Right!
Elliot Spitzer is reviled because he is, first and foremost, a whopping great hypocrite! One can argue that whilst what he did in private should not have been put out in the public spotlight, he made a lot of enemies while pursuing his career and he destroyed a lot of people's lives in the process.
Honestly, had he stood by the high standards he foisted upon the rest of us, we wouldn't be agonizing over the gory details of this story, yet Mr.Spitzer, like most of his Liberal, Elite ilk, believe that rules and laws apply to others, certainly not to himself!
Well, he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and now his family has to pay the price of scathing public humiliation for his actions. Nice going!
I can only express great sorrow towards his wife and children. They deserve so much better.

Bruno, Salem, New Hampshire, USA

The whole situation is just laughable. God bless America.

Chris, London,

they are both consenting adults and the wife probably knows all about it and prefers it that way as well, Some people choose to abort babies or experiment on animals for a living, she choose to give pleasure for men in sad marriages, Thats her choice!

james, richmond, uk

Bob--
Perhaps Ariel is indeed being either ironic. Or naive, and I suspect it's the latter. Nothing in the column suggests otherwise. MySpace is a social networking site with many young, misguided people referring to themselves in such glowing, self-reverential terms. And much of what they list is, literally, fantasy.

Ariel--
Perhaps you need to broaden your own social network? My own discussions with friends over the weeknd on this topic included conversations on the "wisdom" of seeking "safe" but unprotected sex with a prostitute. Doubtless, there would be a premium for this service, but what to do when the warranty turns out to be as worthless as the paper it was printed on?Sue? Tell one's wife/spouse/partner/significant other not to believe their own lying eyes? It doesn't bear contemplating, let alone doing.

One one thing does seem certain from the Eliot Mess: possessing great intelligence, or even genius, does not guarantee something far more critical. Good judgment.

Howard Leader, New York,

Gosh Mandy of London I never thought of it like that until I read your comments;...but all you have made me do is feel terribly sorry for this kind of woman...as I do for all the other females who married to have someone pay their bills...very sad bunch eh??
They need our help and kindness and not our hate I reckon...

ruby, nice, france

It should not be remarkable to you if someone leans over and says "I love who I am". We all need love, if I can supply some of that for myself, and I only need to change some "traditional" boundaries then what is the big deal, some might say. None of that is truly remarkable. What is remarkable is that the self is so elusive to the self. We can't see our own noses very well. The happy justification from utilitarian grounds says more about a failure to properly identify and incorporate emotional and personal capital into the balance sheet.

The question here is this: If I supply a foundation for self-esteem, then is this foundation not suscebtible to my own folly too?

Tom Price, Chertsey, UK

Has anyone heard of irony?

bob, London, UK

Well Mandy of London I have to tell you that you're wrong.

When I was at university a few years ago I discovered that I could make a great deal of money by providing `escort services', and did so for nearly 3 years.

During that time I made over £100,000. I actually liked most of my clients, who were generally educated, pleasant men and often remarkably good in bed!

I then met my husband and gave it up. He's fully aware of my history and is fine with it. We've been happily married now for 4 years, we've 2 kids that we adore and life is good.

I know this doesn't fit the stereotype that women like you want to believe, and I suspect you'll be disappointed. I'm convinced there are an awful lot of women who are just envious of girls like us who had a great time, great sex and got paid a fortune for doing what those same women do every Saturday night for free!

Kim, St Alban's,

I suppose the sweet little 105lb girl needs the money to buy into the lifestyle of role models like Paris Hilton. A 22yr old is caught up in this celeb/media crap so badly that she needs to have unprotected sex with sleazy 48yr olds. No condom, no problem, just hurry up before the shops close.

Annie, Hampshire,

Sir, It is highly unethical for Dr Owen (who has not practices as a doctor for many years) to publish the results of a combination of his out out-of-date knowledge of neurology plus a rudimentarly faniliarity with a descriptive terms from Greek mythology, in order to analyise the so called symptoms of someone of whose medical history he is ignorant, and whom he has never examined. Doctors have been remanded by the British Medical coucil for less.
Nina Collins

Nina Collins, Leeds,

Surely this man should be judged on his career successes, and his effectiveness in office, his private life is between his wife himself and his conscience.
It seems to me that maybe he was doing a good job as Governor, and someone wanted him brought down.
There is nothing new under the sun about men in high office having prostitutes or mistresses. Let he {or she} who is without sin, cast the first stone! Ring any bells?
Throughout history, women have married {or simply bedded} for money, and men have sought {if only the illusion of} love and affection.

Clive Burghard, LANCING, ENGLAND

What a lot of specious nonsense - he just got caught......
Nothing in the world has changed nor will it.

Robert D, Malaga, Spain

Well, you see the downtrodden outcasts of society like Kirsten, have to love themselves as almost everyone else either loathes or shuns them or in the case of Spitzer, uses them for an hour or two.
So what are women like her left with, other than the cash in exchange to get lost aftrwards? Not much. No dignity, or self-respect, no pride and certainly no future as they cannot imagine having a normal life/partner/family like us. Hence, they just have to put up with themslves and accept who they are and their circumstances. Some are too lazy to find a way out, others too drugged up, hopeless and stupid to hold onto a proper job outside what they 'do' ... so at some point, they look in the mirror, and repeat 50 times a day 'I love Who I am' until they start to believe it, and then also post it on myspace for an extra reminder +added effect...

So don't worry Ariel it's not that you have lower self-esteem than a prostitute, it's just that you never needed to prove it to anyone that you do

Mandy, london, UK