From the Denver Post/Bloomberg:
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, accused of running a Washington prostitution ring for 13 years, apologized to a former deputy secretary of state for revealing he was a client and said more names may be disclosed to help her defend against criminal charges.
The State Department official, Randall Tobias, resigned as the head of the U.S. Agency for International Development last week after ABC News asked him about his use of Palfrey’s escort service, known as Pamela Martin & Associates. Tobias said he got massages from the escorts and denied having sex with them, the network reported.
“Let me say how genuinely sorry I am for Mr. Tobias, his family and his friends,” Palfrey said at a press conference after appearing in federal court. “I, unfortunately, know the impact such charges can have.” Palfrey is making good on her threat to expose what she claims is a high-powered Washington clientele to show that her escorts stayed within the law. Montgomery Blair Sibley, Palfrey’s attorney in a civil case seeking the return of assets seized by authorities, said Palfrey gave four years of phone records to ABC News.
“I do expect their reporting to help identify potential witnesses for my defense,” Palfrey said.
Already, the lefties are tittering with excitement: evidently, nothing so concentrates the mind as the possibility of a sex scandal—particularly if the first casualty is a Republican.
For instance, here’s Josh Marshall, who—in what must surely be a preemptive attempt to draw distinctions between Republicans and Democrats (the list reportedly contains prominent members of both parties)—frames Tobias’ transgressions this way:
Tobias is mounting what I guess we might call the Haggard defense: no sex, just massages.
But let me clip out just a couple grafs from Brian Ross’s and Justin Rood’s piece at ABC’s The Blotter that show just how richly obscene (and not in the sense most people think) this story really is …
On Thursday, Tobias told ABC News he had several times called the “Pamela Martin and Associates” escort service “to have gals come over to the condo to give me a massage.” Tobias, who is married, said there had been “no sex,” and that recently he had been using another service “with Central Americans” to provide massages.
Another service “with Central Americans.” That’s what he’s using now. This is the guy in charge of America’s international aid and development assistance to countries around the world. (“I was using one service that sent Thai broads. Now I get ‘em to send Central Americans.”) I’m glad this bozo is showing our best face to the world and clearing up any misunderstandings about exploiting people in the Third World.
Perhaps I’m not reading the story correctly. Tobias was jetting off to the Third World for some nooky? What on earth for? We live in a fucking melting pot, Josh. We have hookers of every race, creed, and color right here at home!
Besides, from all accounts, the women Palfrey hired were required to be well-educated, meaning that presumably they can decide for themselves what is or is not their own personal “exploitation.” Or are we back to depicting women—even those with college educations—as oppressed creatures controlled by the patriarchy?
Because this would likely come as a surprise to some of the more vociferous feminist bloggers I read.
For her part, Palfrey (she being the patriarchy’s puppet) is claiming that her service doesn’t provide sex (my guess is, if there is sex, it’s arranged between the escort and the customer)—but then, Palfrey’s not a poor black women hopped up on pills and alcohol, and a Republican is the first political casualty of the scandal, so I guess we’re not compelled to believe her.
Or maybe we are, but Tobias is still somehow guilty in a way that, say, Bill Clinton was not. BECAUSE OF THE HYPOCRISY!
Perhaps Amanda or Samhita or Jill will provide me with the proper establishment feminist calculus for determining to the types of women to whom we are directed to give the benefit of the doubt. Which explanation, of course, I could never presume to understand anyway, having no vagina to speak of (Jim Henley’s protestations to the contrary notwithstanding).
Continues Marshall:
Here’s another good passage…
As the Bush administration’s so-called “AIDS czar,” Tobias was criticized for emphasizing faithfulness and abstinence over condom use to prevent the spread of AIDS.
I’m glad Tobias was coming from a place a genuine principle when he tried to stop people in Africa from using condoms to stop the transmission of AIDS. I guess massages count as safe sex though. Lucky he was only getting massages.
And Luckily, Africa and the US are exactly the same—both in their attitudes toward sex, and in their instances of AIDS transmission in heterosexual engagements.
On the other hand, perhaps Marshall is being just a teensy bit disingenuous in his outrage. After all, even if it turns out Palfrey was running a high-priced sex store, is there any doubt on Marshall’s part that that these women were frequently tested for AIDS, STDs, etc—and that such might actually be one of the draws of the service?
Similarly, isn’t it progressives like Marshall, along with a certain brand of feminist, who argues that legalizing prostitution would be a good thing precisely because it provides a way to keep the women safe and disease free?
No matter. In the wake of the feminist / liberal defenses of Clinton’s transgressions, sex scandals in which Republicans topple as “hypocrites” just don’t have the same sting as they once might have—particularly when, in order to show up Republican hypocrisy, people like Marshall are forced to exhibit their own, in spades.
If I ever actually need a massage due to an injury or strain of some sort I will go to a qualified physical therapist. Outside of that, I am content to let my cat walk on me, its surprising how relaxing that can be.
How says you need to have an injury to get a massage. Any spa will provide one, and they can be really relaxing.
So I’ve been told at least by my girlfriend.
Madame Ling’s Massage and Nutscrubbery has a PT on staff. FYI. $65 FMI.
You have got to understand. Republicans are a bunch of puritans who don’t like sex, and only “do it” to make babies. On the other hand, Democrats like sex so much that when they do make babies they abort them, cuz they can’t keep all those babies because they would have too many babies and Gaia would be angry.
So, if Republicans have sex just for fun it’s okay to bash them because they’re hypocrits. If Democrats have sex just for fun they’re just being themselves, so there’s no reason to say anything about them.
Simple, really.
The fact that Marshall is one of the most sober and non-screechy bloggers on the left is. . .lame, actually.
I hope this story about the massages has a Happy Ending for all involved. Just sayin’.
So, Jeff, your libertarianism favors the legalization of prostitution? Mine does and I was curious if yours was. It hasn’t killed Germany (or Nevada). I can’t see how it kills the rest of us.
ABC is “releasing” these names during ‘sweeps week’
that SHOULD be ‘nuf said about the craven nature of amoral media
what will be interesting (and I will not give ABC ratings on this, so I’ll have to wait on “news” reports on this “news) is if ABC, salaciously pawing through the 46 pounds of documents will actually reveal the names of other members of the media that availed themselves of this service…let alone the names of prominent Democrats.
It will be interesting, too, to see if the putative “pro-womyn, pro-born-children” feminists will come out against ABC’s publishing these names seeing how the humilitation and ruination extends to the families of the men customers…or will it only come out when the names of the services past female employees (some who have gone on to other lives and careets) start getting splashed about for public titillation.
It hasn’t killed Germany (or Nevada). I can’t see how it kills the rest of us.
So unless the entity that legalizes prostitution spontaneously and visibly combusts, legalizing prostitution is A-OK?
I don’t know about Germany, but Nevada is an unusual case. Las Vegas was founded originally as a Mormon colony, and there’s still a large Mormon contingent there, which in all likelihood balances out the excesses of the Vegas strip.
timmyb
Do you believe that if ABC got the list from a maddam that operated a legal business that it would restrain them from publically humiliating the customers for “sweeps week”?
There’s a melted bridge in Oakland up for sale I could interest you in.
OK, I agree with your argument.
But this?
There’s certainly doubt on my part. All over it, in fact.
Lost
Why? If we are assuming a long, lucrative business that obviously gained business through word-of-mouth (you should excuse the expression) then reputation is all…and a few infected customers would have had the same effect on the ma’dam’s escort service as a few cases of ecoli would have on a restaurant.
You’re going to have to trust me.
Does Josh not realize that his curmudgeonly denuciation of Tobias can only encourage rape? Who’s the misogynist here?
remember folks, R=12.414 – 0.1087*I.
Ok, I’m kidding. The reason I doubt it is because testing is most probably NOT provided by the madam. Especially if all she’s doing is providing the hookups and letting the girls decide on anything more than that, the old out of “escort” services worldwide.
It’s an expense and a paper trail that I wouldn’t want hanging over my head.
In a regulated world, like professional porn and Nevada brothels, yeah, I can see regular checks. But your average escort or streetwalker gets checked when she feels the burn.
And trust me, the type of guy who frequents hookers is already on 10 tabs of Valtrex a day. And isn’t going to tell anyone to stay way because of a dose.
But, Darleen, this might be a harmless coincidence. Remember it will take time to redact the madame’s client list of any…Democrats.
Darleen,
I think they would. Sex will always sell and prostitutes will always be news (see: Pam Anderson, Anna Nichole Smith, or Elizabeth Taylor). Only the French don’t care at all.
I was just enjoying the libertarianism of the post. These are adult women choosing to make money however they want to. I don’t need a bunch of Bible, Torah, or Koran thumpers telling them what to do.
Besides, the sales tax would be awesome revenue
I dunno, a lot of places don’t charge sales taxes on services.
Liz Taylor is a prostitute?
What does she pay?
I have to admit – I’m with the Leftosphere on this one.
Because the State Department’s Undersecretary for abstinence & AIDS education hung out with hookers, it’s pretty clear that any efforts to eradicate AIDS or to be faithful to one’s spouse or SO are completely bankrupt hypocrisy.
And I for one, cannot wait to call home and tell my wife to meet me at the door wearing nothing but Timberlands, and her hot friend Ginny. We’re gonna have some unsafe ugly-bumpin’.
It’s for the Children. And to stamp out hypocrisy. Josh Micah Noah Jebadiah Hezekiah begat Zachariah Marshall would approve.
It’s so touching when the left feigns concern about our image to “the world.” Last week some EUrocrat gets photographed romping on a nude beach with his mistress and no one gives a shit. His boss at the World Bank calls him “indispensible.”
At least not visibly and, dammit, not right now!
If the harm done take a decade or two to show, well, that’s just too bad.
Personally, I like the liberals’ experiments with the black population.
Tried out the single-motherhood thing first to see just how it works out. Permanent poverty. Oh well. Too bad. But at least we saved us from it!
Or how ‘bout that drug lifestyle? Yup, glad we saved us from that, too. Too bad about the murder rate amongst the experimental group, though!
And who would ever have thought that antibiotic-resistant strains of all sorts of venereal diseases would’ve cropped up after forty years of promiscuous sexuality? Thank heaven we tried it out on some other vulnerable segment of the population first, eh?
So – who’s this guy? I never heard of him.
And why should I care if he gets “outed” by his cootchie supplier?
This sounds to me more like a “you mooks don’t REALLY want to toss me in the klink, do ya? I might start, y’know, naming names…”
If no services sales tax – we could go with the Cook County “amusement tax”…?
al Mav
Oh my..because HYPOCRISY is so much a horrible crime that it always trumps the ruination of families.
And criminal HYPOCRISY proves that the money, effort and commitment to erradicating a particular disease was just so much bad-faith huggermugger.
BTW, You do know the difference between AIDS in America and AIDS in Africa, right?
Just massages, but no sex = I didn’t inhale
Equally self serving and equally silly.
If she truly is outing her customers for leverage a Dem of slightly higher status than Tobias should be next.
I’ve never understood the liberals’ fixation on the messenger versus the message.
Even assuming that this guy was paying for nookie, how exactly does that change the argument over whether or not advocating abstinence to combat aids is good or bad?
Surely, someone with Josh’s education can explain that to me?
Also, does the fact that no single person can seem to live up to all of the standards of morality mean that we should have no standards of morality? That seems to be the left’s position whenever they catch someone engaged in the dreaded hypocrasy.
For my part, I understand that humans fail, and that just because one person does not live up to a certain standard, does not mean that the standard itself should be abandoned. But, perhaps such a thought is beyond the left.
Darleen—I’m not understanding your question. HIV is HIV, isn’t it? Or are you referring to the difference between the manner and rate of infection in the two places?
That sounds like a pretty slippery slope, though. Lots of stuff amuses me; I’d hate to have to pay taxes on all of it…
The latter, cynn, including the differences in culture and education.
The sacrifice of the good to the perfect.
Next up: Socio-econ nihilist (Socialist?) props up the very Keynesian elegance of Nevada cities built entirely around the billions
derivedearned from “gaming”.It’s for the economic growth!
tw: products15
That was the gist of the criticism leveled at the left by that one guy… damn, his name escapes me. His videotaped speech was all the rage a couple of weeks ago. His thesis is that the left has internalized “discrimination is bad” to the point that they’ve decided all discrimination is bad, even on matters such as “that’s a bad thing to do”.
As a result, standards are bad. Unless they can be used as a weapon against someone.
(And, amusingly, they’ll gleefully misapply standards as weapons. See their campaign against Bill Bennett for gambling; they portrayed it as some sort of moral failing, yet, as a Catholic, there’s nothing in his religion against responsible gambling.)
My dad went to South Africa a few years ago and conducted some studies on how AIDS education affects attitudes about promiscuity and AIDS and such.
Answer: Education doesn’t do squat. Informing people in Africa about Yet Another Deadly Disease doesn’t make much of an impression, given that they’re living on death’s doorstep already.
It’s like teaching Americans about the dangers of video games or TV watching: we just don’t care.
damn, his name escapes me
Evan Sayet
Sorry, took a nap.
On principle, I have no problem with legalizing prostitution.
Lost My Cookies —
There might indeed be a paper trail. We’re learning all sorts of things about the types of people employed. Requiring that they be tested regularly as a condition of their employment, if sex was indeed for sale, would not mean that the Madame would have to pay for it or keep a doctor on staff—just that the employee show regular proof that testing has taken place.
Interestingly, the ladies on “The View” this morning were on about how it’s “always men” who avail themselves of these services, that you never see women calling escort companies for sex.
Of course, I’m sure could Tobias had guaranteed himself a lay every time he walked into a bar, he’d have gone that route—but hey, these are busy people!
And before you start, I was watching “The View” to see if Rosie would mention the bridge story.
Didn’t even merit a mention. All because it turns out steel melts.
One of the things that is so fascinating is the underlying theme that because the messenger is less then perfect than the message is somehow wrong. If a person states that adultery is wrong and then is caught commiting adultery, then the hypocrisy of that person means that the message against adultery is tainted. It makes “debate” so easy when you don’t have to argue against the meesage on its merits; just on the flawed character of the messenger.
This theme, of course, doesn’t apply to any of the themes espoused by Mr. Marshall and others on the left side of political or social issues.
And Great Banana said the same thing before I read the thread update.
So much for insight… First98? No, not first.
“Hypocrisy” is too often misused.
To be a true hypocrite, you have to bust people for doing something that you yourself do, and when you’re exposed, say, “but it’s OK when I do it.” Because of offsets or something.
If you preach against adultery and end up committing it, then when exposed, say “I did it because I was weak, and I shouldn’t have,” then you’re not a hypocrite. Just a flawed human.
Because everyone does things they think are wrong, except for sociopaths and saints.
But it is OK when I do it…. why would it be otherwise?
The world revolves around the truth as I know it.
My truth. My self esteem.
I look around and all I see are people that are not me. So I don’t look around anymore.
I look down.
Oh Jeff! It’s ok to admit you watch The View. Heh.
I have never understood things like this. It’s not like sex is that hard to obtain if you are not picky and let’s face it, if you are calling a hooker service..You aren’t picky!!! It’s not even a question of doing some kinky stuff. There are plenty of perverted women who will do anything to feel loved for 30 minutes.
But if you are in some sort of position of power, it even makes LESS sense. Why would you put your career in jeopardy?
It has to be some sort self defeating self destructive desire that one refuses to acknowledge until it hits them in the face.
When I read about affairs and such, I don’t agree of course, but I understand. Sometimes it’s love, sometimes it’s lust. But it’s normal even if it’s wrong. But paying for it? That isn’t normal. Sorry.
This “madame” is one smart cookie though. She figures that if she can get some high powered people to say that this is a legit business and no sex happened, then she can get off. She figures they would rather do that. Otherwise, you will have to be exposed. These guys are between a rock and a hard place.
Why shouldn’t she get off? Everybody else did.
t’s not like sex is that hard to obtain if you are not picky and let’s face it, if you are calling a hooker service..You aren’t picky!!
I don’t know. I’d bet he was picky enough that he called the service to trade up from what he’d normally attract. Isn’t that what porn/strip clubs/prostitution is partly about? You want to see the good stuff, not the stuff that is actually attracted to you. Plus, no awkardness afterwards.
Having said that, is it at all possible there wasn’t intercourse involved? A happy ending maybe, nudity or fantasy behavior, maybe.
Umm, no. I think it goes:
Just massages, but no sex = she didn’t inhale.
”Oh NO, Officer! I’m not a bigamist! This isn’t my wife! She’s a.. a.. Perfectly Legal Prostitute! That’s it! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!”
Okay, sorry. Just letting my inner juvenile out to play.
Eggzactly what I thought when I first read this. She’s going to release more names “to help her defend against criminal charges” until the charges are dropped due to extreme lack of interest. I’d sure love to see her phone records, but I’m not holding my breath until they’re made public.
Fantasy? I’ll use my imagination – much safer. Ah-hem.
Of course, if you espouse no standards then you can’t be hypocrite.
By behavior… you mean like Marv Albert?
Playing dress up and then biting the hookers?
Mark me down as hoping the guy just paid to get laid.
I think the whole idea of hookers is to avoid the awkwardness of them “feeling loved”. That is a real recipe for trouble… sure guys fall for strippers and hookers every day, but the guys use the business transaction as a buffer from attachement.
It’s safer that way.
No fatal attraction, no awkward cocktail parties where your lover shows up with her husband (your co worker) in tow…. then seeing her in the corner chatting with your wife and overhearing her ask how that divorce is going… “what divorce”? you hear your wife say…
Nah.
Married guys that use high end hookers would rather leave the money on the night stand. They don’t have to promise to call, buy dinner or flowers. They don’t have to pretend to be a good listener. They ask for a Jessica Simpson look alike in cowboy hat, heels holding a ping pong paddle… and it is done.
Then the best advice I can give you is to avoid Chicago, heh heh.
Good Heavens! That is high end.
Hm. Would it be inappropriate to point out that the only African country managing to limit the growth of AIDS in its population is Uganda, and it uses an abstinence-baseed program?
I admit it.
While attending a friends birthday at the local strip club, I paid a babe $20 for a lap dance.
I KNEW I wasn’t normal!
Ok so I exxxagerated… and I apologize for interjecting a ping pong paddle into a family discussion
tw: just69
yes.
just kidding, you have a citation? you know, in case it comes up sometime.
I don’t know why, but today I watched “The View” while working out -I never watch that show. For some reason, I’m comforted that Jeff watched it too. I don’t feel as dirty.
I turned it off when they interviewed Bill Bradley. I just couldn’t stomach more than four minuets of that.
What’s with the phone records? Doesn’t any madam worth her salt keep a little black book or at least a client transaction record? Heidi Fleiss sure did. Sounds like Palfrey is tossing ABC a bone so they can dig up her witness list for her. But she gets plausible deniability because she isn’t directly throwing anyone under the bus.
But really, any D.C. name who patronizes a hooker service deserves what they get, Repub or Demo. These people are paid to have more common sense than the rest of us.
And Tobias? I won’t call him a hypocrite, but he just burned up hella rightie moral sanctimony offsets.
Jeff,
Is that a little bit of sweat forming on your forehead???
Just asking.
Have you been in the district53 in the last couple of years?
cynn
You have some Tobias quotes of moral sanctimony?
Or is this just a thing where anyone within a certain distance of him is smeared because he sinned?
Jaysus on a Pony. What utter crap.
I will say one thing. Anyone who watches ABC is party to their pimping.
Maggie –My source was National Review, print edition. I’ll try to dig up the issue.
Maggie—try here:
Uganda
Thanks, GMG.