The Lupanare

After reading the tourist frenzy over a 1925 year old brothel, in Pompeii, I thought about our own brothels. Brothels are places of hedonism and debauchery, legally sanctioned in The Roman Empire and seen as places of delight and self-satisfaction. The Lupa or prostitute was paid for services rendered and customers were streaming into the Lupanare. Decadent frescos are present within the Lupanare, which reveals the importance of such an institution. Some of the faithful flock may see this debauchery as the sole reason for the 79 CE volcanic eruptions which destroyed Pompeii. These are the same people who see Tsunamis as God’s wrath. However, ignorance of weather patterns and geological shifts is nothing new and is a safe haven for religious troglodytes. However, notwithstanding the religious overtones commonly associated with brothels, we must now look at our own institutions of pay for play.

In America, we have fantastic frescos donning our brothels and have erected elaborate building to house our high priced lupas. Tourists by the thousands visit these great edifies everyday. We pay them and even rehire them for continued service. I am speaking of Congress. This is not satire, even though I wish it were. The abject corruption and money dealing in Congress has reached epic proportions. In his new piece for Rolling Stone contributing editor Matt Taibbi takes an in-depth look at the outgoing 109th Congress in his article, "The Worst Congress Ever." Not only has congress been absent from the brothel they have set their own price for legislation. Taibbi reveals a system so corrupt that many of the days spent in congress are spent redefining the rules for which to pass legislation, the shorter the time the better, sounds like a well informed whore to me. CSPAN be damned. Closed door hearing and shell game party tricks are now normal operational procedures for congress. We have entered the grand historical consequence of empire and absolute power. We have now embarked upon the Roman equivalent of Senatorial politics. Special interests and money have circumvented the democratic process and Taibbi’s piece gives clear examples. The whores are now without restraint.