Mastodawn

Trump supporters gather outside courthouse and ask: Who among us hasn’t paid for sex?

https://lemmy.world/post/14388135

Trump supporters gather outside courthouse and ask: Who among us hasn’t paid for sex? - Lemmy.World

Donald Trump has not been accused of paying for sex, but several supporters protesting outside of his trial on Monday wanted to make it clear that they have. It seems the crowds that come out to protest the persecution of the former president are getting smaller, and weirder … Today, however, the crowd had thinned to a handful of true believers and true characters – those who don’t leave their house without a giant flag, a bullhorn, and an offensive T-shirt they made themselves. It’s not only that the crowds are getting smaller, it’s that they are getting significantly weirder. Of the people willing to step up to a microphone outside the courthouse and defend Mr Trump for allegedly paying off a porn star to hide his alleged affair from prospective voters, two offered something of a wild defence: that they opposed the charges because they too had paid for sex on more than one occasion, and assumed most men had done the same. It didn’t matter to them that Mr Trump is not being accused of paying for sex, but rather accused of having embarked on several extra-marital affairs and falsifying business records over payments made to hide those affairs from the voting public in 2016.

Flying Squid Apr 17, 2024

I’m not so sure that the author wasn’t taken in by a Yes Men style prank. Because honestly, that sounds like satire and the satire wasn’t coming from the author of the article.

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minorcoma Apr 17, 2024

Reality has become indistinguishable from satire.

Flying Squid Apr 17, 2024

I agree, but I think there are hints here and there.

For example-

“What do you think I do in Thailand, just sit in a chair?” he asked, incredulously. “That’s what we do as men, you know?”

Thailand isn’t really famous for it’s ciswomen prostitutes…

deranger Apr 17, 2024

Thailand isn’t really famous for it’s ciswomen prostitutes…

Uhh, what? Yes it is.

Flying Squid Apr 17, 2024

If you say so…

vice.com/…/a-behind-the-scenes-look-at-thailands-…

A Behind the Scenes Look at Thailand’s ‘Ladyboy’ Sex Industry

“I got into this type of work to provide for my family. Not just my parents, but my grandparents as well."

deranger Apr 17, 2024

That doesn’t refute my point. Thailand has ladyboys, sure, but there are easily 10x the number of female sex workers.

Flying Squid Apr 17, 2024

I think you’re confused. I’m not talking about the reality, I’m talking about why I think this is a hint that it’s satire.

Asafum Apr 17, 2024

But they’re saying why it shouldn’t be taken as satire, because in reality that is a place you go to for ciswomen too.

I’ve rotted my brain enough in the past trying to figure out what Trump reality is by watching Fox news that I can’t be bothered to rot it anymore, but I’d bet that fox or Newsmax is twisting this as “Trump unfairly being brought to court for paying for sex” which is why these jokers are out there arguing that “we all do it.” Kind of like the “locker room talk” from his first election that supposedly all guys do… :/

snooggums Apr 17, 2024

That isn’t what they are famous for.

ripcord Apr 17, 2024

They’re famous for that too.

Diplomjodler Apr 17, 2024

Isn’t that a crime in the US? Did these people just confess to crimes? But of course they’re “conservatives” so it’s OK.

Satisfaction Apr 17, 2024

It’s just locker room talk

Flying Squid Apr 17, 2024

If you’re rich, they let you do it.

Worx Apr 17, 2024

TBF, I wouldn’t want people to be persecuted just for saying out loud that they did a crime. Imagine if I went outside today and shouted, “My house doesn’t have a secondary fire escape and is therefore outside building regulations!”. Should I then be investigated for committing a crime, or should someone just tell me to shut up and stop shouting in the middle of the road?

Flying Squid Apr 17, 2024

I would say it depends on the type of crime and the amount of detail. If you say out loud, “I murdered John Smith last Tuesday” and John Smith had been murdered last Tuesday, I think you should probably get investigated for the murder of John Smith.

If you say “I’ve had sex with a prostitute” but don’t go further than that in terms of any details, definitely not.

heavy Apr 17, 2024

Slow down, I think nuance might not be well understood by this person.

Worx Apr 17, 2024

Hence why I picked such a banal example :)

TrickDacy Apr 17, 2024

Oddly specific, weird example

jackeryjoo Apr 17, 2024

Home ownership be like

Infynis Apr 17, 2024

Maybe this person should be investigated

TrickDacy Apr 17, 2024

Haha yeah you’d expect an example to be something somewhat close to a thing that people would actually say.

Worx Apr 17, 2024

Haha definitely not relevant to me 😅

I was just struggling to think of an example of a crime which wouldn’t warrant investigation. Flying Squid has a good example further down of confessing to a murder which had just happened, which would need to be investigated probably

snekerpimp Apr 17, 2024

Not a crime everywhere in the US, cat houses are still around in Nevada. I’m assuming the gentlemen making these statements frequented a couple cities in that state to come the this assumption.

BruceTwarzen Apr 17, 2024

Not if you film it.

lost_faith Apr 17, 2024

What an amazing little carveout, and since almost everyone has a phone with a camera…

IamSparticles Apr 17, 2024

This was the plot of an episode of Boston Legal. I wouldn’t assume it would actually hold up in court. In the story a professor of sex studies had paid a prostitute to answer some interview questions for a study, and he “got carried away”. But he was filming it, so they argued that he was actually making a pornographic film, which is protected speech.

frezik Apr 17, 2024

IIRC, the person who owns the production company can’t be the one getting it on. Even that’s probably not enforced much.

dogslayeggs Apr 17, 2024

Not everywhere. Prostitution is legal in Nevada (just not within the city limits of Vegas).

Lucidlethargy Apr 17, 2024

It’s actually fully legal in some areas. Vegas comes to mind.

irreticent Apr 17, 2024

Actually, prostitution is not legal in Clark County (where Las Vegas is). It is legal in the rest of Nevada, though. The sex workers that advertise in Vegas are based just outside of the county lines and travel into the city when called. The cops pretty much just look the other way so it seems legal there.

RememberTheApollo_Apr 17, 2024

Well, let’s legalize prostitution. Regulate it, tax it, legitimize it.

Conservatives: hell no, we can’t have that depravity and vice. We need to punish women for sex outside of marriage. Oh, yeah…and no abortions for them either.

danc4498 Apr 17, 2024

Oh yeah, and make it more difficult for those trapped in their situation to get out of it.

RememberTheApollo_Apr 17, 2024

Gotta keep women in their place and under control, even if we say it’s the wrong place.

HubertManne Apr 17, 2024

hey producing more slave class is important to. its not just about the women.

snooggums Apr 17, 2024

Also conservatives: Yeah, we still pay for sex. Rules only apply to other people.

Revan343 Apr 17, 2024

They legitimately believe it should be fine to pay for sex, but should be illegal to be paid for sex.

Bristlecone Apr 17, 2024

Most sex workers are women, so it tracks

slurpeesoforion Apr 17, 2024

I wonder how Lindsey feels.

Daft_ish Apr 17, 2024

You should take a look at some of the jons they pick up in prostitution stings. Overnight in jail for soliciting a prostitute church the next day.

Revan343 Apr 17, 2024

Well yeah, they probably need to go to church after all that sinning.

I couldn’t give a fuck about their religious proclivities, I’m more concerned with how they vote

Daft_ish Apr 17, 2024

Polling tells us they are one and the same.

jjjalljs Apr 17, 2024

That old post that posited conservatism is “ingroups to protect, outgroups to bind” was really on the mark.

nkat2112 Apr 18, 2024

True! Isn’t there a famous quote related to that? Trying to recall…

jjjalljs Apr 18, 2024

The original is from here: crookedtimber.org/…/liberals-against-progressives…

I think it was just some guy on the Internet, but it’s a compelling description.

The travesty of liberalism

More in the suddenly topical vein of ‘who will rid us of those troublesome leftists’ from Sean Wilentz. For Chait, the problem is “It’s obvious to me why conservatives want everyb…

Crooked Timber

TenderfootGungi Apr 17, 2024

If we are going to make it illegal, we really need to flip the laws and make it illegal to hire one. This would give those in the business a legal way of asking for help.

frezik Apr 17, 2024

Not sure what you mean. Soliciting a prostitute is already illegal in most states.

rasmus Apr 18, 2024

Well in Sweden it’s legal to sell but illegal to buy

FiniteBanjo Apr 17, 2024

I see this sentiment a lot from the uneducated crowd, but unfortunately human trafficking seems to increase whenever sex work is legalized so I cannot condone it.

frezik Apr 17, 2024

Human trafficking is there, anyway. The victims tend to be afraid, because they’re forced to do otherwise illegal things, and therefore don’t want to come forward. So what often happens under legalization is that a whole bunch of victims suddenly come out, which is now recorded as an increase in human trafficking.

FiniteBanjo Apr 17, 2024

So you’re saying it’s okay to torture and rape even more women and children because there were already women and children being raped and tortured anyways? I’m not seeing the logic, mate.

frezik Apr 17, 2024

No, try to read more carefully.

FiniteBanjo Apr 17, 2024

No, you try to read more carefully.

nkat2112 Apr 18, 2024

Royally ratioed.

FiniteBanjo Apr 18, 2024

As if 20 down arrows would change how I feel about human trafficking.

HuntressHimbo Apr 18, 2024

It might have encouraged you to notice that they are saying that the increase you are talking about is likely a statistical anomaly caused by the depressive effect sex work being illegal has on victims coming forward.

Put simply, sex work being illegal is beneficial to human traffickers because it keeps victims from seeking help. If you are a victim of a crime you’re more likely to come forward when you are not likely to get charged yourself for the trouble of being trafficked.

FiniteBanjo Apr 19, 2024

I’ve already explained that the victims coming forward does not account for the increase in human trafficking from countries where they’re being sourced from. Plus, it’s not just a 5% uptick, in many cases the number is several times or magnitudes higher than before legalization of prostitution.

ThirdWorldOrder Apr 17, 2024

Seems to be working well in the Netherlands, mate.

FiniteBanjo Apr 17, 2024

Not according to the Netherlands, mate.

nationaalrapporteur.nl/…/dadermonitor-mensenhande…

According to them, Human Trafficking more than doubled over the observed period. The also saw despite the higher number of victims the number of subjects decreased.

Dadermonitor mensenhandel 2015-2019

De relatief jonge leeftijd van daders van binnenlandse seksuele uitbuiting baart de Nationaal Rapporteur Mensenhandel en Seksueel Geweld tegen Kinderen grote zorgen. Een derde van hen is jonger dan 23 jaar op het moment van plegen. Binnenlandse seksuele uitbuiting is de meest voorkomende vorm van mensenhandel. Ook bij daders van criminele uitbuiting valt de leeftijd op: een vijfde van hen is jonger dan 23 jaar. Dat blijkt uit de Dadermonitor mensenhandel die vandaag is uitgebracht. De dadermonitor geeft inzicht in de daders van de verschillende vormen van mensenhandel en in de strafrechtelijke aanpak in de periode 2015-2019.

RememberTheApollo_Apr 17, 2024

“Uneducated”

I think you need to do some reading, friend. Human trafficking is already a big problem. Legitimizing sex work and regulating it removes t some of the incentives to operate behind the scenes, just like legalizing pot, and frankly you get rid of the whole under-age thing because no government entity is going to allow that.

FiniteBanjo Apr 17, 2024

I wish it were true, but it’s really not. Human trafficking increases in both countries that legalize sex work and also countries where the humans are trafficked from. Tons of studies over many decades illustrate the cold hard truth.