Trick or Treat? (Butler Shaffer)

Butler Shaffer blogs on the New York governor's karma:

I don't understand why so many political hacks and mainstream media flacks are in such a dither over New York Governor Spitzer's apparent involvement with a prostitute while in Washington, D.C. That town is the pimping capital of America - if not the entire world. The governor reportedly paid $4,300 for the services of a woman named Kristen. But how does this differ from a corporate official who comes to town - after having made a $4,300 "donation" to Sen. Blotto's campaign, and then asking for his legislative "services" in return?

And what's with the governor trying to exculpate himself from the consequences of his actions by pleading that it's all a "private matter"? Prostitution - being a victimless crime - is also a "private matter," but that didn't keep this man from vigorously prosecuting those engaged in the trade.

As established enterprises like to resist competition, perhaps this case comes down to nothing more than the Washington, D.C. establishment wanting to protect its pimping trade from outsiders. Furthermore, might the prostitute who serviced the governor be undercutting the prevailing pricing practices on capitol hill, possibly triggering a price-war? How ironic, that a man who built a political career on reforming other people's habits, might now find himself the target of other self-righteous prosecutors. As usual, the hypocrisy will be swept under the rug, as yet another moral reformer appears on the scene promising, in the words of Frank Chodorov, "to clean up the whorehouse, but keep the business intact."