Foleygate
National Review
by Mona Charen
10/05/06
Former Representative Mark Foley has set some kind of land speed record in framing himself as a victim. His seat in the House was barely cold before he let it be known that a) he was checking himself into rehab for alcoholism, and b) he was himself molested as a youth by a 'clergyman.' A two-fer! Book this man on Oprah now. Perhaps with Foley, America will finally reach the point of gagging on victimhood. Obviously Foley was the perpetrator, not the victim. He was a powerful man preying upon kids away from home for the first time, abusing his prestige and power, betraying the public trust, and in a particularly sour twist, sponsoring legislation to shield kids from Internet predators. And now he asks us to spare some sympathy for him?
http://tinyurl.com/rd2ky
Fall guy of Foleygate
The American Prospect
by Harold Meyerson
10/05/06
It is a mark of the sheer panic sweeping the ranks of Republican congressmen that one of their most levelheaded members, Ray LaHood of Illinois, has suggested that Congress abolish its page program altogether in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal. What conclusion are we supposed to draw from LaHood's proposal? That members of Congress cannot be trusted in the company of adolescents? If so, why punish the adolescents? ... If LaHood believes that pages pose an irresistible temptation to his peers, there are surely solutions straight out of the Republican playbook that wouldn't punish the victims. How about building a 700-foot fence around all Republican members of Congress?
http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=12082
Say goodnight, Denny
Fox News
by Susan Estrich
10/05/06
So now it's the abuse excuse. Poor Mark Foley. He was abused by a clergyman as a boy. But according to his lawyer, who released this information, he's not asking us to excuse him for what he did 40 years later. So what's the point? Bad things (may) have happened to him as a child. Get help. Of all people, he was in a position to do something about it. But what did he do instead? He used his power to prey on vulnerable kids. And we're supposed to feel sorry for him? No way. And, oh yes, he's a gay man. Mr. Right Wing Conservative. Do you think he would have told his constituents that if he hadn't been caught? Not a chance. The bigger question is, did they have a right to know what everyone else in Washington apparently did? I don't care what people do on their own time (with consenting adults who don't work for them) as long as they don't turn around and vote like hypocrites. But that is, unfortunately, precisely what the Republican closet caucus does. And everyone knows...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217877,00.html
The gay problem in the GOP
Boston Globe
by David Link
10/05/06
The tragic opera of former congressman Mark Foley is the revenge of 'don't ask, don't tell.' Foley, a Republican from Florida, resigned Friday after e-mails and instant messages between him and several teenage congressional pages surfaced. The Republican leadership knew that at least one page had gotten e-mails where Foley admired the body of one of the page's friends, and asked the page for a picture of himself, e-mails the page naturally found sick and a bit creepy. Republican leaders responded to the potential political problem by telling Foley to knock it off. With respect to the larger issue, though, there was no asking or telling. The boy's own revulsion at the obviously inappropriate attention was ignored, not only by Foley's partisan fellows, but by some news outlets that also had seen the e-mails. If this has a familiar ring, look in the Catholic Church for the bell...
http://tinyurl.com/qxsmj
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Grand Old Party of Child Endangerment
Rosa Brooks writes: "Foley deserves our disgust and condemnation, and so do the Republican congressional leaders who worried more about their reelection prospects than the welfare of the children under their care. But let's be honest: Foley's acts may have damaged the handful of boys unfortunate enough to have attracted his attention, but the damage to children caused by his abuse of power is still far, far less than the damage to American children caused by this Congress' disastrous mismanagement of the American economy."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100606Z.shtml
Longtime Republican Was Source of Emails
The source in the Foley case who gave suspect emails to the democrats and media outlets has been a confirmed registered Republican since becoming eligible to vote and is no longer employed in the House. Three more former pages formerly working under Foley have come out to accuse Foley of sexual advances online.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100606K.shtml
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Foley
by Mona Charen
10/05/06
Former Representative Mark Foley has set some kind of land speed record in framing himself as a victim. His seat in the House was barely cold before he let it be known that a) he was checking himself into rehab for alcoholism, and b) he was himself molested as a youth by a 'clergyman.' A two-fer! Book this man on Oprah now. Perhaps with Foley, America will finally reach the point of gagging on victimhood. Obviously Foley was the perpetrator, not the victim. He was a powerful man preying upon kids away from home for the first time, abusing his prestige and power, betraying the public trust, and in a particularly sour twist, sponsoring legislation to shield kids from Internet predators. And now he asks us to spare some sympathy for him?
http://tinyurl.com/rd2ky
Fall guy of Foleygate
The American Prospect
by Harold Meyerson
10/05/06
It is a mark of the sheer panic sweeping the ranks of Republican congressmen that one of their most levelheaded members, Ray LaHood of Illinois, has suggested that Congress abolish its page program altogether in the wake of the Mark Foley scandal. What conclusion are we supposed to draw from LaHood's proposal? That members of Congress cannot be trusted in the company of adolescents? If so, why punish the adolescents? ... If LaHood believes that pages pose an irresistible temptation to his peers, there are surely solutions straight out of the Republican playbook that wouldn't punish the victims. How about building a 700-foot fence around all Republican members of Congress?
http://www.prospect.org/web/view-web.ww?id=12082
Say goodnight, Denny
Fox News
by Susan Estrich
10/05/06
So now it's the abuse excuse. Poor Mark Foley. He was abused by a clergyman as a boy. But according to his lawyer, who released this information, he's not asking us to excuse him for what he did 40 years later. So what's the point? Bad things (may) have happened to him as a child. Get help. Of all people, he was in a position to do something about it. But what did he do instead? He used his power to prey on vulnerable kids. And we're supposed to feel sorry for him? No way. And, oh yes, he's a gay man. Mr. Right Wing Conservative. Do you think he would have told his constituents that if he hadn't been caught? Not a chance. The bigger question is, did they have a right to know what everyone else in Washington apparently did? I don't care what people do on their own time (with consenting adults who don't work for them) as long as they don't turn around and vote like hypocrites. But that is, unfortunately, precisely what the Republican closet caucus does. And everyone knows...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,217877,00.html
The gay problem in the GOP
Boston Globe
by David Link
10/05/06
The tragic opera of former congressman Mark Foley is the revenge of 'don't ask, don't tell.' Foley, a Republican from Florida, resigned Friday after e-mails and instant messages between him and several teenage congressional pages surfaced. The Republican leadership knew that at least one page had gotten e-mails where Foley admired the body of one of the page's friends, and asked the page for a picture of himself, e-mails the page naturally found sick and a bit creepy. Republican leaders responded to the potential political problem by telling Foley to knock it off. With respect to the larger issue, though, there was no asking or telling. The boy's own revulsion at the obviously inappropriate attention was ignored, not only by Foley's partisan fellows, but by some news outlets that also had seen the e-mails. If this has a familiar ring, look in the Catholic Church for the bell...
http://tinyurl.com/qxsmj
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
Grand Old Party of Child Endangerment
Rosa Brooks writes: "Foley deserves our disgust and condemnation, and so do the Republican congressional leaders who worried more about their reelection prospects than the welfare of the children under their care. But let's be honest: Foley's acts may have damaged the handful of boys unfortunate enough to have attracted his attention, but the damage to children caused by his abuse of power is still far, far less than the damage to American children caused by this Congress' disastrous mismanagement of the American economy."
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100606Z.shtml
Longtime Republican Was Source of Emails
The source in the Foley case who gave suspect emails to the democrats and media outlets has been a confirmed registered Republican since becoming eligible to vote and is no longer employed in the House. Three more former pages formerly working under Foley have come out to accuse Foley of sexual advances online.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100606K.shtml
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=Foley
rudkla - 6. Okt, 15:51
