Bob Menendez

http://newyork.newsday.com/news/region-state/bob-menendez-prostitute-sex-scandal-rumors-increase-after-fbi-raids-doctor-s-office-1.4533498

I will certainly wait for more - and better - information on this before making any judgment.

Allegations are not fact. Consider the source:

Quote :

The investigation, spurred by the conservative media, is believed to be focusing on Melgen's finances and the allegations about Menendez's trips and contact with prostitutes. A spokesman for Menendez could not be reached for comment, nor could Melgen.

Look at the laughable accusations the Lunatic Right has thrown at Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Vince Foster, Rahm Emanuel, John Kerry, Barack Obama, Michele Obama, Joe Biden, George Soros, Dominic Strauss-Khan... basically anyone they disagree with. There are very powerful big money interests -- primarily Gingrich's super-PAC "Winning Our Future" and Rove's super-PAC "Crossroads GPS" -- who have made it their mission to destroy all opponents with unprovable character assassinations.

I will reserve judgment until some facts come out. We all know "the conservative media" (viz Fox News & Rush Limbaugh) have a well-documented aversion to facts.

Yes Virginia, there *IS* a vast right wing conspiracy.

[Edit: By the way, welcome Dave!]

I'm sorta annoyed this is a story about a wealthy white man's pronging habits rather than a story about underage prostitutes and what we can do to better their lives.

Don't get the idea that I am in favor of prostitution or of old men having sex with children. But we should keep in mind that biology and statutes are not always in alignment. The escalating age of sexual consent under statute is a political, social, and religious phenomenon; as far as biology goes, the age of consent is when the two people involved reach the proper level of horniness. The preachers and politicians telling a couple of seventeen-year-old kids that they are not allowed to have sex is simply ridiculous. Or making it a felony for an eighteen-year-old boy to have sex with his seventeen-year-old girlfriend, but if they had waited two weeks until she was eighteen, then it would be fine. Sometimes, we just have to step back and remember that we are animals first, "people" second.

In this particular case, the allegations were that he had sex with underage girls. The age of the girls was not specified. In the Dominican Republic, the age of sexual consent is eighteen. In thirty states in the US, the age is sixteen. In nine states, it is seventeen. In Puerto Rico, it is fourteen. In many Central and South American countries, it is twelve (although they have very confusing laws). Does the difference in the law make a moral difference in the act? Is it okay to have sex with a fourteen-year-old Puerto Rican girl, but if you have sex with a sixteen-year-old girl in the Dominican Republic, then you are a pedophile? In how many of the American states, is it still legal for a girl of thirteen or fourteen to get married?

Again, I'm not trying to defend anything Menendez may have done, or the practice pf prostitution. I just think that, when judging such actions, one must keep in mind the inconsistency in the laws, and the difference between biological reality and statutory restrictions.

I'm all for not prosecuting situations like the 18 year old having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend. I'm all for accepting that kids, especially teens, are probably going to experiment with sex.

However.

Prostitution is not just sex. It's sex for a job, not curiosity or love or merriment- but work. It's work younger girls are often forced into and they get paid less for it yet they are open to all the stigma and legal problems and STDs associated with it. Often in ways their johns are not. That is my issue. The inequality of that whole situation and the fact that men in power think it's perfectly acceptable to contribute to that situation while never taking even the smallest of steps to prevent or improve it.

For example, it's a well known fact that sex trafficking increases substantially in the city in which the Super Bowl takes place over that Super Bowl time period. We know this shit happens it's just not a priority.

To answer your direct question does the difference in law make a moral difference in the act. No. I think people actually know exactly where that line is and they do shit anyway. I don't think the law is what makes an old politician fucking a, say, 14 year old wrong. It's wrong because he knows good and goddamn well that he is taking advantage of someone who is probably greatly beneath him economically for his own pleasure and ego. It's wrong because it's wrong. And it would be wrong no matter what the law says. Campground rules- leave them better than when you found them. The same dude fucking a 29 year old prostitute who knows exactly what she's doing and isn't being coerced by anything other than her own job preferences would be absolutely fine with me. To an extent economics forces us all to be coerced prostitutes but at least wait until we get old enough to know what the hell we are getting ourselves into.

You raise an interesting dilemma Jenni.

'Sex tourism' is big business. Wealthy businessmen pay large dollars to fly to Thailand and consort with underage girls. Although it is illegal, it's hard to prosecute.

Wikipedia wrote:

Child sex tourism is tourism to engage in sex with a child prostitute. It is a criminal (in most countries) multi-billion-dollar industry believed to involve as many as 2 million children around the world.[18] In an effort to eradicate the practice, many countries have enacted laws to allow prosecution of their citizens for child abuse that occurs outside their home country, even if it is not against the law in the country where the child abuse took place, for example, the USA Protect Act.[19]

Some people travel to other countries to engage in sex with children. Child sex tourism has been closely linked to poverty[clarification needed].

Thailand, Cambodia, India, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been identified as countries where child sexual exploitation is prevalent.[clarification needed]

In Thailand, though the exact numbers are not known, it has been estimated that children make up to 9% of prostitutes in the country.[20] In India, the federal police say that around 1.2 million children are believed to be involved in prostitution.[21] Brazil is considered to have the worst child sex trafficking record, after Thailand.[22]

The UNICEF notes that sexual activity is often seen as a private matter, making communities reluctant to act and intervene in cases of sexual exploitation.[23] These attitudes make children far more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Most exploitation of children takes place as a result of their absorption into the adult sex trade where they are exploited by local people and sex tourists.[23] The Internet provides an efficient global networking tool for individuals to share information on destinations and procurement.[23]

In cases involving children, the USA have relatively strict domestic laws that hold accountable any American citizen or permanent resident of the U.S. who travels abroad for the purpose of engaging in illicit conduct with a minor.[23] However, child pornography, sex tourism and human trafficking remain fast-growing industries.[23] Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, recently introduced H.R. 1623, the "International Megan's Law". Similar to the domestic Megan's Law, which provides for community notification when a sex offender is living in the area, H.R. 1623 would alert officials abroad when U.S. sex offenders intend to travel, and likewise encourage other countries to keep sex offender lists and to notify the U.S. when a known sex offender may be coming to the United States for sex tourism.[23]

However I think it's important to remember that Menendez hasn't been found guilty of sex tourism. He's been *accused* by a right-wing blog named The Daily Caller.

Accusing prominent Democrats of sexual impropriety has been a favorite tactic of Karl Rove for over 30 years.