Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Spitz bows out, may move to Tehran

As Eliot Spitzer resigns as Governor of New York, it is time to assess Spitzer's candidacy for hypocrite of the year. One argument for it is that during his time as New York's Attorney General he went after prostitution rings much like the one he has now admitted to participating in.

Granted prostitution is illegal. So whatever client nine was doing in his spare time, he did have an obligation to uphold the laws of the state. Nevertheless, one spin through the "E" part of the Manhattan Yellow Pages suggests nobody takes prostitution's illegality very seriously. Meaning not only could Spitzer have kept his hard-ass prosecutor card without going after the call girls, but there wasn't much -- if any -- public demand for him cracking down on off-the-street prostitution.

In 2004, when he arrested 18 people on charges of promoting prostitution in New York City, Spitzer took the extra step of alerting the media and having a perp walk. He also slapped the indicted with much harsher charges than simple prostitution, even after referring to the operation as "nothing more than a prostitution ring."

But Spitzer isn't the only one to lay early claim on hypocrite of '08. Reza Zarei, Tehran's police chief, was recently arrested after being found nude in a brothel with six naked prostitutes.

Zarei wasn't just police chief -- he was also the head of a recent initiative for the "moralization of the city" that had locked up hundreds for not respecting the laws of Islam. A code one can assume doesn't allow for seven-ways.

It just goes to show that hypocrisy knows no geography, religion or politics. And that hookers are much cheaper in Iran.

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