Thursday, May 1, 2008

D.C. Madam Dies in Apparent Suicide

George Carlin once asked: "Selling is legal. Fucking is legal. So why isn't 'selling fucking' legal?"

Well, I can't answer that question. And it seems Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the woman dubbed the "D.C. Madam," ended her own life while awaiting sentencing for "selling fucking."

According to the Washington Post, Palfrey, 52, was facing around 4 to 6 years for her conviction on federal racketeering charges.

The details of her "crime":

Palfrey ran her business, Pamela Martin & Associates, by telephone from her California home, and authorities said she grossed about $2 million from 1993 to 2006, splitting the money about evenly with her escorts. They said she employed at least 132 women over the years, dispatching them nightly to clients in homes and hotel rooms in the Washington area.

Yes, that awful, dreadful woman gave "socially polished, college-educated women" gainful employment providing a service to men (and maybe other women, I suppose). Oh, I'm sure there are some wives and scorned ex-lovers who are going to relish this news -- but it seems to be a tragic waste of taxpayers' money (i.e., the investigation and prosecution) and one woman's life just because some men stepped out with call-girls.

I don't have a moral problem with prostitution, but I personally find it disgusting. Furthermore, I would feel personally degraded if a woman were pretending to enjoy--shall we say "my company"?-- for $250.

But to each, their own.

So, one woman is dead. Her family mourns. Lives have been tarnished; reputations destroyed.

Can someone please explain to me what the hell was accomplished by all this?

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