And no more.

This NPR story discusses how Eliot Spitzer came to the attention of the IRS -- "risk assessment" software that banks use to process ALL U.S. transactions looking for a pattern that may suggest terrorist financing, money laundering, etc. Spitzer was what banks designate as a "politically exposed person". PEPs are all elected officials as well as their entire families. It's no longer true that the $10,000 amount is what triggers extra interest, not since 9/11.

Thousands of transactions are flagged every day. A large bank might pass on a few hundred a month to the IRS but only a small handful are pursued.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88116176

After listening to this piece I am more puzzled by Spitzer's behavior than ever -- did he want to get caught? This software is something Spitzer himself insisted that banks have! Surely he knew of the provisions.