Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Money Does Make Prostitutes Fickle   [Jonah Goldberg]

In the current issue of National Review, I have a cover story on how liberals and big business have always had a cozier relationship than the stories told by both Big Business and the Democratic Party would suggest. I begin with a long extended metaphor about how the relationship between big business and liberalism is akin to the relationship between hookers and Johns.

Honesty and marital necessity require me to state that everything I know about prostitution I have learned from a distance. That said, based on what I’ve gleaned from reading and from films of dubious artistic value, it seems to me that the farther you move up the prostitution price range, the more elaborate the lies become. A streetwalker trolling the docks during Fleet Week has little opportunity for self-rationalization, elaborate rituals, or ornate fictions. She never asks that drunk petty officer from Manila, “Do you love me?”; nor does she wonder why he never calls or writes. We all know what she’s selling, and we’re under no illusions about the fact that it’s for sale. Sure, for an extra $25, she might pretend to enjoy it, but ultimately, the cheaper the cost, the cheaper the lies....

But it’s prostitution that lends itself best to varying degrees of deception. Tony Soprano’s “gumars” always expected to be treated better than the slatterns in the backroom of the Bada Bing Club. And, no doubt, the late French president François Mitterand — who fathered a second family with one of his many mistresses — was no stranger to ornate fictions either. As the costs rise, the compliments become more sincere. The relationships grow not only more complex but more reciprocal — and, most of all, the real lies aren’t what the hookers tell the johns, but what both parties tell themselves.

That’s something to keep in mind as we watch the spectacle of American big business and the Democratic party seducing each other once again.

I wrote the article before the new public-private partnership lovefest we're witnessing this week. But I think Glenn Reynolds' piece over at Forbes does back-up my point.

The Democrats were whorish in their quest for AIG money. But once the money stops flowing and the neighbors are watching, the Democrats suddenly pretend they never wore the naughty librarian outfit for their Wall Street Johns.

03/25 10:29 AMShare