Tuesday, October 03, 2006

On Mark Foley

First and foremost, I think it's perfect that Mark Foley will be convicted with laws he helped write. There is supreme justice in that.

There is evidence that some news organizations -- and the FBI -- knew of Foley's text messaging with teens long before the story broke. I think that this, added to Republican leadership being in the loop, is a horrible lapse in judgment on everyone's part.

News today is that Foley was abused by clergy as a teen. This comes on the heels of his entry into alcohol rehab after resigning his office -- a move which many people feel is simply a ploy to get his ass out of trouble.

Foley is trying everything he can to create a victim defense -- that he was a victim of abuse, which we all know contributes to becoming an abuser. I am skeptical at best, and tend toward thinking this is reprehensible.

Speaking of reprehensible, the Dems already have ads out accusing Foley of molesting kids, which so far he has denied doing. Cybersex before a vote, yes, but no actual physical interaction has been found so far. Probably won't be -- I hope.

Personally, I think that the Dems should say nothing about this. They should let the FBI investigate, let the public call for the heads of the Republican leadership, and let Foley twist in the wind. Mostly, they need to not in any way further traumatize the kids involved.

What Foley did is horrible and I hope he ends up in some sleazy county jail for a good long time. But the Dems need to pull those ads and let the story die as quickly as possible -- not for Foley, but for the kids.


2 comments:

Steve said...

Bill, if Foley didn't actually have sex with any underaged males, I don't believe that what he did was "horrible." It was wrong, but not horrible.

However, I agree with you that the Democrats should shut up about it and let the matter resolve itself instead of coming off all self-righteous and looking like they're so pathetically desperate that they will try to exploit any situation they can to win.

Foley's conduct doesn't mean that Democrats running for office all over the country should prevail. The Republican leadership apparently turning their backs on earlier reports of Foley's conduct doesn't necessarily mean that Democratic leadership would have acted differently under similar circumstances.

Democrats should stop talking about Foley and talk more about the real issues facing this country and how they propose to deal with them and how those ways are better than those of the Republicans. The Mark Foley story is or should be beside the point.

william harryman said...

I think that Foley had contact with some of these boys -- one of the links I posted quotes him inviting a boy over for drinks.

Either way, I think it is always wrong, yes, and maybe not horrible, but awful for a grown man to engage in explicit sexual banter (and it was explicit, like asking for measurements and photos) with young boys or girls. If I were to do such a thing, I would be fired from my job and charged with soliciting a minor. He got away with it even after being caught at first.

I agree that the Dems need to be talking about real issues. Foley is not an issue, but the cover-up might be.

Anyway, one of my conservative friends relayed something her heard on talk radio: Foley doesn't need to quit politics, he just needs to switch parties -- it's all good with the Democrats.

That's the real issue in this country: the right thinks the left are a bunch of godless heathens who want to rape their children and let terrorist run wild in the streets; while the left thinks the right are a bunch of Bible thumping war mongers who want to make everyone recite the Lord's Prayer before doing anything.

Yep.

Peace,
Bill