Spitzer's Sidekick Feels Violated

According to the AP, the lawyer for the multi-named call girl who brought down the governor of New York has "lashed out at the media...for thrusting the 22-year-old woman into the 'public glare' without her consent and publishing revealing photos."

He is shocked, shocked that such images "have appeared on commercial web sites without her consent" and vowed to take legal steps to protect her from "any unwarranted exploitation of her name, picture, voice or likeness for purposes of profit."

After the news broke, insensitive outlets such as the New York Times published a story and pictures about Spitzer's petite ami based on "a series of telephone interviews" as "she told the tiniest tidbits of her story."

Now boors like Larry Flynt are besieging her with offers of $1 million to pose for "tastefully done" nudes for Hustler, after the "revealing photos" were taken down from the MySpace page hosted by the company she created in 2005 to further her singing career.

Is there no limit to media exploitation? In cases like these, even in the 21st century, as the old saying goes, it's always the woman who pays.

And the Horse You Rode In On

Pornographer Larry Flynt, who has always been unhappy about having a 21-foot six-ton bronze statue of John Wayne on horseback in front of his office building, may finally see the fabled cowboy star ride off into the sunset.

Plans are afoot to move the American icon from Los Angeles down to Newport Beach in Orange County, where Wayne lived until his death in 1979 and a nearby airport is named for him.

Talk about odd couples. Wayne turned down a part in Mel Brooks' Western spoof "Blazing Saddles" because it was "too dirty" and refused to play "Dirty Harry" as unsuitable to his image. Flynt, the publisher of Hustler and exposer of the D.C. Madam's client list, inherited the statue in 1994 when he bought the building previously owned by a bank for whom Wayne had done TV commercials.

Now Flynt is musing over replacing Wayne with a work of art more suitable to his "adult entertainment" empire, perhaps a 50-foot phallus, but the Beverly Hills Fine Arts Commission might have something to say about that.

The Rumors About Trent Lott's Retirement

This could be a case study of the difference in news values between the Mainstream Media and blogs.

After Trent Lott's surprising announcement yesterday that he would retire from the Senate at the end of the year, there was puzzlement about his motives and timing. Why would the second most powerful Republican resign after two decades with five years left in his current term to "pursue something else"?

Then, lo and behold, a questionable D.C.-based blog last night offers a gay-sex scandal to explain it all. This morning, the young man involved denies it all and the whole story pulses through the blogosphere in a tizzy of titillation and disappointment.

Unless the arbiter of Washington sleaze, Larry Flynt, comes forward with evidence, file it under "Sex Scandals That Never Happened" with yesterday's Drudge Report of a British rumor about Hillary Clinton's affair with a female aide.

This post will self-destruct in 30 seconds.

Whither Vitter: Sex, Lies and Polygraphs

In questioning Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker today, Sen. David Vitter cited “ups and downs” in Iraq. Before the day was out, Vitter was on his own roller coaster and, after escaping his D.C. Madam crisis, the Senator may be heading for Larry Craigland this time.

Public-spirited Larry Flynt, publisher of Hustler, paid for a lie detector test for Wendy Cortez, a former prostitute in New Orleans who claimed that she had a "sexual relationship" with Vitter through an escort service three times a week over at least four months.

She passed the test and, as the story breaks today, Vitter will have to deal not only with additional sexual peccadilloes but lying about them in public. He has repeatedly denied Ms. Cortez’ story but, if further evidence supports her claim, there will be some serious explaining to do.

After the Craig to-do, Republicans will be under pressure to show they are not homophobic. Ethics committee, anyone?

The Hotness of Nancy Pelosi

Now that the D.C. Madam’s phone list has lost its charms for everyone except Larry Flynt and his moles, Washington’s libido has taken a turn toward the wholesome.

Today the political trade journal, The Hill, unveiled its choices for “the 50 most beautiful people on Capitol Hill.” Mirroring the power structure, as everything in Washington does, the top ten consists of six Democrats and four Republicans, three men and seven women, most of them in their twenties and thirties, except for No. 4, Nancy Pelosi.

The Hill admits “It is rather uncomfortable calling the 67-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), mother of five and grandmother of six, ‘hot’ but cites in defense that “There is a Facebook.com group called ‘I can’t say why, but I kinda think Nancy Pelosi is cute.’”

“With more beautiful people nominees than ever before,” the editors confide, “making choices was a wrenching and angst-filled process.” No word about how much lobbying was involved.