In any given city, a good escort costs the same per hour as a good lawyer. That's the rule of thumb from Valleywag sex trade reporter Melissa Gira Grant, quoted twice in major media Tuesday on the high-end hooker business. You can find Melissa in the San Francisco Chronicle and in A.M. New York, where she rebuts the conventional wisdom:

"I'm absolutely unshocked and I can't believe anyone in the media is shocked that a politician is hiring prostitutes," Gira said. "Especially for someone in a position of power it's a value proposition to hire a prostitute rather than have a mistress. What you're buying is discretion."

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