Foley Fallout
3 October 2006Mark Foley is a pervert and a sexual deviant, that much seems apparent. I absolutely agree with Democrats that anyone in the House who actually knew what Foley was doing should resign. There is absolutely no excuse for Foley’s behavior nor for others in the House covering for him. However, at this point in time we don’t know if there was a cover up. We don’t know who knew what and when they knew it. Admittedly it doesn’t look too good. From what we know so far, there were leaders in the House who knew Foley was engaging in inappropriate behavior. But the extent of what they knew is unknown.
Speaker Hastert has asked for a Justice Department investigation, a request that would seem, at first blush, to negate the idea that he was involved with a cover up. Democrats are also calling for investigations left and right. Their motivation, however, is not likely to be the safety and well being of House pages, as evidenced by facts listed below.
What frustrates me is the blatant double standard that exists from one side of the aisle to the other. That double standard is illustrated by the immediate resignation of Foley. When similar or worse events occur surrounding Democrats, resignations are not what follows. Instead, the dems circle the wagons and defend their errant members.
In the 1983 page sex scandal, Democrat Gerry Studds, who had sex with a 17 year old male page, turned his back while the House censure was read. He left those proceedings to go to a press conference where he declared he’d done nothing wrong! He had taken the page to Morocco to have sex with him and, he claimed, since the sex took place outside the US, it was not illegal! He remained in the House until his retirement in in 1996. Conversely, Republican Dan Crane, caught in the same scandal for having sex with a 17 year old female page, at least apologized for his actions and was defeated in the next election.
Additionally, Republicans faced an impossible situation with Foley. If they had taken action against him based only on what they claim they knew, they would have been castigated as homophobes or worse by Democrats and the press. When it comes to Democrat responses, Republicans are always in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. As I say, that isn’t an excuse. In fact, knowing that, Republicans should always take the high road since that is not only the right thing to do, it is also the most defensible. Still, it is not difficult to understand how House Republicans might have agonized over what course to take. If they’d only get over their fear and just do what’s right instead of worrying about political consequences, they’d be in a lot better position right now.
Still, it is worth noting that Democrats have a Senator who allowed a girl to die in his car while he went home, a Congressman who ran a homosexual brothel out of his basement, another Congressman who had actual sex with a page, all of whom remained in office. The double standard is so striking as to be beyond belief. How can Democrats get away with so much?
Once more let me say, there is no excuse for Foley’s actions. There is no excuse if Republicans covered up Foley’s conduct. But make no mistake, this is not about what Foley did and it is not about who knew what and when they knew it. It is about politics. Democrats smell the blood in the water and they are going in for the kill. That’s just the bottom line. We’re just about a month out from an election where the balance of power is up for grabs and Democrats are salivating over this. It’s the best news they could have right now and that’s just sad.
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