D.C. Madam

I have little interest in who is and isn't on the D.C. Madam's list, though the rank hypocrisy of Randal Tobias paying for sexual massages after a hard day of requiring foreign governments to swear off prostitution before receiving foreign aid to fight AIDS is pretty rich.

What's instructive about this mess is that it shows exactly what it takes to get booted from the Bush administration. Until now, the only thing that could get you axed from the White House payroll was disloyalty. Set the stage for and choreograph an ill-considered and horribly executed war resulting in the death of 3,300 U.S. troops? Get a soft landing as president of the World Bank, where the president says your admirable record fighting corruption in the developing world ought to offset the niggling truth that you yourself have some serious problems with corruption. Mislead the nation and the entire world about Saddam's WMD capabilities? Consider yourself Medal-of-Freedomed!

Ah, but hire an escort? Not in this no-porn, no-gambling, abstinence-happy administration. Have your resignation in hand by the end of the day.

The other slight benefit in all of this is we get to witness the preposterousness of people like Sean Hannity and Hugh Hewitt extolling the importance of privacy, droning on about "Scarlett Letters" and McCarthyism, and defending the principle of "innocent until proven guilty," likely because this scandal will disproportionately hit Republicans and conservatives, if not in sheer numbers, then certainly when it comes to hypocrisy. Hell, given the way Hannity's valiantly sticking up for the accused in this clip, you'd think there were Duke lacrosse players on that list. If this were a service catering exclusively to Democrats, I'd bet a kidney you'd have Hannity and Hewitt sermonizing about how this just goes to prove the moral depravity of the left.

Check the 3:20 mark for a particularly "oh, come on" exchange.