Spitzer -- a lesson for all you guys out there.

[JDPriestly]

If you want extramarital sex, don't hire a prostitute. Buy yourself a mistress.

It's a matter of good judgment. Giuliani took a mistress and got a lot of support in his presidential run. (OK no delegates, but Fox News liked him and he never had to resign from anything.) Then there is President Sarkozy of France. He was never asked to resign over his beautiful young mistress.

There is a lesson to be learned here.

And while you are at it, check out this advice from Benjamin Franklin:

June 25, 1745

My dear Friend,

. . . . If you get a prudent healthy Wife, your Industry in your Profession, with her good Economy, will be a Fortune sufficient.

But if you will not take this Counsel, and persist in thinking a Commerce with the Sex inevitable, then I repeat my former Advice, that in all your Amours you should prefer old Women to young ones. You call this a Paradox, and demand my Reasons. They are these:

i. Because as they have more Knowledge of the World and their Minds are better stor'd with Observations, their Conversation is more improving and more lastingly agreable.

2. Because when Women cease to be handsome, they study to be good. To maintain their Influence over Men, they supply the Diminution of Beauty by an Augmentation of Utility. They learn to do a 1000 Services small and great, and are the most tender and useful of all Friends when you are sick. Thus they continue amiable. And hence there is hardly such a thing to be found as an old Woman who is not a good Woman.

more

http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/51-fra.html

[Taverner]

1. Or go to Vegas where it's legal, and pay in cash

[ben_meyers]

6. Actually it's not legal in Vegas

Prostitution is legal in Most of Nevada with the exception of Clark County.

[Taverner]

7. Well you know, one of those ranches where it is legal

[ben_meyers]

9. There ya go,

And I'm just pointing out another hypocrisy in our laws.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. ...or you could just keep it in your pants until you are out of office...

[JDPriestly]

14. That's too easy for these guys.

Don't expect too much after all.

Humor aside, I bet Spitzer expects his wife to keep her pants on.

[VP505]

3. Um, what time does

the VD lecture start?

[Dr.Phool]

4. Right now.

Stay away from teen-aged girls.

[VP505]

8. LOL, I read

about that! 1 in 4, yikes!

[Mojorabbit]

5. I say if you want extramarital

sex without your wife's consent then get a divorce. It will save everyone a lot of heartache and perhaps some medical bills.

[JDPriestly]

15. You, too, are far too sensible.

Face it, some guys want the best of both -- marriage and extramarriage. What they forget is that they are most likely to get the worst of both. No marriage and a huge alimony bill each month.

[KansDem]

10. "...don't hire a prostitute. Buy yourself a mistress."

I can't afford either...:(

[edbermac]

11. Get a copy of Playboy and a jar of Vaseline.

Five grand an hour!??? You just pay ten bucks for the other stuff...so I've been told. :evilgrin:

[NNN0LHI]

17. Hairy palms. No way

[maui9002]

12. Or take the advice one of my best friends gave me right before my wedding

He'd been married to the same woman for many years, and although he had his vices, he never cheated on his wife. He told me that his wife was his best friend, and that he'd never think of hurting someone else in that way; why should a husband treat his wife differently than he would any other good friend?

[ljm2002]

13. That is excellent advice!

And welcome to DU!

[JDPriestly]

18. Again, think how boring the news would be if people had common sense.

Why, we'd be focusing on stopping the war and getting universal healthcare. That would probably cause a lot of Americans to just turn off the news.

Sorry that Spitzer did not have better sense. He will pay a huge price at home. I believe he has teenage or young adult daughters. He is going to have a hard time repairing the damage this has done to his relationship with them. His wife will probably forgive him (depending on whether this has happened before, the strength of their relationship over all -- although she may exact a price from him), but his daughters . . . . Giving up the governorship is nothing compared to the price he will pay with regard to the loss of the trust of his daughters.

[NNN0LHI]

16. McCain married his mistress and look at where he is headed

[JDPriestly]

19. Woops! Forgot about him. And both Roosevelts -- bipartisan of course.

And I never could figure out the story on Reagan.

By the way, frequenting prostitutes seems to be a tradition among New York governors.

Nelson Rockefeller is rumored to have died in the presence of a fallen woman:

Rockefeller actually had the fatal heart attack in his 54th St. Manhattan townhouse in the presence of 26-year-old aide Megan Marshak and that some time later Marshak had called her friend, news reporter Ponchitta Pierce, to the townhouse and it was Pierce who phoned emergency approximately an hour after the heart attack.<13> Much speculation went on in the press regarding a personal relationship between Rockefeller and Marshak,<14> Neither Marshak nor the family has commented since on the circumstances surrounding Rockefeller's death.<15>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Rockefeller#Death

Of course, Ms. Marshak may have just been a mistress -- which would have saved Rockefeller's reputation judging from the standards we seem to see today.

Just to set the record straight regarding Benjamin Franklin's advice, here are a few more reasons he gave for choosing a mistress who is older;

4. Because thro' more Experience, they are more prudent and discreet in conducting an Intrigue to prevent Suspicion. The Commerce with them is therefore safer with regard to your Reputation. And with regard to theirs, if the Affair should happen to be known, considerate People might be rather inclin'd to excuse an old Woman who would kindly take care of a young Man, form his Manners by her good Counsels, and prevent his ruining his Health and Fortune among mercenary Prostitutes.

5. Because in every Animal that walks upright, the Deficiency of the Fluids that fill the Muscles appears first in the highest Part: The Face first grows lank and wrinkled; then the Neck; then the Breast and Arms; the lower Parts continuing to the last as plump as ever: So that covering all above with a Basket, and regarding only what is below the Girdle, it is impossible of two Women to know an old from a young one. And as in the dark all Cats are grey, the Pleasure of corporal Enjoyment with an old Woman is at least equal, and frequently superior, every Knack being by Practice capable of Improvement.

6. Because the Sin is less. The debauching a Virgin may be her Ruin, and make her for Life unhappy.

http://www.swarthmore.edu/SocSci/bdorsey1/41docs/51-fra.html

So, if a man just cannot for the life of him or for the good of his reputation and family, resist the desire to plow his neighbor's field, he should at least rent the neighbor's field for more than just a night now and then.