What? Only 400 comments?! When I saw this post, I was sure there would be at least 600 or so by the time I got around to reading. If only you'd included something about the prostitutes in Israel?

At any rate, some things *I* learned in the past 48 hours:

*The Governor of New York, about whom I'd previously known almost nothing, has a tragic flaw wide enough to drive a Mac truck full of Federal investigators through.

*Women can never, ever possibly over-estimate how much men hate them.

Oh, wait. I already knew that last one. At least I learned *something*!

Associates work longer hours and are paid a smaller percentage of the billing they generate.

Wow. Good thing I narrowly avoided that fate, eh?

Cheers,

I suspect that Mme. Spitzer may have been rendered sexually incapacitated by medication, illness, or the weirdness that burgeons from menopause. (For every woman who "just sailed through it," there are ten wondering what kinda shit just hit them.)

Maybe she said, "I just can't. Get it where you can and don't get infected." Seems to me such a high price includes drug and infection testing as the minimum

Frankly, I would rather my partner (don't have one, but that's not the issue) avail himself of a professional with health creds than do a Rudy.

[Voiceover]

Next Thursday...The television event of the year. Barbara Walters and the wife of Elliot Spitzer...A very special Barbara Walters interview.

[Very fast montage of images licensed from one of HBO's many hooker shows]

[Excerpt from interview]

Barbara Walters: Here is a picture of the high priced prostitute your husband was sleeping with. What do you think?

[Quick cut to the wife of Elliot Spitzer's face slow motion-no audio]

[Voiceover]

An intimate conversation you won't want to miss.

[Excerpt from interview]

Barbara Walters: What is the most amount of money your husband spent on you in one day?

[Excerpt from interview]

Barbara Walters: Did you ever listen in on your husbands phone conversations?

[Voiceover]

Next Thursday...Barbara Walters.

[Quick fade]

And one other thing -- all sorts of behaviors harm marriages -- such as when one spouse works too much, or isn't interested in the other spouse's life, or spends too much time with his/her friends, or isn't communicative, or is emotionally cold. Those things break up marriages all the time.

We should make all of that illegal, too -- after all, there's a "victim" -- and what one spouse does to another that harms them emotionally is all of our concern, and we should make it part of the criminal law.

There was nothing repulsive about the experiences, because a human being is a human being

What a wonderful, humane sentiment.

Why can't so many who have commented here live and let live, so long as no one is getting hurt?* Real freedom doesn't mean driving SUVs with cheap gas. It means being free to make your own choices, without having someone else's morality shoved down your throat. Unfortunately what we see here is the same attitude that proclaims our right to decide how Iraqis or Venezuelans or Cubans should govern themselves. Except now it is being applied right here at home.

* Prostitution is no different than any other common human activity engaged in for money. What makes it harmful in this country is that it is illegal; others have done a good job of pointing out why this is so elsewhere.

email me at bamage02atyahhoodotcom

I can at least steer you to valid info.

To make this point I must admit to watching a particularly heinous TV show, The Moment of Truth.

Moment of Truth, if you don't know, is a "game show" in which contestants are asked a bunch of questions in advance of taping, under polygraph, then asked some of them onstage with relatives and others relevant to the questions. The contestant must answer each question truthfully (according to the polygraph) to advance to higher cash prizes, and one untruthful answer means they lose everything.

Anyway, this game show has unintentionally proven, in stark fashion, something very relevant to this issue, and which I have described previously.

On The Moment of Truth, the "easy" questions come first - the contestant more or less breezes through them, the audience giggles at the responses, and much merriment is had by all. Then, the host sharpens his knives and asks the "hard questions."

What are the easy, lighthearted questions usually about? Whether the contestant stole something at work, defrauded a customer, would rob a bank if she could, and other questions generally about theft and fraud. The contestants answer these questions with an "awe shucks" kind of cuteness, and the family members and audience generally register their amusement at the innocent mischief of the contestant's blatant criminal tendencies.

What are the hard, wrenching questions about? Almost universally they are about adultery, cheating, and kinky sexual habits. These questions form the bulk of the drama of the show, and each humiliating answer elicits from the hungry audience lustful "oooo"s more becoming of a Jerry Springer show.

This country is completely #$&@ed in the head about sex and relationships. This truth is as naked as the objects of lust over which we self-flagellate.

If only you'd included something about the prostitutes in Israel

Actually more of a snort. I SNOLed!

Hookers and Jews, nothin better for getting the peeps all riled up. Goddess, I love this place.

Women can never, ever possibly over-estimate how much men hate them.

Are you serious.

> Here's a commenter -- one of many, many, many -- who has created this whole fantasy life where s/he knows the intimate details of the Spitzers' marriage, knows what "Silda" thinks about these things, knows who has breached what vows, knows their emotional state

Replace "commenter" with "blogger" and I think you're on to something. Your entire specious argument is nothing more than speculation wrapped up in presumption.

I didn't start this ridiculous conversation - you did. You can play dumb about the affects that prostitution has on people, but the fact that prostitution does in fact affect people outside of the immediate transaction is exactly why people rightfully generally frown on such behaviour.

You want to compile a compendium of bad analogies and pretend you've made a case for yourself? Let's have a contest. Some people drive 80 MPH without hurting anyone. So why is it illegal? Why have speed limits at all? Because even if people can usually get away with it, odds are pretty good that someone will eventually get hurt. Right and wrong isn't always black and white. We play odds, and I'd say, and society has so far said, that odds are that prostitution, on balance, leads to misfortune. Do you disagree? If so, on what do you base your opinion?

You're one of my favorite opinion makers, Glenn; but on this score I simply cannot comprehend what you are thinking.