Quoting Glenn: Sometimes, people force women against their will to work as prostitutes. Therefore, we should outlaw all prostitution (rather than just outlaw forced prostitution and human trafficking).

And then stoopidly asking:

Is there any way to read this sarcastic statement other than that we should not outlaw prostitution just because some prostitution is forced?

Yes, if one is fundamentally literate. Quite clearly Glenn would retain criminal penalties for "forced" prostitution. You know, like if I want to hole up in basement for two months for whatever reason, that's my choice. But if you or anyone locks me in and threatens to kill me if I try to escape, that's a whole pile of felonies. These distinctions are not difficult, folks. If you can read.

And for the clichéd morons claiming Glenn is taking his position only because he ostensibly wishes to or does hire prostitutes, I -- as does virtually every other anti-prohibitionist -- routinely run into the "you only hate locking up adults for using and selling drugs to other adults because you are a pot-coke-smack-head." None of that is true, and some seem to have no ability to get their hands wrapped around the principled idea that that for penal purposes the state should leave adults to their consensual choices among other adults.

However, Spitzer had to know what disclosure of his activities would mean. Yet he put his own appetites above that of the needs of his constituents. Even above his own stated principles. This is what it is hard for me to forgive.

The key word being appetite. If we were talking about food, then it would be clear to see that one does not necessarily follow the other. Hence, a false dichotomy.

So, what does fucking a whore have to do with serving the people of the great state of New York?

Sure sure, it costs political capital with an already hostile federal government. But resignation should not be automatic. I mean, its already out there? Unless the FBI has pictures of him en flagrante delicte with a 12 year old boy, how much worse can things get? Did he also kill a hooker? Where's the other shoe?

Bill Clinton rode it out, look at him now! Okay, bad example?

the subject of the sentence waas STDs. Meaning "STDs are not any prettier and don't smell nicer just because you got more money".

Spitzer did not use a condom. Johns who are paying four digits have that choice. A poster on this thread said that a call girl friend of his got herpes from a big shot Hollywood producer. And so on...prostitution is high risk behavior for STDs (I can't believe I even have to write that).

If 25% of teenagers have STDs it is safe to say that prostitutes have a much higher infection rate.

90% of prostitutes in Ethiopia are infected with HIV which will kill them. Similar numbers in Nigeria. India is exploding with HIV which is being spread by prostitution.

Wearing a condom only partly eliminates this risk.

We can go on and on about this but the fact is some people try to pacify their conscience by saying "oh, the girls are fine". Fact is, they aren't. When confronted with ugly reality they start talking in academic terms about idealized prostitution in some perfect world.

Please live in this world. When you were a john abroad in the third world, you hurt a woman. Maybe she smiled and played up and put on her game face. You thought it was"wonderful" and "life affirming" but it was not. You hurt a woman. You used her and threw her away for money. I understand you want to avoid being complicit in this suffering but you were part of it.

That's all.

I wonder if the reason the Republicans get so apoplectic about anything that has to do with sex is because they are so lousy at it. Like all true narcissists, they are so immature, they don't want anyone else to have fun at something that they can't fully enjoy.

I'm not just trying to be funny, it's an observation I've made after many years of dating and talking to my friends (and yes, women DO talk). Over and over again, I hear the same thing: sex with a conservative is a perfunctory, lackluster experience. The women I know who marry a conservative literally come to DETEST sex with their husbands.

I'll spare you the details, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Conservatives live their private lives much as they live their public lives: repressed, rigid, repetitious, selfish, and lacking any authentic empathy for the other person. Other people exist for them only as utilities or objects, so the concept of being emotionally generous brings their contempt boiling to the surface.

On the other hand, sex with a progressive is usually like their politics and their private lives: expressive, open, generous, creative, and sensitive towards other people. Unlike conservatives, since they actually have a capacity for genuine empathy and warmth, it's generally a more mutually satisfying experience for their partners as well.

Okay, so there isn't any scientific data (and I don't have that THAT many test subjects). But every time I kiss a bad kisser, why is it that he always turns out to be a Republican?

On the subject of prostitution... (and if I'm echoing because I don't have time to read all the other comments, sorry 'bout that). There is a lot of issues around its legal status that there are no easy answers to. If you've ever seen a documentary on the brothels in Nevada, it appears to be completely voluntary, safe, and well-managed. But at the other end of the spectrum, it is a very unsafe last resort of a person who has no other resources, people who are either slaves to an addiction, or are quite literally slaves to a pimp. Legalizing the "high" end won't solve the problems at the "low" end.

i think its interesting to note just how little the word 'prostitution' does to elucidate the very many socio-economic-political situations in the world that are involved with sexual acts for money. I have known, in my time, several "so-called" sex workers. What they do is legal, they provide a fantasy for a the client, the client gets himself off (on the books at least). Is that prostitution. Should it be, illegal? Lapdance, prostitution? Its legal in my state. What's the difference between a lap dance and a handjob?

From what I understand, straight sex prostitution in this country is not an overwhelming public health issue. But in other countries its a huge vector for communicable diseases--in South Africa something like 10% of the Black-African population has HIV; the problem of children left orphaned from HIV is gigantic there, something we don't really have in this country on that level.

What I am saying is, prostitution is many things even within the same country. Pick your situational prostitution and look for a solution to it, you'll have not much time left over to wonder if Elliot Spitzer violated anybody's rights by paying one thousand dollars to have sex with somebody.