The Phantom Underage Call Boys

There isn't much to say about the health reform issue that I haven't already mentioned (here, for instance), so I won't even go there. Instead, I'll address an offhand comment that Jones made about Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank. Why? Because it's little factoids like these, casually thrown out, that are embedded in the minds of listeners as "facts". I mean, Jones wouldn't say something on the air if it wasn't true, right?
On Monday's show, Jones stated that Barney Frank can get away with "hiring underage call boys".
I had to look this one up, because I don't exactly keep tabs on the sex lives of congressmen.
As it turns out, between 1985 and 1987 a male prostitute, personal assistant, and lover to Frank sometimes took other clients to Frank's apartment. When caught, he alleged that Frank knew all about it (which Frank denied). This was referred to by some of the more conservative media outlets as a "call boy ring", but it was basically just one male prostitute using a boyfriend's house for sex with other clients.

That's pretty much it. The lover, Stephen Gobie, was not underage when he began his relationship with Frank. He was 28. Furthermore, in 1991 the House ethics committee determined Frank did not know about the prostitution "ring". The panel did conclude that a letter Frank sent to a Virginia prosecutor on Gobie's behalf, in his effort to win probation on felony charges, was "misleading", and that he had used House privileges to get rid of parking tickets Gobie received when driving Frank's car. Frank was reprimanded, but the charges were not serious enough to warrant further action.