Akkam’s Razor

Concern trolls on the right are quick to point out the 'hypocripsy' of the left. I suspect this scandal will be no different. As someone who thinks sex is not filthy and that our opinions on sex in many ways creates the problems of rape, abuse, and prostitution, I don't have a problem per se with a private citizen's interaction with a presumably legal use of an escort service. A judicious examination of Randall Tobias' account that he only received 'massages' doesn't hold water. A visit by an escort to a condo and a $300 bill for back strain is not the same thing as a visit to the chiropractor. The problem isn't the sex or the prostitution, it is the hypocrisy, or more specifically how an official who demanded others to take anti-prostitution pledges found himself a customer of a call-girl service. Via Thinkprogress:

Former U.S. AID director Randall Tobias, who resigned yesterday upon admitting that he frequented a Washington escort service, oversaw a controversial policy advocated by the religious right that required any US-based group receiving anti-AIDS funds to take an anti-prostitution “loyalty oath.”

[…]

During an “Ask the White House” online chat in 2004, Tobias defended the policy, saying the U.S. was “partnering with communities” to begin “fighting sex trafficking and prostitution, while still serving victims of these activities.” Tobias added that he was overseeing several “highly successful” relationship programs “aimed at men and boys to help them develop healthy relationships with women.”

There's a greater concen, however, that highlights the power of sex and secrets, especially as it relates to gov't integrity and security. If an intelligence agency wants to 'turn' an asset, one of the primary tactics is to employ a 'honeypot' - compromising them through sex. A married official may cooperate under threat of the revelation of his mistress. An upright & religious individual may trade influence so as to avoid the disclosure of his various fetishes. The masculine super-patriot may be desperate to have his closeted homosexually uncovered. A member of the media may launder propaganda, suspend journalistic ethical standards, and run stories that defy reason & conventional wisdom to avoid their own name in the headlines. ABCNEWS Brian Ross reports the following via ThinkProgress:

"There are thousands of names, tens of thousands of phone numbers," Ross said. "And there are people there at the Pentagon, lobbyists, others at the White House, prominent lawyers — a long, long list." Ross added that the women who worked for the service, potentially as prostitutes, "include university professors, legal secretaries, scientists, military officers."

In the non-governmental sphere, one would call it blackmail. One can see how destructive this can be with incarcerated former-Congressman Duke Cunningham - prostitution played a prominent role in his co-option by contractor MZM, Wade Cunningham, and Brett Wilkes. With this in mind, it suddenly make the unbelievable possible. The USDOJ has been trying to squelch dissemination of the list, employing a Federal Judges 'gag order' to keep defendant Deborah Jean Palfrey from discussing, leaking, or profiting from her 10,000 phone number database. What money, secrets, or influence might have been traded, stolen, or compromised and are hinted at in her BIG black book?