Backpage.com Calls Blumenthal's Bluff

Yesterday Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who seems to believe that crusading against prostitution will help him win a seat in the U.S. Senate, proudly led a pack of 21 attorneys general who demanded that Village Voice Media's classified ad site Backpage.com follow Craigslist's example by shutting down its "adult" section:

Adult services sections are little more than online brothels, enabling human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children. Because backpage cannot properly police adult services, the section should be shut down immediately. Backpage has a moral—if not legal —obligation to purge ads that promote trafficking and sexual abuse of women and children.

Blumenthal continues to conflate consensual sex between adults with rape and child molestation, lest the public think he is the sort of bluenosed busybody who is haunted by the fear that someone, somewhere is getting a happy ending from a masseusse or more than a chaste peck on the cheek from an escort. He talks about "human trafficking" and "sexual exploitation" to cover the fact that he is seeking to suppress speech that offends him because it brings to mind sex or hire. Yet he implicitly acknowledges that he has no right to do so. When a government official lectures a business about its "moral obligation," you know he does not have a legal leg to stand on. Worse, as I noted in a column earlier this month, fighting prostitution is not even part of Blumenthal's portfolio as Connecticut's attorney general, a job that is limited to civil matters.

Backpage.com called Blumenthal's bluff:

Backpage.com is a legal business and operates its website in accordance with all applicable laws….Backpage.com is disappointed that the AGs have determined to shift blame from criminal predators to a legal business operator in an apparent attempt to capitalize on political opportunity during the election season.

Blumenthal responded:

I am deeply disappointed by this unfortunate and unfounded resistance to taking common-sense steps toward protecting women and children. I am hopeful that the company will reconsider its resistance and do the right thing. I will consult with my fellow attorneys general and consider possible next steps.

He could try stamping his feet.

Comments

[Episiarch]

Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who seems to believe that crusading against prostitution will help him win a seat in the U.S. Senate

It worked for his New York version, Spitzer (governor/Senate, whatever), so he's not wrong in thinking that. If only he were making the same mistakes as Spitzer at the same time. But I think he's (unfortunately) smarter than that.

And good for the Voice. If only craigslist had pushed back as well.

[fish]

Newmark is way to fellatial towards the notion of government to ever "push back"!

[fish]

way too.......shit!

[fresnodan]

"I will consult with my fellow attorneys general and consider possible next steps."
Beat the shit out of the former hypocritical NY attorney general Spitzer, who know only violated the "Mann" act but did it while the state of New Yawk's topp LAW ENVORCEMENT official...because Spitzer shows state attorney generals to be unsufferable moralizing 'PRICKS' (note the use of 'pricks' as a derogatory designator for attorney generals who use their penises illegally)and therefore diminishes the authority of state attorney generals????
(Oh! In that respect, Spitzer is actually doing me a favor...)

[fyodor]

common-sense steps toward protecting women and children

Isn't that what the lifeboats are for?

[sage]

Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democrat who seems to believe that crusading against prostitution will help him win a seat in the U.S. Senate

You all know that this means he's a regular john at fuckspots all over the area, right? They probably see him pulling into the parking lot and go put on the Abe Lincoln costume.

[SugarFree]

"No, you may not piss in the hat. It's the only one we have."

[AlmightyJB]

Yeah, I think we were all pretty much thinking that.

[Episiarch]

Blumenthal is a very methodical career politician, unlike The Steamroller. He wants to get to the top, but he will do it the slow, careful way.

It is possible, even probable, that he sees hookers. But I would bet that he covers his tracks vastly more carefully than Spitzer. This is one of the reasons, among many, that I detest Blumenthal so much: he's more dangerous than Spitzer.

[Government of Wolves]

Blumenthal is the incarnation of everything wrong with political attorneys. You're right - he is unbelievably dangerous.

[TrickyVic]

""Blumenthal is the incarnation of everything wrong with political attorneys. ""

If the citizenry wouldn't put the people in power, they wouldn't be much of a problem.

[TrickyVic]

In my book, it's like blaming drugs for your problems. We say the prosecutors are the problem, they are not, the people that vote for them are causing the problem.

The people are wolves empowering the government to be like them.

[wylie]

Blumenthal is the incarnation...

Anybody else read that as "incarceration"?

[Ann Archy]

It is possible, even probable, that he sees hookers.

It is possible, even probable, that you do too. What is your point?

[WelSR]

^Dumbest post of the week. Really? You can't tell the difference between a whoremonger and a whoremongering charlatan without it being pointed out to you? Never read The Scarlet Letter in high school? What's the fucking deal with you that the point is not an obvious one?

[Tonio]

The point, "Ann", is that Epi is pro-freedom, and AFAIK isn't trying to intimidate anyone. Unlike Blumenthal, who is grandstanding.

[Rhayader]

What is your point?

That people should shut the fuck up about what the other guy is doing, and make their own choices about the role that commercial erotic services will play in their lives.

[Ann Archy]

But how did Episiarch come to the conclusion that it's "probable" that Blumenthal "sees hookers"? How could he possibly know? You know the answer, but your own biases and dishonesty prevent you from saying it.

[TrickyVic]

Politicians who have much vigor about a subject, often are involved in said subject.

[prolefeed]

Knowing Epi, he probably has turned a trick for the guy, but is too cautious to just come out and say that. 😉

I keed, I keed.

[Cunctator]

I'm not saying that Blumenthal "sees" hookers, but it's worth thinking about.

[heller]

I'm not saying that Blumenthal fucks sheep, but it's definitely something to think about.

[Warty]

common-sense

You know what? Fuck you, Sarah Brady. Fuck you with an Olympic bar.

[John]

Common sense tells us Warty that there were no hookers until the creation of city papers and the evil interwebs. Don't you know that?

[John]

I would bet my last dollar that that motherfucker has seen a hooker at least once in his life.

[SugarFree]

Is that the hooker behind him? What ever he paid was too much.

[AlmightyJB]

Looks like Reno

[rac]

So, it was a hooker.

[John]

Some guys go for trannies. NTTAWWT.

[fresnodan]

he looks like a two-for-one kind of guy. As a matter of fact, he looks like a tranny as is.

[Eddie Murphy]

Cough cough.

Hey now! I only like to look. Dick popping out of the top of a pair panties. It's funny!

[dave b.]

I would bet my last dollar that that motherfucker has seen been a hooker at least once in his life.

[J sub D]

Duh. He's apolitician. If that isn't whoring, nothing is.

[mad libertarian guy]

Whether he is or is not a hooker, he's definitely a sheepfucker.

[sloopyinca]

I'm not sure that's been confirmed yet, although he hasn't denied it.

[dave b.]

Just set up an adult personals site hosted in Mexico or a South American country. Charge $10 per ad and pay off the local officials in US dollars. Cheaper than fighting off lawsuits.

When the US gov't finally bribes enough officials to get your site shut down, move to the next country. Problem solved. They have been trying to shut down the Pirate Bay for years now.

[Tman]

I still can't believe how Blumenthal was able to weasel away from his Vietnam lies. It'd be one thing if he was like, Comptroller or something, but he's a freaking AG and he lied SEVERAL times about his military service.

You could try and chalk it up to him being a democrat, but I don't see how that's even enough.

[John]

It is Connecticut. Those fuckers will vote for anyone the Democrats tell them to vote for. There are really only two races I care about this November; this one and Sharon Angle. Please God let Blumenthal and Reid go down. I don't care if Linda McMahon and Angle sacrifice kittens on the Senate floor. Anything to see these motherfuckers lose.

[sloopyinca]

I'm shocked, shocked I tell ya, that there's not been an investigation this election season into the WWE empire by at least one northeastern AG as a sop to Blumenthal. We've still got a few weeks left for that to happen.

I agree on those two races, but I'll also raise you WV. If the dems lose that seat after "Sheets" Byrd held it for the last 125 years, that would be just as big.

On a related note, have you seen the new PPP polls out for some of these races? Makes me think they're releasing all of these doomsday polls just to scare their base into activity. I find it hard to believe they'd have several outlier polls at the same time. Something smells funny to me.

[Government of Wolves]

They're holding it for an 'October Surprise', I don't doubt.

And I am surprised by how bad the PPP Dems numbers are - I don't think they're spinning it, they may just pick up on the politically engaged more that the other, more traditional polls.

And I will raise you one further race: California. Getting rid of Boxer is worth far more than capping Reid. I'd prefer the Dems keep the incompetent, dislikable Reid rather than Durbin or Schumer, who are more liberal and less incompetent.

[sloopyinca]

I can't see Fiorina winning out here. Boxer will, oddly enough, be carried in on the backs of Prop 19 supporters.

If Fiorina wants to win, she will come out supporting Prop 19 and call Boxer out on supporting all kinds of limits to personal freedom. She does this, she negates the "legal drugs=liberal=democrat" mindset most uninformed voters have and wins by 5-6%. If she keeps running the way she has been, Boxer wins with over 50% of the vote and under 30% approval.

[Tman]

Yeah, I'm with you on Reid. He's a douchebag, but every time the guy opens his mouth he reminds everyone how functionally retarded most democrats are. He's more of a net benefit for people who want to see Democrats removed from power.

[Tman]

I wish the GOP in CT had rallied more around Peter Schiff, but I think they were just as scared of him as democrats were.

[sloopyinca]

True. He could have bashed Blumenthal on the Vietnam thing. It carries more weight when it comes from a man for some reason. I guess that's why McMahon has essentially let it die.

[fresnodan]

Blumenthal saw the corrupting, degrading ordeal foisted upon the women and children by the sex trade in Vietnam ... in his dreams.

[rac]

In Vietnam he saw the true cost of human trafficking.

[John]

+1000. Seriously is there anyone lower than people who lie about their war service?

[Uhh...]

Murderers?

[John]

Depends on who they killed.

[Spencer Smith]

Murderers who lie about their war record.

[dbcooper]

"If there's one thing I hate it's losing. If there's two things I hate it's losing and getting cancer."

[Max JW]

The Dutch?

[Uhh...]

Alright. Murderers who kill innocent Catholic schoolgirls on their way to feeding the poor?

[Leroy]

Those bitches had it coming

[SugarFree]

Did you see the way they way dressed? Maybe don't go to school dressed like a slut and you won't get murdered.

[pmains]

Murderers who kill people who lie about their war record? How do we grade that?

[TrickyVic]

""Depends on who they killed.""

That, and the circumstance. A few prosecutions of troops shooting Iraqis returned a guilty verdict. Hell you can shoot you own in the fog of war. And the army will cover it up for you if it makes them look bad enough. Ask the Tillman family.

[TrickyVic]

""A few prosecutions of troops shooting Iraqis returned a guilty verdict.""

I don't think that came out right.

Of the few prosecutions that exist, very few returned a guilty verdict

[J sub D]

Fuck Blumenthal and the rest of the liberty loathing Democratic party. If they think that my disgust with the GOP iss going to get me to vote for assholes like this, they need to think again.

If I don't give a rat's ass if a whorehouse open up next door to the elementary school (and I don't), I certainly don't care about on-line adult services advertising.

[Commentariat]

He could try stamping his feet.

Works for us!

[Max]

Sex or hire? Doesn't Reason get enough donations to hire a fucking proofreader?

[Uhh...]

Fuck no!

[xaM]

If you don;t have anything to say, don't bother fucking writing, idiot.

[Uhh...]

Fuck yeah, fucking fuckface!

[It's good to be the king]

Sex or hire!

Sex or hire!

Sex or hire!

Sex or hire!

[heller]

This is a blog, you syphilitic ass-munching troglodyte. There is no reason or time for formal proofreading.

[Mo]

Go to hell Blumenthal. Consensual services shouldn't be a crime no matter how much it offends your sensibilities.

[Mr. FIFY]

Dig the irony of a Democrat acting like a Republican when it comes to "morality"...

[Woodrow]

The funny thing is that Linda McMahon is exactly the kind of Republican the nutroots has been whining about Republicans not nominating. She is socially moderate and not a Washington insider. But even though she is running against a socially conservative Democrat, they still call her TEH DEBIL just as much as they ever did George Bush or Rick Santorum.

[Government of Wolves]

Rick Santorum was the devil.

["Savage Love" reader]

Heh, heh,

You said Santorum

[Paul]

I hope Backpage.com shoves it right up Blumenthal's Backdoor.com.

[sloopyinca]

not a full-on threadjack, but look where the feds want to push the GPS tracker "legality" in the DC district now. I'm sure this is gonna end well.

http://www.wired.com/threatlev.....z10GwocAiu

[Typical Facebook User]

What? Who cares about that... my BOSS SAW MY DRUNK PICS LAST NIGHT!!!1!!!11

Doesn't Facebook care about privacy?

[dotdotdot]

The case is an important test of privacy rights as GPS devices have become a common tool in crime fighting, and can be affixed to moving vehicles by an officer shooting a dart.

"Look honey, there's a suction dart stuck to your Escalade."

"Meh, leave it there."

[kc]

This idiocy has a silver lining -- apparently Blumenthal can't come up with anything better to campaign on.
Republicans aren't the only self-rightous moralizing fascist busy-bodies.

[alan]

It's the Date Line vote. Essentially a democratic block, mostly upper middle and middle class women, who operate not really on the idea of moral busibodiness, but instead a fear of everything from penises to swarthiness to spaces without night lights.

[alan]

Oh, and shaved headed white people with tats are just as scary to them as swarthiness, but I thought the other went better with the night light comment.

[Bootylicious Spinner Unique]

I can't deal with no white boy wanna dress up like Little Bo Pee! I mean, damn, I'll pee on just about anybody for the right amount, but at least dress like a man. Sissy.

[Mosquevite Sandwich]

Spitzer needs to take Dick out for some high dolla ass. Idiot.

[beagles]

"Backpage has a moral?if not legal ?obligation to purge ads that promote trafficking and sexual abuse of women and children."

So Blumenthal isn't interested in protecting male prostitutes, gay or straight. He should be called out on this bigotry

[Abdul]

Prostitutes should just try working "blumenthal" into their code language.

"Lovely lady hoping to blumenthal with business men in area. GFE. Greek extra"

[1.5"]

I think you're on to something. I nominate "to blumenthal (another)" as the verb form of the rusty nail.

[Dello]

"Because backpage cannot properly police adult services, the section should be shut down immediately."

Since local government can't keep prostitution out of my city, they should be shut down immediately.

[sloopyinca]

Since local and state government cannot control their spending as required by law, they should be shut down.

Hey, I kinda like this.

[Government of Wolves]

Once you accept this line of logic, all kinds of wonderful things become possible...

[John Bender]

"Show Dick some respect!"

[sloopyinca]

Now this is ingenious. Women are selling their bodies in KY as well. We've found out NOW's stance from the linked article. I wonder where Rand Paul stands on this?

http://www.usatoday.com/money/.....titialskip

[SugarFree]

With all the misgivings I have about Rand Paul, he's recently locked up my vote: All of the local and state police organizations have been running ads against him.

[sloopyinca]

True. It's funny, when KFC has hotties parade around with "Double Down" on their ass (see pic in link above), that's OK. When a woman rents her body for another reason that is much more normal than eating a sammich made of 2 pieces of chicken, bacon, cheese and some "special sauce," that's cause for concern.

Well, according to NOW, it's not OK for women to engage in either type of commerce, however consensual. Guess they're too dumb to make decisions without "women's rights" groups telling them what those decisions should be.

[alan]

His opponent really is running on the 'all the socialism of a democrat and twice the fascism of a republican' ticket isn't he? I really would like to see that guy Spitzered.

[R C Dean]

Women are selling their bodies in KY as well.

I'll bet they're just renting them out, not actually selling them.

[Cyto]

Whoa, and they come packaged in KY jelly too....

[gaijin]

This guy's the spitting (or swallowing?) image of spitzer...only with a little more hair. What is it about weasliy eyes and high cheekbones with these self righteous dudes?

[alan]

They are lizard shape shifters, gaijin. I could point you to some entertaining conspiracy books with that as a central thesis, but I'm a little busy at the moment.

[Government of Wolves]

In regard to lizard shape-shifters:

James Carville.

That is all.

[Brett L]

He's not so good at the shape-shifter part.

[P Brooks]

Blumenthal is a loathesome, despicable sack of shit. I predict he will win in a landslide.

[Jeremy Kareken]

We should thank Blumenthal for his years of service to America, particularly when he punched Ho Chi Minh and rescued that prostitute from his evil long yellow fingers.

[Government of Wolves]

+1 (though I seem to recall it being 1000...)

[Tony Jones]

Finally! Someone has the cojones to stand up to these bullies in office who are trying to make a connection between adult prostitution and child exploitation. Perhaps I'm speaking for myself and those I know but any time there's suspicious activity we immediately flag the post. Molesters go to Myspace, not CL or BP or Johnslist or Eros. BLOWmenthal should shut down Myspace.

[TrickyVic]

And this guy wants a national office where he will undoubtedly sponsor a bill to get even with Backpage.com. No doubt it will have bipartisan suppoprt.

[Douglas Fletcher]

Maybe he could find a used Purple Heart on Craigslist, that would probably impress them enough to back down.

[.]

He could try stamping his feet.

Or taping his toe.

[.]

Or tapping his toe. (Shit!)

[Jackie Brown]

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