[piasa]

In the Abscam case congressmen took bribes from an FBI asset who was posing as a wealthy Arab, in exchange for some political deal.

Are you saying they were innocent just because they believed the money was from an arab when in fact it came from an impersonator?

That Ritter was trolling was clear intent. He intended to do the deed so long as he was convinced there was a 16 year old girl involved.

That many societies consider 16 to be an age of consent, is as immaterial as an Americasn who goes cannibal claiming innocence because in some societies, cannibalism is perfectly acceptable.

The fact is, in his state, 16 is not the age of consent. That's the law, without regard to what Kofi Annan or some bronze-age tribesman in Asia may think.

That said, in comparison to the other things Ritter has engaged in, such as taking money in exchange for suppporting the Iraqi regime, this is very small potatoes and people will in their zeal end up turning him into another "semi-martyr" of the left , just as the focus on Clinton's sexual misdeeds made people forget entirely that he was a traitor, a perjuror, and had abused his office. Hillary and Carville loved it when they were able to turn it into an "it's all about sex" issue- it distracted from the true gravity of his high crimes.

[Miss Marple]

The importance of the story isnot really what Ritter did, as much as the fact that he was at minimum a two-time offender, which makes the likelihood of his being a multiple offender more probable. That makes him blackmailable, and also raises the question of who tried to hide this.

[bvw]

In the Abscam case the bribes were actually taken. True, still playacting, and questionable for that. In fact, Abscam may have done a grevious harm to accountability. It gave the FBI a stronger franchise, and weakened the electorate's.

In the Nanny-state, the Nannies hold the power.