Disgraceful.

I’ve been avoiding writing a post on this. It’s ugly and well, frankly, I don’t need to give any more ammunition to those who sit across the political isle. I’m talking about former Congressman Mark Foley. Quite rightly, I think it was right of him to resign and I really hope that the FBI goes after him. A political pundit observed that if Congressman Foley had ditched the internet and just had sex with a page, he probably wouldn’t be facing charges since the age of consent in D.C. is 16. I might have to look into the actual statute. I’m led to believe that if this had happened in Michigan, Congressman Foley would have been guilty of statutory rape. But now I’m moving one hypothetical into another.

Should Congressman Foley have been booted? Most definitely. I would be interested in the context of the situation in which the other members of Congress supposedly knew about Congressman Foley’s behavior. There are calls for House Speaker Hastert’s resignation as well. I think that at this point, that is overstepping the bounds. But I am willing to entertain an investigation’s report into the matter. For if it is shown that other members of the Congress were somehow covering up for Foley, then they need to be brought up on something as well.

I have no tolerance for politicians who get themselves into these messes. It doesn’t matter whether they are Republican or Democrat. They are held to a higher standard of conduct and ethics. When they start loosing their integrity, they need to be removed. And I will claim that Foley needed to resign for the same reason why President Clinton should have.

It looks like it’s going to be ugly for the Republicans in November. And although I was thinking that I was going to cast my own vote of no confidence so to speak, I think I will be voting in my incumbents. My state rep and congressman are really good guys and I will not put them on the chopping block because of my own frustrations with the party and administration as a whole. Republican candidate for governor, Dick DeVos can kiss my ass.

Comments

PJS said…
My understanding is that the media are making no distincations between the terms "emails" and "instant messages", although when one reads the text in these various media one sees an entirely different situation.

IF, as has been reported, Hastert & the majority leadership only saw or knew of the email(s), calls for their mass resignation are surely unreasonable.

It is only when one reads the text of the instant messages that the conversation became blatantly sexual in nature.
David said…
From what I’ve read, the page working for Congressman Rodney Alexander was the one who reported Mr. Foley. Rep. Alexander called for an informal investigation but the page and the page’s family did not want this to come to the public. When it comes to House Speaker and the emails sent to him regarding Mr. Foley, Hastert claims that he had not actually read the emails. Believable since most correspondence is read by the office staff. This is probably true of the House Clerk as well. But even with the supposed meeting with Foley, did those House members have actionable information? Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says no. While I’m sure that the Republican leadership knew more than they are letting on, I think that members of Congress are all too willing to turn a blind eye to this kind of behavior. That is to say, they knew something was going on but they didn’t want to know about the nasty details.
Anonymous said…
Well, I can only speak to myself on this matter, but no matter if Mark Foley was molested by a clergyman, we must continue to counter the shockwave of the evildoer. Now, I hear there’s rumors on the Internets—allegations if you will, whatever that means—that Congressman Foley exchanged inappropriate emails and instant messages. We call ‘em IMs. IMs is a technological problem, that we must apply 21st-century information technology to. We need to have IMs put on the IT for public disclosure.

Now I also understand that the attorney wont provide the religious affiliation of the clergyman who molested Foley. All the evildoers need to understand that Foley has a right to privacy. This is after all America—and we protect freedoms. We spread freedoms. We don’t want to become so angry that we are willing to become suiciders. We need family values. Family is where our nation finds hope, where wings take dream. And I know better than anyone that it is hard to put food on your family. At the end of the day we all look forward to a good night's sleep on the soil of a friend.

Now Congressman Foley expressed his freedom with the page boy. And he expressed his love of freedom by not divulging his personal molestation by a clergyman. He feels shame for what happened. Congressman Foley did not practice his love of boys all across this country—Such as others who spread their love to women in the OBGYNs. I know it’s hard, but I still appreciate my love for Laura. I enjoy it—I guess it’s the mother in me.

Whether or not Congressman Foley asked the boy, “Do I make you a little horny?” is his own personal freedom as an American. We don’t want to defeat his freedom. We’re freedom lovers. The suiciders hate our freedom. And I believe we are called to do the hard work to make our communities and quality of life a better place.

Anyways, I want to thank Congressman Foley for the importance that he’s shown for education and literacy.
David said…
^I'm not quite sure what you are saying there anon, but there is no freedom for an adult to persue a minor for sex.
John Provis said…
I think Anonymous has just managed to fit more Bush quotes (and recognisably modified semi-quotes) into that comment than I've ever seen strung together in a coherentish manner before - I count 14 there. Good work...!
Moncrief Speaks said…
It's a brilliant Bush parody.
john said…
What I feel is sad is that suddenly he comes out and talks about his own past molestation. It's like he's trying to justify his behavior.
Kapitano said…
An excerpt from my personal blog:

The big political news in America isn't war, torture or presidential incompenence. It's Senator Mark Foley resigning because he sent a sexual email to a 16 year old boy - an act which has damaged the Republican party's credibility in the polls.
In Foxnewspeak, this is called "having a sense of proportion".

An older man comes onto a boy of legal age, but doesn't have sex with him. This is "having sex with an underage child".

Whatever the boy's thoughts and intentions were, whatever his reaction or lack of it to the message, they haven't been reported. This is called "knowing all the relavent facts".

The man says he was sexually abused as a child, and is an alchoholic. This is "being the real vicim"

The man resigns from his post, because his sexuality makes him mentally incompetent to vote on bills. This is "logic".

His collegues knew all about his habits for years, and did nothing. This is "remarkable" and "unprecidented".

Yawn. Wake me up when the real crimes are in rhe news.
David said…
^Usually it's Republicans that are accused of not appreciating the context or POVs of a situation. :-P

Anyways, the big political news isn't about Foley. He's gone. Been gone for about a week now. It's now about how the Republican party can save itself and its majorities.

Thanks for commenting!

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