That's a very disingenuous reading of the NY Times article about and interview with "Kristen". The truth looks to be pretty murky and lot more complicated than the "victim" streotype you're pushing.

...fastidiously avoided being answered in this entire thread is:

HOW DOES ILLEGALITY AND PROSECUTION SERVE TO ASSUAGE THE ILLS OF PROSTITUTION?

I shout because there are certain prohibition advocates have not addressed this question.

You want prostitution to be a victimless crime so you hide behind the logic that the individuals are consenting. I suggested many posts and threads ago that consent (AKA Free Will) is a bizarre and foreign concept when the individual involved in selling herself is A) doing so for money B) and usually is driven by abuse, drug addiction and emotional or psychological problems.

The true meaning of "victimless crime" is that no one else's rights are violated.

Whose rights are violated when a person (woman *or* man) sells sexual services?

Not trying to play gotcha, I'm genuinely interested in your answer.

I'm sure this comment will be lost in the hundreds that are in there already, but bravo, Glenn. Great post. Hits every important note.

Do you also realize that their private family life is none of your business? I do believe that that's the point Glenn has been making through these past several days.

Somehow people still manage to confuse moralizing with morals.

I actually thought twice about posting this before I did just in order to avoid another war in my comment section. These sorts of issues really generate a lot of intensity. But there are just so many aspects of the moral preening relating to the Spitzer story that are driving me insane that I just couldn't keep them pent up any longer.

I am really astonished -- though I know I shouldn't be -- by how much people enjoy expressing moral outrage over the sexual lives of other people.

-- GlennGreenwald

I was going to suggest you do but I thought you might.

I'm just sorry I missed it. Napping.

I don't pretend to be everyone's mom. I do however have the capacity to attempt to see events from the perspective of others, something you clearly lack.

You want prostitution to be a victimless crime so you hide behind the logic that the individuals are consenting. I suggested many posts and threads ago that consent (AKA Free Will) is a bizarre and foreign concept when the individual involved in selling herself is A) doing so for money B) and usually is driven by abuse, drug addiction and emotional or psychological problems.

There is extensive evidence to support what I am saying and I CHALLENGE you to do some research. There are centers around the US that work to get "working girls" out of the profession and it is very hard. The money and the ease of it are one thing. The psychological forces that drive this destructive behavior are another thing entirely and good programs seek to address the underlying issues, not just the behavior of prostitution.

Lastly, I point to Kristen, the young woman involved in this case as an example. A classic example. A young woman who ultimately chose to prostitute herself. Why? Was it the prior abuse? Was it the experience of homelessness? Troubled family background? Most likely, it is all of the above. I hope she gets the help she needs and can move on in a positive way.

When I think about her sad case and I think of Ex-Gov Spitzers' own daughters, I question what kind of a person he is at heart. Kristen is only a few years older than his oldest girl. Why was it OK to engage THIS very young woman in criminal activity? My theory (again, a shift of perspective) is that he is an egomaniac and an emotionally cold bastard.

Is Salvia the Next Marijuana?

I'm not a drug user, having not even TRIED pot (no, didn't put a joint in my mouth and NOT inhale...haven't put one in my mouth, ever, at all - I HATE inhaling smoke of any kind) but it was because of this thing you quote that I ordered a Salvia divinorum plant online just to have. It is a sage plant with interesting "effects" from ingestion.

I'm just an asshole type that, when told I CAN'T have something or hear that something innocuous is about to be banned, I just HAVE to get it so I can say "nyah nyah nyah". $20 for one plant, $40 for 3. They don't propagate well by seed, mostly clonal through cuttings. Get 'em while their still ok.

If Spitzer would have just flown to Vegas it would have been perfectly legal. I wonder how many "gamblers" just have a good excuse for coming home $2500 lighter?

I have a new found respect for William Bennett.

Put black market drug dealers out of business, you reduce the incentive and opportunity for underage consumers to become part of the market. Some kids will do it like they do with alcohol but it will be regulated and controlled and much more difficult. Harm reduction is preferable to a vibrant black market and unregulated free for all. Except on Wall Street and high finance. But when it comes to drugs and sex for the poor and middle class...

I forgot..

You also claimed that you do not use drugs..

And then you admit that you do indeed use a drug.

I've been trying to figure out what your point is in a few posts here, but so far cannot.

You say drug use is a bad choice and yet use a drug yourself..

People with ignore lists are wimps..

I read every comment when I have the time..

But then I have the self control to move on past those that I feel are worthless.

One quick question..

If I'm on your ignore list, how come you know what I'm posting?

She was, as you might guess, heavily addicted to drugs, and this was how she got her supply, but if her story was not exaggerated and she had turned state's evidence, it would have been difficult to find prison accommodation for all the men concerned, many of whom may have been illegal aliens who didn't speak English and had probably not given any thought to the underage sex issues.

Drugs are prohibited. This creates the lucrative market which is because it is driven underground rather than regulated and controlled.