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 4 of 25)
46. linda,
"My father was a sonofabitch, but that never reflected on me.
to thine own self be true, you think of your father as an s.o.b. and it does not reflect on you. i should say you are seriously mistaken. everything is effected by those who are closest to us. please re-consider you world view
brian at 10:49AM on Mar 11th 2008
47. $4000 for a hooker? She should have to paint your house after she blows you. Bloggers stink... especially the soap box moralizing types.
tanks4nuttin at 10:57AM on Mar 11th 2008
48. I agree with all of that, Somber.
I've never used a prostitute in my life, but I see nothing wrong with it, if it's clean and regulated. Too many people are uptight about sexuality. It's a childish attitude.
My wife and I love each other very much, and are very sexual. We make love a lot. And sometimes, once in a while, we have in the past gotten together with another woman, the both of us, and partied with her. It's only added to our relationship. She's as into it as I am, and we can talk about it afterwards. It's HOT. Great memories. No guilt or shame. Just good clean fun between sane adults. Is it healthy? I think more so than most marriages. Why would I ever cheat on her? Where's my motivation? It's GONE.
She's too cool to want to cheat on, anyhow. I'll be with her forever.
Godless Heathen Brian at 10:53AM on Mar 11th 2008
49. somber,,
i can say with certainty that poor choices, the bible calls sin, have consequences. they hurt somebody. so whether it was paid for or not it all cost. you and your past need to write a book. and now you say your in the best relationship of your life with another woman? i think your past has turned your against men and i can understand but still being gay is not right. no less though than being a hypocrite. the bible calls our malady SIN. we all suffer in various ways
brian at 10:54AM on Mar 11th 2008
50. Not that I speak to brian little b, but the statement meant that when he was acting like a two year old in public, I didn't take responsibility for his behavior. He had emotional problems.
Linda at 10:54AM on Mar 11th 2008
51. Somber, you could never honestly be called a prostitute, a call girl, or any of those terms.
When you're as intelligent and sensual as you are, you'd be called a courtesan. Perhaps a hetaira. Nothing as banal as a prostitute.
Our society could do with more women like that.
Godless Heathen Brian at 10:56AM on Mar 11th 2008
52. The core issue here is whether those in public life have a greater responsibility to go by the rule? If Eliot Spitzer was nobody he may have got away with this so called ‘victimless crime’, but he is the governor of New York State. He is all the more vulnerable because his rise in politics is attributed to his image as a champion of law enforcement. Moreover, American system has not been kind to offenders on moral counts. So why should Spitzer be an exception? He should quit without any delay not only for atonement of his ‘sin’ of hurting those near and dear ones but also to uphold one of the few positive aspect of American political system.
saadhu108 at 7:42AM on Mar 12th 2008
53. This is not a "Victimless Crime." WE THE PEOPLE are the victims of a domestic spy program out of control. If the government breaks the law to catch the worst criminal, the case would be dismissed. They couldn't convict Al Capone or Saddam Hussain if the evidence and how we collect it matters. Here we are only talking about sex. The wife understands that she will always be secondary to the politician's mistress. The power is his mistress. If the Constitution is broken we are all victims just waiting to get caught! The politicians who are threatened by sex scandals get off unless they abuse children. You can't profit from spying domestically or using a sex scandal on political enemies. This is the lesson of the Clinton impeachment.
Cecil Jones at 10:58AM on Mar 11th 2008
54. linda,
not that you and i speak but i hope you no longer feel that way towards your father.
let me tell you some deep hurt. my son was involved in an auto accident, no drugs,no drinking, just an iciy road. he slid through a 90 degree curve and went into a lake. his best friend died. my father not mother never even called to ask how we were. not once. now it took me a few years to work through forgiveness but for a while i was very angry. fact is, thinking about it now just tears me up. i thought what father could do this. when my son played football in college, my dad came to one game,my mother never came. as the bible say's you will have offenses in life. they will either m,ake you bitter or better
brian at 10:59AM on Mar 11th 2008
55. GHB, I'm with you. Time to grow up, people. Maybe if we could be more open sexually in this country, the divorce rate would go down. US is puritanical and uptight with regards to human sexuality. Teens get pregnant and get STDs because they are taught to be abstinent, rather than given birth control and protection.
Abra las ojas, amigos.
Linda at 11:00AM on Mar 11th 2008
56. brian,
Do you smoke cigarettes?
Jerry Brown at 11:01AM on Mar 11th 2008
57. Let me say, as I have said many times, that I am not angry or bitter about anything, especially my family. brian little b shouldn't ascribe emotions to me that don't exist.
Linda at 11:03AM on Mar 11th 2008
58. At issue, with me, is not gov. Spitzer's sex life. Not his married life, not his childrens life, not a prostitutes life.
The only thing govenor has done wrong is violate a stupid antiquated law, a morality law that should have been cast away years ago. The law wasn't, however, repealed, leaving gov. Spitzer free to prosecute others for violating the same stupid law he violates himself.
The real issue is gov. Spitzer's hypocracy.
mac at 11:08AM on Mar 11th 2008
59. i think your past has turned your against men and i can understand but still being gay is not right. no less though than being a hypocrite.
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Of course it has. She's seen the absolute worst men have to offer. However, there's nothing wrong with her loving a woman nor having sex with one. Love is love.
I do wish she'd seen more of the best men have to offer, though. There are good men in the world. There's evil and good enough in both sexes. It just manifest differently, as if refracted by different lenses.
I was once told by a VERY liberal woman friend that the ultimate in open-mindedness is being bisexual, and I honestly couldn't disagree with her. I suppose then you'd be able to enjoy the best of both sexes, and maximize your pleasure. However, as I explained to her, I am a bit old-fashioned in that regard, and since I couldn't be with a man without barfing, I'll spend my life exploring what the fairer sex has to offer. Since even that is infinite, and would take a million lifetimes to discover.
Godless Heathen Brian at 11:08AM on Mar 11th 2008
60. GHB, that is an interesting tidbit. Sex is different for everybody. I love my boyfriend with all my heart. He is very sexual, and I am not so much. (I could take it or leave it. I am more of a cuddley person.) However, I take care of all his needs. Neither him nor I have any desire to share a sexual experience with another person. I do not desire to have any intimate contact with anyone, man or woman, other than he - and he feels the same. Threesomes and swingers... just not for us. But we have our own personal kinks that make us a close couple. The problem is people like brian who feel like sex should be exactly the same for all people. (I wouldn't be surprised if what he considers 'correct sex' to be man + woman, missionary style, ONLY.) While many people do things I would never consider, that is totally their right. Americans in general need to loosen up about sex. Sex is biological, and what feels good for one person is different for another. If a woman wants to sell her services, and a man (or woman) is willing to pay for them, and they both agree on the act and the price, then where is the crime? If a married person breaks their vows, that is wrong (IMO); however, that is the married person's choice to do that. Not the prostitute's.
K at 11:12AM on Mar 11th 2008