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Foley Shames Republicans, But Would Do Democrats Proud
Townhall ^ | Wednesday, October 4, 2006 | Ben Shapiro

Posted on 10/04/2006 8:04:28 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The Democrats finally have their issue. Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned his seat in the House of Representatives on Friday, September 29, after news leaked that he had sexually harassed an underage male Congressional page. Foley repeatedly e-mailed and instant messaged the page, revoltingly asking him to undress, to measure his genitals with a ruler, to list details regarding frequency and method of masturbation, and to tell Foley when he was aroused. "[I'd] love to slip [your shorts] off you and [grab] the one-eyed snake," Foley messaged the teen.

Why repeat these perverse details? To demonstrate that House Republicans were not simply negligent in failing to investigate allegations regarding Foley's pedophilia -- they were downright malfeasant. When a 16-year-old page informed top House Republicans that Foley had e-mailed him and asked for a picture, the Republicans did nothing. When Republican officials confronted Foley over the e-mails, Foley explained that they were innocent mentoring -- and Republicans did nothing.

Trusting Foley at his word was inexcusable. If Foley had contacted a female page asking for her picture, there is no doubt he would have been grilled. House Republicans should have known better than to trust Foley here. Foley has been accused of closet homosexuality since his entry into politics; studies show that homosexuals are disproportionately prone to pedophilia. The fact that Foley had contacted a male page for his photograph should have set warning bells ringing across Capitol Hill.

But Republicans did nothing. Perhaps it was out of a sincere hope that Foley was not a closet homosexual; perhaps it was out of a disreputable hope that Foley's sickening behavior would go unnoticed until after the 2006 midterm elections. In either case, this information should have been investigated months ago -- and Foley should already be sitting in a jail cell.

Democrats are surely correct to bludgeon House Republicans with the Foley scandal. Nonetheless, their outrage seems somewhat incongruous when we take into account their moral belief system. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who labeled House Republicans' behavior here "abhorrent," is a vocal opponent of parental consent laws with regard to abortions for underage girls. This is the same Democratic Party that repeatedly endorsed homosexual page-molester Rep. Gerry Studds (D-MA), even after his affair with a 17-year-old male page had been revealed. This is the same party that consistently defended Bill Clinton, calling his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky a private matter.

Democrats cannot condemn Foley for his proclivity for 16-year-old boys; they are the party that supports both homosexuality and reduced age of consent. Democrats cannot condemn Foley for his exploitation of Capitol Hill employees; they are the party that calls such exploitative imbalance-of-power situations "matters of personal choice."

On what moral basis do Democrats condemn Foley? They have no basis for moral outrage, since they have championed the destruction of traditional morality for decades. Instead, they condemn Foley and the Republicans for hypocrisy. Foley, when he wasn't spending his time molesting teenage boys, pushed for legislation to crack down on child pornography. House Republicans, when they weren't busy ignoring Foley's scummy behavior, pushed for legislation to uphold traditional values. The big sin here, according to the social left, is that Foley and the Republicans tried to bolster antiquated sexual mores while simultaneously bucking them in personal life. Were Mark Foley a liberal Democrat from San Francisco, liberals would be hard-pressed to spot a problem with his behavior.

But Republicans should not have been. The Republican Party is the party supposedly dedicated to those antiquated value systems that made this country great. It should not have been difficult for Republicans to identify the problems with Foley's behavior: pedophilia, exploitation, and yes, homosexuality. And yet, because the Republican Party has become infected with either the unchecked will to power or the milquetoast tolerance of the social left, House Republicans did nothing. Shame on them.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: election2006; foley; hastert; im; mcgreevey; scandal
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This mess may cost the GOP both houses. Timing seems suspect, IMHO.
1 posted on 10/04/2006 8:04:29 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

suspect?

I would bet $100 (if it could be proven) that the Dems have had this information for years.

I think it was THEY who held the story down in order to make an October surprise out of it, rather than let him lose a primary and have another Republican win that seat.

Too bad there is no media investigation of who knew what when.


2 posted on 10/04/2006 8:07:12 AM PDT by Paloma_55 (I may be a hateful bigot, but I still love you)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
But Would Do Democrats Proud

Give him a leadership role

3 posted on 10/04/2006 8:07:17 AM PDT by Mo1 (SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC - BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
studies show that homosexuals are disproportionately prone to pedophilia.

That is a departure from the usual line.
4 posted on 10/04/2006 8:07:45 AM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
news leaked that he had sexually harassed an underage male Congressional page.

It is hard to characterize the IM conversation as sexual harrassment since the other person seemed to be enjoying the whole thing. This also was not a Congressional page, but a FORMER page at the time of the IM. Inaccuracies like this right at the beginning just put you off bothering with the rest of the article.

5 posted on 10/04/2006 8:10:27 AM PDT by Bahbah (Shalit, Goldwasser and Regev, we are praying for you)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
BS, Foley shames no one but himself.

No way will I participate in this Oprah-like martyrdom, no Commie-Vampires will take over Congress with my help.

Good grief.
6 posted on 10/04/2006 8:10:57 AM PDT by roses of sharon
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Suspect timing, maybe. But foley was democratic plant from get go.


7 posted on 10/04/2006 8:13:15 AM PDT by Nickey (Loose Lips Sink Ships.)
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To: roses of sharon
No way will I participate in this Oprah-like martyrdom, no Commie-Vampires will take over Congress with my help.
Are you trying to imply that bad behavior by a politician is not a good reason to give politicians more control over our lives??? /DU mode off
8 posted on 10/04/2006 8:13:40 AM PDT by posterchild (Ad astra per aspera)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
studies show that homosexuals are disproportionately prone to pedophilia.

Shapiro is gutsy, fer sure.

9 posted on 10/04/2006 8:13:59 AM PDT by PLK
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
This mess may cost the GOP both houses. Timing seems suspect, IMHO.

Maybe but it will undoubtedly cause a lot of right leaning punidts to lose their reputations as serious journalists. The innuendo and outright false statements I've seen coming from the right concerning who knew what and when is absolutely disgraceful.

10 posted on 10/04/2006 8:14:27 AM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: All

Is anybody wondering as I am: 'Where are the polls?'

Shouldn't we be seeing polls that disparage the Republicans, suggest that voters won't turn out to vote for them?

Or maybe they have been polling and it's clear to them that we voters think that our republican congressmen don't have anything to do with this, as much as the Democrats are trying to portray this as some big conspiracy amongst all republicans in the House.


11 posted on 10/04/2006 8:17:11 AM PDT by Madeleine Ward
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
It should not have been difficult for Republicans to identify the problems with Foley's behavior: pedophilia, exploitation, and yes, homosexuality. And yet, because the Republican Party has become infected with either the unchecked will to power or the milquetoast tolerance of the social left, House Republicans did nothing. Shame on them.

Exactly. And, this is the reason the Republicans have spent money and expanded government at the greatest rates we've seen since the Johnson administration, devised amnesty plans for illegals and sold conservatives out on issue after issue -- they care more about power than principle, if many even had any principles to begin with.

That is why they are headed for considerable losses on election day. RINOs, backstabbers and liberal Republicans must suffer the consquences. The GOP must get the message -- you stick to a Reagan-like agenda or lose power.

12 posted on 10/04/2006 8:17:55 AM PDT by Ol' Sparky
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To: Paloma_55

I don't doubt the dems had it, but they are scum bag liberal skanks and we expect them to act like immoral idiots. HOWEVER what we do not expect is for the leader of the house that is supposed to be representing moral values of his base to hide/ignore behavior that he knew would be totally inappropriate and if seen further possibly illegal. Here is the issue, if this is how hastert runs the house what else is he missing or overlooking? THAT is the point.


13 posted on 10/04/2006 8:19:46 AM PDT by Walkingfeather (u)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Sexually harassed? At what point in the instant messaging did the person at the other end said you're harassing me and I would appreciate you not asking such personal questions? What I read showed that the other person was playing along and answering the personal questions.


14 posted on 10/04/2006 8:20:42 AM PDT by psjones
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To: posterchild

LOL, no rationality allowed on FR, we have become a shadow of what we used to be.

Which was a place to plot and plan the defeat and death of our enemies.


15 posted on 10/04/2006 8:21:34 AM PDT by roses of sharon
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Hastert needs to bring the House back into session to vote on a bill that creates a permanent committee to protect pages. It should be called the McCarthy Committee (sorry Joe I'm really on your side) and we should hire someone open minded like David Duke or Mel Gibson to head it. It's sole charge should be the investigation of persons suspected of perverted activity.

Recordings should be made of locker rooms, cloak rooms, smoking rooms, bars, handball courts and restaurants. so we can hear all the jokes made of other congressmen. The subjects of these joke would then be immediately investigated.

Football players should be forever banned from congress as they slap each others hind-ends after most plays. Any congressmen sharing an apartment to defray expenses should be forced to live in separate domiciles. This will have an added benefit to the local economy, and anyone refusing to obey will be ousted immediately.

Since the internet is a known sexual deviant's playground we obviously need to intercept all electronic communications of members of the hill. Anyone found to be a member of My Space will be terminated without further investigation for being a known moron.

On the campaign trail politicians are famous for kissing babies (or stealing their candy). This is the worst kind of pedophile as these babies cannot even speak up and make a formal accusation. Get rid of these people now.

I haven't decided yet what to do about ex-scout masters and gym teachers, but since Speaker Hastert is both, he should be terminated as soon as his gavel strikes the wood saying "the bill has been approved."

People are saying these innocuous email were red flags.  Would they have been red flags if George W. Bush had written them?  "Did you get through the hurricane okay?" and "We should have dinner sometime."  Somehow that doesn't bother me in the context of W writing it.  "[I'd] love to slip [your shorts] off you and [grab] the one-eyed snake,"  now that's a red flag and a slap in the face to boot!. (Unless MAF54 is Angelina Jolie's display name)  But, that wasn't known until last Friday. So what are people really saying? If you're queer and write to a boy it's a red flag?  That's what is being said and it's being said the loudest at the moment by the Democrat Party and we somehow need to take advantage of this.  The only solution I see that fits what the Democrats want is: any Congressman or Senator that is gay or lesbian should register with the Sergeant at Arms so we can keep on eye on them.

As for the rest of the story. Pages have been around for a long time and it appears to me that they didn't need coverage in the past which leads me to believe that they can handle themselves today also. These people are some of the best and brightest 16-18 year olds we have in this country.

They are not naive, they are not gullible and they are certainly not stupid. I watched an ex-page interview yesterday and he claimed they all knew about Foley. Their phrase for him was Congressman FFF, two of the F's I cannot explain in here. Under no circumstances can I imagine a peon congressman, especially one that is a bit light in the loafers, being a serious threat to these pages. They simply put up with him as the rest of society does.

People in this over-protective mood should read a short from Mark Twain titled The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg and stop hyperventilating.  Do we really want to tell these pages they are the best and brightest to their faces, but pass legislation saying their too stupid to take care of themselves?

The long and short of this media hype is that Dennis Hastert should tell everyone to stuff it, he's staying on, Foley is gone forever, and no one needs to be spending any time or money revamping the page program. It's fine the way it is.


16 posted on 10/04/2006 8:23:22 AM PDT by HawaiianGecko (Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.)
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To: Walkingfeather

You do realize Hastert was not aware of the IMS, the emails they were aware of were not sexual in nature.


17 posted on 10/04/2006 8:24:05 AM PDT by psjones
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Here is the fix for Mark Foley

Denounce Bush's illegal war against the brown skinned people of the world and he can even stay a Republican.

18 posted on 10/04/2006 8:24:39 AM PDT by lormand (1 - 10,000,000 people read my posts everyday)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
If the DemonRATs succeed in hanging the Foley Albatross around the Repulican necks, we have a tragedy in the making for future of this nation. That the DemonRATs could succeed in gambling the security of this country for their quest for power is the most disturbing character flaw of their ideology.

The DemonRATs are using the Foley situation as a form of self inoculation from any question of their character. If they can get the Republicans to go into the challenging the DemonRAT's hypocracy, they cause them to miss the mark. What we have here is bad conduct. Wrong is wrong no matter what party they belong to or position in life one holds. To go off on other Red Herrings is losing the focus one should hold on the matter.

The call for Speaker Dennis Haster to step down is a Red Herring. The focus should be the investigation into who knew about Foley's efforts to engage in homosexual liaisons with minors and when did they know about it. This should reveal the effort to use such information for political purposes rather than the protection of a minor. Those involved should be charged with aiding and abetting.
19 posted on 10/04/2006 8:34:30 AM PDT by jonrick46
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To: lormand
Which brown skin war are you speaking of?  Are you referring to the war against Mexico in 1846?

  or 


20 posted on 10/04/2006 8:36:12 AM PDT by HawaiianGecko (Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.)
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