“Cleanskin” with actor Sean Bean is one of my favorite movies. It opens with a scene of prostitution. When the woman is stiffed out of her agreed-upon fee and physically ejected from the hotel room by the private bodyguard, a classic line goes something like this: “You don’t pay a whore for sex, you pay her to go away.”
Regarding a mistress, prostitute, or for that matter an indiscretion which one wishes to make go away – “hush money” is the currency which protects the privacy of the risk-seeking individual. And if “hush money” is a crime, my best guess is that a decent percentage of those who serve us in Washington are also deserving of lock-up. Not many up for sainthood amongst that group.
My belief? Marital indiscretion is best handled by the parties involved. It is not the duty of the state to prosecute such offenses. These activities remain in the domain of what can (unfortunately) be seen as normative behavior for certain married adults. And when marital boundaries are crossed, the consequences are borne by both the guilty and innocent party. But these transgressions belong in the realm of the governance of the home for a potentially healthy resolution. Keep it under the roof and away from public view. If unresolved, divorce will suffice.
How many men have paid “hush money” to a woman? Probably in the kadzillions over the course of history. That it is offered up as a shocking crime, is inherently ludicrous. And it bolsters the claim of Mr. Trump that he has been the most politically persecuted president in history.
Teddy might have killed Mary Jo. “Hush money” might not have sufficed for her. He skated. Whilst not a POTUS, he wielded power on scale of the same, and for many years.
And what about the one who merely offered a book of poetry to the woman in the blue dress? He skated after lying about it under oath. Bill! Oh, Willie!
What I really hate is the absolute hypocrisy; the attempts by any desperate means to keep Donald J. Trump from seeking office again. And if indiscretion alone discredits from office, let him form a line behind the many American President who have already joined this club.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/lawyer-trump-indicted-1st-ex-213959387.html
The Last English Prince 