The So-Cons have Finally Gone TOO FAR!

We've all seen the headlines.

Uproar over teh gayz at CPAC... A Governor who drew fire from his own party because he suggested a truce on social issues... Another Governor/Prez-hopeful who announced that if he's elected to the top spot he'll work to reinstate DADT... The suggestion that atheism is to blame for the Tuscon shootings... Or how about the very notion that a man who compared homosexuality to sex with animals might have a shot at the Republican nomination?

Yes, there have been disturbing signs that the social conservatives are getting out of control.

And now, via Memeorandum, I see that they're stepping it up. Once again, so-cons are trying to criminalize victimless interactions between consenting adults based on nothing more than some lame moral superiority complex.

So never mind that prostitution is the world's oldest paid profession. Never mind Nevada's long tradition of sin as business. And never mind minding your own beeswax. The so-cons won't be stopped. Their next big priority is making said oldest profession illegal in the last place it is legal!

Huh? Say what?

It's actually Harry Reid (D-umbass) who's proposing this?! In the name of jobs?!

Bwahaha! Hey, Reid... What about the prostitutes who'll be forced to join the Nevada unemployment rolls?

Seriously now. I'm a libertarian. I say legalize it everywhere. It's yours... if you wanna rent it out, I think that's yer business. I'm of the firm opinion that if the persons involved are over the age of consent, the government has no place in the discussion.

And I just have to laugh at this. I'm accustomed to my ideas not always flying with my friends on the right. I understand where their opinions come from on this, even when we disagree. I get why we disagree, if you see my point.

But this? Oh, no. I don't get it at all. Reid actually said:

"If we want to attract business to Nevada that puts people back to work, the time has come for us to outlaw prostitution."

Yeah! That's logic! Bring in jobs by making employed individuals into unemployed criminals!

Wait.

Maybe I do get it...

"Unemployed criminals"? Hmmm. When you add those folks to the organized workers, you've more or less accounted for the Democratic voting base, no?

Mystery solved!

Harry Reid is a genius!

Why Not Just Make It Legal?

I saw this posted today at RiehlWorldView:

Dallas police have changed their approach to busting prostitutes, and are now treating them as sex crime victims. According to TBO.com, the "victims" can avoid jail time by choosing a 45 day inpatient rehab.

The program's advocates acknowledge its success has been limited - about half of the 375 women have chosen rehab, and just 21 have turned their lives around. But authorities say they're gaining the women's trust and have gotten leads on unsolved crimes.

So it's barely effective... And who's footing the bill for the 45 day inpatient rehab? And since when do we force "victims" of anything into rehab? And (as Riehl points out), "If it leads to johns being listed somewhere as sex offenders, I don't know that that's such a good idea."

I have a better idea. Just decriminalize prostitution. (Ah, yes... it's my inner libertarian speaking up again...) Seriously. Make it legal.

Yes, I believe it's a victimless crime. Yes, I believe grown adults should be able to do what they like with their own bodies. No, I don't think it would allow for the exploitation of children because that's a crime on its own and should remain so. No, I don't think it poses a threat to marriage. (News flash, ladies... If your husband is willing to pay for it, he'll take any freebies he's offered as well. The problem would be your man, not prostitution.)

From Dallas police Sgt. Louis Felini (the man dreamed up the "Prostitution Diversion Initiative") comes the hard truth about these prostitutes:

"They are trading sex for survival needs: food, a place to sleep."

And you're arresting them for it. What a prince.

More:

Arresting prostitutes accomplished little. Many considered going to jail part of the cost of doing business and were back at the truck stops within 48 hours, Felini said.

So the police acknowledge these women are only doing what they need to do to survive... but they'll arrest them anyway - for the "crime" of being a "victim" - and bargain them into rehab at taxpayer expense. Ooooooookay...

Ridiculous. Just change the law.