Maggie, we disagree! But let’s be clear about what. Criminalizing those websites is, of course, a small thing when contrasted with the leviathan that is Obamacare, but both enterprises would in their very different ways be examples of government doing more than (in my opinion) it should. If you like, they are examples of the same disease, even if the severity of the two outbreaks is very different. Pointing that fact out is not “weird,” nor is it the same as equating “government” health care with the criminalization of a few websites, although given the stress that you generally put on marriage, I’m a little surprised that you would so look to downplay the importance of the latter.
And were you suggesting that you wanted the use of the criminal law against these sites? You say no, but let’s look again at a part of what you wrote:
Here’s what I’m guessing: We have some of the tools right now to stop it, if we wanted to use them. Some of the men hooking up through Web sites that advertise adultery probably live in states where adultery is still technically against the law, or where torts of criminal conversation or alienation of affection exist. An injured spouse or an aggressive state attorney general could make a case out of this… For that matter, why isn’t commercially soliciting for adultery as much of a crime as soliciting for prostitution?
Your drift, I think, is clear.
One thing I’m not so clear about is what you mean when you refer to “adopting the ACLU’s position on family law.” Your posts are headed with a reference to a “right to adultery,” but that is your reference, not mine. As it happens, I’m generally somewhat unwilling to go about finding “rights” all over the place. I’d certainly be skeptical about the idea that there is a right to adultery. That said, I’m even more skeptical about the notion that additional government intervention in this area would be a good idea. It should be noted, of course, that the state is already highly involved in policing the most common legal response to a breach of the marriage contract, the remedy known as divorce.