Bush official linked to prostitution ring

Photo of Randall Tobias from CommonDreams.org

Oh dear. The Bush administration scandals are coming faster than we can blog 'em:

Randall Tobias, head of the Bush administration's foreign aid programs, abruptly resigned Friday after his name surfaced in an investigation into a high-priced call-girl ring, said two people in a position to know the circumstances of his departure.

[...]

Tobias, 65, who is married, told ABC News there had been "no sex" during the women's visits to his condo. His name was on a list of clients given to ABC by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who owns the escort service and has been charged with running a prostitution ring in the nation's capital.

Um, I'm finding that "no sex" part a bit difficult to believe. If you just want a massage, why are you paying $200-$300 a session? It's the Ted Haggard defense: I bought the meth but didn't use it from a prostitute I paid but didn't have sex with. Yeah right.

Oh get this: he was one of those people who thought we should fight AIDS with abstience-only education:

But some civil society groups criticised the appointment of Tobias, citing his record in the fight against AIDS.

"Under his direction, HIV prevention programmes have shifted from being based in public health science to being dictated by the abstinence-only-until-marriage ideology of the Bush administration," said James Wagoner, president of the Washington-based Advocates for Youth.

Well, maybe he did abstain from having sex with the prostitutes, then. Or maybe since he's married, he doesn't have to abstain, since he was operating under the "abstinence-only-until-marriage" ideology of the Bush administration.

It's too rich. This scandal is already documented at his Wikipedia entry. Now apparently, the madam who ran this D.C. escort service had other political clients. It'll be fun to see what else comes out.

Bwahahahahah!