It is with a heavy heart that I write of the death today of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, a.k.a. the D.C. Madam. (See also "DC Madam Sighs". The Real Horror. from April 15th of this year, with which I started this blog). Facing a possibility of fifty-five years in prison, she chose to hang herself instead. Having served time before, she knew that she did not want to go back. The last time had been so stressful and made her so sick, that the idea of even one day terrified her into taking her own life. Her former employee Brandy Britton had already made that final exit before even facing her own trial.

In what I continue to believe is a complete travesty of justice, her client Senator David Vitter (R.) remains employed and married. You may find this hard to believe, but he was braying for Clintons impeachment during.....yep, the Monica Lewinski fiasco. Another client, State Department official Randall Tobias has stepped down, but not so our man of "shock and awe"; Harlan Ullman, a military specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

I'm not quite sure why her suicide upset me so. The progressive programs available in prisons back in the seventies have almost completely disappeared. Overcrowding, violence and the mixing of "serious" with "petty" criminals is the norm. Many operate on a twenty-three hour a day "lock-down". But still I'm sad she's dead. I'm sure there are many who think that she has saved the tax-payers some money. To them, I suggest that they look to the Washington elite who used Deborah Jeane Palfreys service and make them pay.