Ann Althouse says:

Megan McArdle's readers insist that her support for legalized prostitution ought to force her to deal with the question whether she'd do the work herself. Her answer — sensible up to a point — is there are plenty of jobs she doesn't want to do. Her post doesn't explore whether we ought to protect young, weak, and economically hard-pressed individuals from doing things that will probably hurt them. The question is how harmful is the work — if you consider what it would be if it were legal?...Would you consider a career in prostitution? Assume reasonable benefits: great pay, excellent health care, a safe, well-run workplace, interesting colleagues. Would you?

By asking Megan this question, Ann is asking (or at least threatening to ask) any woman who supports the legalization of prostitution the same question.

The subject deserves a lot of research - prostitution is legal in many European countries - before deciding on that kind of thing, we should probably see how that legalization is working over there. But legalizing prostitution in America would appear to be an improvement over the current situation.

So, would whoring be a good career move if the pay was good and there were health benefits? Well, lets look at the Eliot Spitzer meltdown. Spitzer has been described as "disgraced", a criminal, a whoremonger, a bum, a bully, a hypocrite. He's going to lose his job, he's going to be charged with crimes, he'll be disbarred. Most former friends admit that no one ever liked him. Women think that his wife should kick him to the curb, kick him in the nuts and take him for everything he's worth. And he was probably a shitty lay anyway.

Of his wife Silda, people theorize that she wasn't giving her husband enough sex/love/attention. She was a sap to stand by her man, she was humilitated, pathetic, subservient. One even noted that she was overcharging her clients. So, add "overambitious", "liar", thief and crook to her resume.

However, the prostitute is getting a lot of sympathy - and money. One critic of of Silda and Eliot says of Ashley Alexandra Dupré - "I just hope she got paid". She's described as hot, hotter, and the hottest thing on the market. Her song "What We Want" became an instant hit. She's got an edge, she's got a platform, she's gonna make it big. They're talking $1 million dollar photo shots for Hustler and Penthouse, then a book, maybe a movie.

The Spitzer mess proves - we give our whores more respect than we give our politicians (and their wives). At least the whores are honest.

So, would I consider a career in politics? Assume reasonable benefits: great pay, excellent health care, a safe, well-run workplace, interesting colleagues. Would I?

Absolutely not.