April 15, 2008
D.C. Madam Found Guilty
If the D.C. Madam is convicted and no one cares, does she make a sound? Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called D.C. Madam who got every Washington watcher all hot and bothered last year over her impending trial and purported client list, and then proceeded to bore everyone to tears with how mundane the scandal turned out to be, was found guilty today on charges of racketeering, mail fraud and money laundering. Not that you probably cared one way or the other. We know we didn't.
In case you missed the Post's excellent story on how dull the trial really was, give it a read. It's certainly more entertaining than the D.C. Madam story itself, which turned out to be nowhere near as high profile, or even high class (her call girls were paid $250 an hour, which makes them seem like street walkers compared to Eliot Spitzer's hooker) as it initially seemed. It turned out these prostitutes actually serviced clients who were more likely to be suburban lawyers than Washington powerbrokers. One of them testified she contracted herpes on the job. It wasn't glamorous or scandalous, in the end. It's just finally an end.
Palfrey remains free pending her July 24 sentencing.
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She should've dropped names like they were lead balloons.
I think she tried to no avail. As I recall one of the guys who authored the doctrine of "shock and awe" was on her client list, but revealing that little nugget did little to help her.
She sold her lists to the media to pay for her defense. But they were only phone numbers, so junior management would've had to go through and actually connect the number to the person. And who wants to do that, when they could be spending valuable time commenting on blog boards as this one.
She should've name-dropped them herself. Never leave a Gen-Xer to do a woman's job.
What a miserable wretch. She was clearly a madam. But thought her black book would be enough to threaten her way out of prosecution. Except that her black book had minimal impact - ABC News looked incredibly foolish as they hyped the story, then reviewed the phone numbers and found very little. Senator Vitter used hookers. So did some State Dept old guy. Whoop-dee-doo! Instead, several former escorts had to testify, thereby destroying their current lives and professions (e.g., the military woman who's looking at a court martial and whose career is effectively over). I really hope Palfrey gets a long jail sentence. Mainly b/c of her trial resulting in the destruction of several people's lives.
I'm not exactly sure how dropping more names would have somehow improved her chances. Her only real prayer was if she had inside dirt on one of the few people actually involved in investigating her, or the judge in the case, or their bosses, and didn't release it to the media. By selling her entire phone list to the media, she made it so that no one had anything more to lose. Also, given the parade of former employees testifying against her, it seems her first mistake was not being a better boss.
Oh, and in addition to the "shock and awe" guy lets not forget that Sen. David Vitter was on her phone lists. Somehow, the fact that he used hookers before he was elected rather than after seems to have kept him from resigning in disgrace like Spitzer.
The moral of this story: don't be a tease.
But would you do her? I would. Maybe not for $250 an hour, but if you paid me $200 I'd get the job done.
nate: vitter used these hookers before he became a senator, but not before he gained elected office. wasn't he a state rep when the dirty deeds occurred?
Nate: I am a big believer of if you're gonna go down, go down in glorious flames. She had to realize that she had no real chance to beat this rap. She wouldn't have used the threat of exposing people as her means of escape.
Now that she's guilty, it makes as much sense to name-drop now as it would if John Edwards finally endorsed someone.
Exhibit #324 in "why prostitution should be legalized."
Ruining these women's careers served what purpose, exactly?
Someone has to keep us safe from consenting adults having S-E-X, somegirl!
Nate and IMGoph - Vitter wasn't a state rep at the time; he was a member of the House representing LA's 1st congressional district (ironically having replaced Bob Livingston who resigned after his own extramarital escapades came to light).
Apparently, Vitter arranged a least one of his trysts while waiting in the cloak room for a floor vote. Of course, he's beyond the statute of limitations now, so he's legally free and clear of whatever may have done (diaper play, anyone?).
Gotta hand it to stand-up family values guys - they know how to get their freak on.
Prostitution is legal in Canada, France, Germany, and just about every other free country. Why not here?
Living under Sharia law sucks. Even when it's the Christian version.
And I was so looking forward to the long-awaited Vitter "smoking diaper." C'est la vie.
I read all about the Vitter Case on www.hustlermagazine.com. This case makes me sick why is Vitter still able to prowl the halls of congress while this women might server years in prison.