According to Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, speaking on Anderson Cooper's CNN show Monday night, Eliot Spitzer should not resign nor should he be prosecuted because prostitution is a "victimless crime."
Dershowitz gave us the usual nonsense about how Europeans would regard all this as no big deal, but what does this prove other than the fact that many Europeans have reached the nadir of moral debauchery? Yes, we all know that in France the discovery that a politician has a mistress or even patronizes prostitutes can raise their poll ratings. Is this really an area in which we wish to emulate French degeneracy?
I'm more interested in Dershowitz's claim that Spitzer is guilty of a crime that doesn't have any victims. Is this really true? Let's make a list of all of Spitzer's victims.
His wife: Spitzer's wife of 20 years not only has to cope with the public knowledge that her high-profile husband frequents prostitutes, but she also has to stand alongside him while Spitzer makes a press statement on his sexual and legal offenses. Converting your wife into a political prop--what could be more humiliating?
His daughters: For years the girls could think of their dad as a champion of legal and moral rectitude, fighting Wall Street crooks, shutting down prostitution dens, and so on. Now these innocent children must endure the knowledge that their father is far from what he portrayed himself to be. Spitzer has made shipwreck of his family and disgraced his children in public. What are his daughters going to say when they next see their friends?
New York citizens: Isn't there something outrageous when a high public official, and in this case a former attorney general, somehow gets the idea that he is above the law? That he can break the law with impunity? Why should other New Yorkers be held accountable to the law but not Spitzer? Spitzer of all people has worked to emphasize the idea that no one is above the law. So if Spitzer gets away with this, he will have screwed more than the $4000 hooker.
Alan Dershowitz: There is something about Democratic malfeasance (Barney Frank's relationship with a male prostitute, Clinton sex scandals, the latest Spitzer prostitution scandal) that causes liberal Harvard professors who agree with the politics of the culprits to lose their normal good sense. Whether Dershowitz thinks the law in question is a good one or a bad one is irrelevant here. Laws are made to be followed, and it's odd when law professors think that this doesn't apply to laws about sex. Clearly Alan Dershowitz's legal and moral intelligence has become the latest victim.
Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 25)
16. brian; it no suprise to me that you would like Michael Savage.
It was his type of talk radio that in Rawanda called the Hutu out against the Tutsi.
Ryan Anderson at 9:18AM on Mar 11th 2008
17. This society used to frown on a lot of things, until we had millions of people with frown lines who were afraid rock & roll music would resurrect Satan.
Mokele-Mobembe at 9:59AM on Mar 11th 2008
18. Spitzer was really pushing for a bill that is going back to the 1970s, for any abortion convenience whatsoever. Perhaps he should start looking at the images of aborted babies and the victims of the Holacaust. How twisted he plays the Nazi when he is actually Jewish.
Those involve with prostitution & pornagraphy are more likely to be gung-ho on abortion.
Dave at 11:11AM on Mar 11th 2008
19. Hey Robert; I don't read anywhere that DD is absolving Larry Craig, or any other politician who drags his or her family through the moral mud. Would you prefer that as a country we simply lurch forward with an 'anything goes' mentality?
fanmanaf1 at 9:46AM on Mar 11th 2008
20. brian, Do you feel the president of the United States compromises? After what I read yesterday, I am thoroughly convinced that this war started under false pretenses...and I no longer believe that Osama BinLaden was any part of what happened on 9/11, and I am convinced that you would have to be a false person to even enter into politics...the old adage that "all liars go to Washington" is true...I think Jesus Christ Himself would have said it! I lost a nephew in Afghanistan last summer...he was only 19 years old...I am no longer promoting parties as a good thing, I am done with it! This is after reading what I read yesterday...I am devastated by it...I am Independent from here on out!
Bridget at 9:49AM on Mar 11th 2008
21. I'm extremely surprised that no one has touched on a bigger issue- the irs's capabilities and power. If the police investigated and prosecuted all girls and clients it would be fine, but the IRS went in on financial reasons and caused quite a bit turmoil with as little hard evidence as phone records...scary.
zupu at 9:50AM on Mar 11th 2008
22. A compromising individual would have to fill the shoes of President Bush...let me seee....who can we vote for????
Bridget at 9:52AM on Mar 11th 2008
23. Let me seee, who is the most evil of the evil?
Bridget at 9:54AM on Mar 11th 2008
24. Just curious, Bridget. What did you read yesterday?
Linda at 9:55AM on Mar 11th 2008
25. ryan,
actually i do not like michael savage. he is too crass. some things he says are right. his liberalism is a mental disorder is correct. i don't listen to him because he has no tolerance!! i do not listen to rush limbaugh, g gordon liddy. i do not listen to radio much at all except wmbw a christian station out of chicago. i do not follow the so called conservative pundits, nor the liberal ones. i am independant in my thinking as well as tolerant of all. as for the gay thing, its nothing special any more than bill"i did not have sex with that women"clinton. sin is sin
brian at 9:57AM on Mar 11th 2008
26. The bottom line (and the only line that makes sense) is that what the Governor did was illegal. He can't be "Mr Law & Order" which apparently he portrays himself to be, and frequent illegal prostitutes. It would be different if he went to a legal brothel in Nevada, not breaking the law.
I would love to see a pic of a 5500 dollar an hour prostitute? What could they possibly look like or have to make them able to charge that amount?
I don't believe anyone is "forcing" his wife to stand with him. She could have easily said No and not appeared. She could have immediately filed for divorce. She's looking out for her best interest which for her right now is to stay with her husband...uh, many MEN and women stay with cheating spouses. There's a lot more to marriage than sex.
DD as usual, does not make sense, and should have been fired after his disgusting AIDS joke. Why aol keeps these losers on here is beyond me.
Davidg at 9:59AM on Mar 11th 2008
27. There is something about Republican malfeasance that causes conservatives who agree with the politics of the culprits to lose their normal good sense, too.
Matthew 7:5: You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.
AndrewV at 10:00AM on Mar 11th 2008
28. brian,
Only christian radio? What if you want to hear music - I mean REAL music?
Mokele-Mobembe at 10:01AM on Mar 11th 2008
29. mo,
don't get me started. you know good and well tyhat of which i speak is true. do you fellows dis-like the truth so much? what is it anyway, society is going to hell all around you and you just care about saving the trees and your little world of persoanl indulgence, its rome all over. decadence in america will be its down-fall. and the liberal left will be the vehicle that does it. remember class liberal left and the democratic party are not the same. keep that in mind before you ooze
brian at 10:02AM on Mar 11th 2008
30. mo,
i am sort of stuck in 70-80's music when you got to the 90's and now. i think its trash crap
brian at 10:03AM on Mar 11th 2008