Character Counts

I'm bugged by the following article for two reasons: (One) Tobias' job in US government is to help the less fortunate in foreign countries in the name of the US government during a time when we're not all that popular on this planet, and (Two) if this happened when Clinton was in office, it would have been a non-event. It's just sex.

Note to politicians: if you want to do something good for our country as a political leader in this environment of dirty politics, dirty behavior ain't gonna cut it. Your dirty laundry is a bigger story than one thousand good deeds done while in office.

Washington - A top US State Department official resigned Friday following reports by broadcaster ABC that he had been a customer of an escort service, whose owner has been charged with running a prostitution ring.

Randall Tobias, a deputy secretary of state responsible for US foreign aid and international development, cited personal reasons for the resignation, department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement.

ABC News had reported Thursday that Tobias had said he used the Pamela Martin and Associates escort service for massages, but not for sex.

The information came out after the woman who ran the service gave telephone numbers of clients to the media in an effort fight the prostitution charges.

The State Department did not address the connection to the escort service in its statement, but praised Tobias' work.

'As the State Department's first director of US foreign assistance, Randy helped lead one of the department's most far reaching reforms in recent memory, resulting in better matching of policy goals and delivery of international assistance,' McCormack said. 'The lives saved and made better around the globe by Randy's work at the State Department constitute a rich legacy on which he can look back with justifiable pride.

Source: State Department official resigns amid links to escort service - US