ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Lap dances are taxable because they don’t promote culture in a community the way ballet or other artistic endeavors do, New York’s highest court concluded Tuesday in a sharply divided ruling. The court split 4-3, with the dissenting judges saying there’s no distinction in state law between ‘‘highbrow dance and lowbrow dance,’’ so the case raises ‘‘significant constitutional problems.’’ The lawsuit was filed by Nite Moves in suburban Albany, which was arguing fees for admission to the strip club and for private dances are exempt from sales taxes. In the dissent, Judge Robert Smith wrote that while he finds this sort of dancing ‘‘unedifying — indeed, I am stuffy enough to find it distasteful,’’ discriminating on the basis of content such as imposing a tax on Hustler magazine and giving the New Yorker an exemption ‘‘would surely be unconstitutional. It is not clear to me why the discrimination that the majority approves in this case stands on any firmer constitutional footing.’’

This just shows how fucked up the law can be. How it can be bent any way people want to bend it. Like Judge Robert Smith nailed it. If you’re going to tax Hustler you got to tax the New Yorker or vice versa. If the ballet is going to be exempt from taxes than strip clubs have to be as well. Because guess what? I hate the ballet, but I love strip clubs.  And yes they are both forms of dancing and talent matters in both. It is not the courts place to decide what is high brow or low brow entertainment or what constitutes legit artistic expression. This decision isn’t based on the law. It’s based on personal preferences and that’s it. Any fool with a brain can see that. Sad day for lap dances. Sad day for the Constitution. Sad day for America.