It's Hard Out There For A Pimp

Well, maybe not so hard if the johns are republican members of Congress. Harper's magazine is reporting that the limousine company that provided the prostitutes for the Duke Cunningham briber's hotel parties for republican members of the Defense and Intelligence committees, Shirlington Limousine and Transportation of Arlington, Virginia, was rewarded with a $21.2 million contract for shuttle services and transportation support by the Department of Homeland Security. I wonder who steered that through.

As for the parties, they were pretty close to alcohol fueled orgies, with, are you ready for this, pictures. No names have been leaked out yet, but a clue is given to Harper's From Harper's:

I've learned from a well-connected source that those under intense scrutiny by the FBI are current and former lawmakers on Defense and Intelligence committees—including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post.

One person who is a former lawmaker on the Intelligence committee and now holds a powerful intelligence post? That sounds a lot like current CIA chief Porter Goss.

If Porter Goss was present at these parties, and I'm not certain that he was, although I can't think of anyone else who fits that description, this poses potential peril for our nation. Who knows who holds copies of these pictures which could be used to blackmail Goss to make sure only the "proper" intelligence makes it to the highest levels of our government? Given the present state of the international sex trade, could some of those prostitutes be agents of foreign entities? Could it be the Bush administration itself?

The FBI needs to fast track this investigation, and do it in a very public manner. If Mr. Goss or other members of our nation's most sensitive Congressional Committees were present at these parties, they must be extricated from those positions and have all clearances pulled until this matter is resolved.