Foolish Foley
Looking for a boy toy -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia
by blogSpotter
What to say about the Mark Foley email scandal that is unfolding before our eyes. The 52 year old Republican Florida representative recently had to resign his post because of "inappropriate" emails he sent to underage, male pages. There are several ironies here; Foley was the chair of a committee to prevent child exploitation. He may ultimately be prosecuted by laws which he helped put on the books. It's not "Hypocrisy" with a capital "H" -- it's all upper case "HYPOCRISY". Foley now claims that untreated alcoholism gave him pedophile impulses. To quote Wanda Sykes from last night's Jay Leno, "Alcohol don't do that. It might make you sleep with somebody fat. It don't make me say hey little girl, I feel like a thin mint".
More ironies to behold: Republicans have used GLBT rights as a club with which to bludgeon Democrats and anyone on the political left. In 2004, the Massachusetts ruling on gay marriage was used as the super wedge issue of all time. Some pundits figure that this issue alone kicked the needed votes over to Bush in Ohio and Pennsylvania. American voters are more likely to vote on "gays and guns" than just about any other issue. Christian conservatives in particular respond to this issue.
How must they feel about a House Republican leadership that knew about Foley's problem as far back as 2003, and certainly as far back as spring 2006? Remember the outrage that even observant Catholics felt about their church when it looked like the Church was covering for pedophile priests? The GOP has “owned” the moral issues and used them as a last (and pretty effective) line of defense against liberals. What must they feel about this – Karl Rove must be deeply troubled. The GOP will have to lean extra heavy on security issues this election; they no longer seem to own the “gays and guns” issue.
Democrats have shown a remarkable aptitude at fumbling their plays. Is there any such thing as a fumble-proof play? Some pages are suggesting that other Congressmen have sent them lascivious emails, maybe Democrats too. It may not make much difference on November 7th. If Christian conservatives become seriously disaffected, it would have a greater impact to the GOP than to Democrats. The long term affect of Foley’s Folly is yet to be seen.
© 2006 blogSpotter.
Labels: Politics, Sex and Sexuality
posted by blogspotter @ 7:42 AM
1 Comments:
Foley should not be the only one to resign if others in Congress were aware of his behavior and ignored the situation.
Foley's behavior also indicates that he has some type of mental problem if he thought he could continue to pursuing under-age pages without being found out. He sounds more like a member of NAMBLA than of the U.S. Congress. I suppose the ACLU will soon be running to his defense.
I would also hesitate to lump all Republicans in with Foley which is what the Democrat leadership is attempting to do. Have they already forgotten about Barney Frank, Wilbur Mills, Gerry Stubbs, and oh yes, the man who set the latest standards for sexual conduct in DC, Bill Clinton?
There is plenty of sexual misconduct to go around for both parties (don't forget Republicans Bob Packwood and Dan Crane) as well as a few independents. But why is it only the Republicans who resign when caught? They all should have resigned.
As today's blog suggests, Republicans only have themselves to blame for being held to a higher standard.
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