FEMALE NAVY LTCDR IN "D.C. MADAM" CASE
PART-TIME PROSTITUTE AND FORMER ACADEMY
INSTRUCTOR WHO TESTIFIED FOR FEDS GETS
TO RETIRE AT FULL RANK AND BENEFITS
SOURCES SAY - NAVY WILL NOT CONFIRM
REBECCA DICKINSON GOT "SWEETHEART DEAL"
IN OBVIOUS DOUBLE STANDARD OF JUSTICE

If our sources are right, and they usually are, Navy Lt. Commander Rebecca Dickinson, former part-time prostitute for the late "D.C. Madam" (see related stories box below) has been quietly rewarded by the Navy with retirement from the service with full benefits and no loss of rank.

Pretty good for someone who admitted they worked as a $275-an-hour call girl while wearing a military uniform and working as an instructor at the once-prestigious U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.

But we hear the ex-hooker got "immunity" from the Feds and the Navy used that deal as an excuse not to punish the promiscuous Dickinson. Lots of "bad publicity" could ensue from that if word leaked out what had happened.

SOME POWERFUL BIG-SHOTS ON PROSTITUTE'S CLIENT LIST

It would be court-martial time for anyone else. But Dickinson allegedly serviced top officers, at least one editor at a well-known military-oriented newspaper in the D.C. area, and even some members of the Bush Administration, so it's better all around for the Pentagon that those names don't surface into the news media.

Usually, when an officer is caught in sexual misconduct, if they are lucky enough to avoid jail and are allowed to retire - such as former Air Force chief JAG, Gen. Thomas J. Fiscus - it's at the last grade "satisfactorily" served in. That would be lieutenant (0-3) for the controversial whore, whose testimony helped convict her former boss, Deborah Jeane Palfrey.

As most of you know, both Palfrey and one of her top hookers in the D.C. Beltway - Brandy Britton - ended up very dead indeed at the end of a rope (highly unusual way for women to commit "suicide") in the last year. While it might appear "fishy," even to some of the media lap-dogs who routinely re-write Pentagon press releases, if a third female involved in this case ended up "hung" and unable to comment further, it's not inconceivable that Dickinson's knowledge of "who's who" could have put her in danger as well.

However, by testifying against the now-dead Palfrey and keeping her own mouth very much shut - no book deals or TV appearances for Dickinson, you can be sure of that - she may yet survive.

AN OBVIOUS "DOUBLE-STANDARD OF JUSTICE"

Of course, the Navy brass don't want the public to know how they've used "kid gloves" to handle a part-time prostitute who violated her security clearance by sleeping with clients that included some pretty shady characters."

Never mind that everyone else in the Navy, or military for that matter, must obey the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the Pentagon will make an exception in this case because it serves it's purposes. But this obvious "double-standard of justice" only whittles away at morale and shows that it's not what you do wrong, it's who you are, what you know, and what deal you can make that determines your punishment or lack of same.

It can't be pleasant for Dickinson knowing her testimony may have contributed to Palfrey's death. But, despite the discovery of a "suicide note" and the official version that the D.C. Madam really did kill herself and wasn't offed by pros who know their business well and can fabricate most any situation - the masters of illusion - Palfrey probably would have ended up dead anyway.

A DANGEROUS GAME TO PLAY AND A NETWORK'S RETREAT

It's very dangerous to "publicly" threaten the top power structure in the country with exposure. And that's just what the D.C. Madam did when she announced she was turning over her phone records to ABC NEWS. Apparently she didn't bargain on that network "backing off" once pressure was applied from the highest levels of government.

Could it be that Dickinson also let it be known her client list would rock the nation if released, but was discreet enough (or her attorneys) to quietly "cut a deal" in which she would remain forever silent in exchange for her life and the lucrative full Navy retirement? We haven't been able to get a Navy PAO to comment on the record about her status. Is there any wonder why?

Can you imagine yourself, dear reader, caught up in a mess like Dickinson was in, not reporting your ill-gotten financial gains to the IRS, violating all sorts of security regulations, and still not being court-martialed or losing a stripe?

It's not so much who your are, but what you know and can do to others, that determines if you get a free pass.