Here’s what I wondered after reading Newsweek’s cover story on Eliot Spitzer: Why doesn’t his “rehabilitation” involve raising huge gobs of money for charity? Like, say, this one: the Somaly Mam Foundation, with its mission to fight human trafficking and sex slavery worldwide.
From www.Somaly.org:
- 2-4 million young women and children will be sold into slavery in the next 12 months.
- Human trafficking is the second-largest organized crime in the world. It has become a bigger business than drug trafficking and generates $9.5 billion per year.
- Many of these children are sold into slavery for as little as $10, and some are as young as 5.
- Profits from sex slavery are estimated at $7-12 billion U.S. per year.
I’m not suggesting that Eliot Spitzer is in any way responsible for that - I’m just suggesting that maybe the word “prostitution” could have come up more than just once in the 5,338 word Newsweek story. “Prostitute” got one mention; “Ashley Dupré” got one mention. “Law” got a few mentions, but not as in “thing Spitzer broke repeatedly and over a period of years and to the tune of approximately $80,000”; more like how he writes a “weekly column on politics, economics and the law for Slate.” Yes, sure, it talks about his disgrace and scandal - but God forbid anyone should truly address the reason for it.
That reason was….prostitution! And, your libertarian argument about how awesome and safe Amsterdam is aside, it is illegal. We know it’s illegal because someone in the whole Emperor’s Club imbroglio was charged, just not Spitzer. It was the so-called “Spitzer Madam,” a 24-year old named Cecil Suwal, and she got 6 months in jail. You’d think that Spitzer would have been relieved to have gotten off easy. (Yikes, not one but two unintentional puns in there. Sorry, but they’re staying.)
Here’s the only nod to what he did:
I asked if, when he hired a prostitute, he knew he was doing something wrong.
“Yes,” he said. “No question about that.”
But there is a question, because no one seems to care about any such wrongness. Me, I’m old fashioned - I think it matters and should be marked in some way. And I can’t think of a better way than standing up and saying, “Yes, that happened, but look at all the good that has now come from it!” And then - boom! $100,000K to Somaly Mam to help fight sex slavery and human trafficking. Or maybe Children of the Night, which looks after “children between the ages of 11 and 17 who are forced to prostitute on the streets for food to eat and a place to sleep.” Or how about Covenant House NY which protects “homeless, runaway and at-risk youth” in Spitzer’s very own home city, in the state he used to preside over.
Gail Collins may be swayed by a briefcase and Ezra Klein by a 5-year-old New Republic story, but I prefer something more substantial. Yes, a year ago he lost everything - but to get it all back, what, exactly, has he given?
So - in honor of Eliot Spitzer, today’s Gratuitous Public Interest Campaign Thursday beneficiary is the Somaly Mam Foundation, along with Children of the Night and Covenant House. Feel free to match our dedication to their cause, here, Eliot - until then, you’re just…gratuitous.
Related:
Spitzer in Exile [Newsweek]
Donate: Somaly Mam Foundation
Donate: Children of the Night
Donate: Covenant House
