By now the news has been reported and re-reported about Mark Foley.But seriously, what the hell was he thinking.
I live in Florida and have been pretty involved in political circles around the state. And the fact that Mark Foley was gay was pretty much common knowledge. It came up the last time that he was preparing to run for the U.S. Senate and it didn’t really seem to bother many people. I know that seems like a shock for many since he is a Republican but the rule was “we won’t ask and you don’t tell”. So it was under wraps, until it was revealed that he liked to talk dirty to little boys.
First, I am appalled that Foley got his rocks off conversing with and looking at pictures of young boys. I think that most people could care less who he slept with or if he came out but it is the fact that he had sexual conversations with a child that is the issue.
When I taught Middle and High School English (in another life), for me it was an honor to be there helping to develop young minds. I can tell you for sure that I have been flirted with and “tried” more than once by students. You know how forward some students can be these days. Usually their advances ended up earning them a trip with me to the Dean’s Office. I didn’t take them there to get them into major trouble but just to protect us both and show them the severity of their actions. But even more important than that, there is NOTHING A MIDDLE OR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CAN DO FOR ME! Sexually, emotionally and intellectually they are still zygotes. They are learning and discovering their bodies and brains. For an adult, an authority figure to take advantage of that innocence is sick.
Second, he [Foley] has now come out as being gay, revealed that his clergyman molested him as a young child and said he is an alcoholic but said that none of this is an excuse for his actions. So why did he reveal it? The answer is simple, he wanted his alcohol abuse and the homosexuality and the molestation to make reason out of insanity. That however, is impossible.
I understand that he never actually had “sexual contact” with these young pages but in a fit of irony he is the one that proposed legislation to prosecute sexual predators on the internet. Even though the blow is supposed to be softened by the fact that he never had relations with the kids it doesn’t make his acts any less dastardly.
Finally, the leadership of the House and the Justice Department should be ashamed at the fact that this issue has only started to be investigated fully. Reports state that questions were raised about Foley’s improper relationships with Pages as early as 2004. Even the advocacy group that turned over the email sent it in several months ago. What was happening during that time? Even though Republican leaders in Congress knew about the emails and IM’s they urged him to run for re-election in 2004. Not because they were solidly behind him but to keep a safe Republican Congressional seat safe. Who knows what else this investigation could reveal but it could have all been avoided had someone followed through on solidly investigating these allegations. Even though people are saying that Dennis Hastert should step down; lest we forget that Tom Delay was The Majority Leader during that time. Do you think that had any reason for this thing staying quiet for so long? Hummmm?
I am sure that if we searched a little deeper there will be more that is revealed but the sad thing is the fallout for victims of abuse, recovering alcoholics and homosexuals. Although the former Representative said that these things had nothing to do with his actions, the timing of his announcement will direct people to infer a connection.
It’s just emails and IM’s (that we know of) so I am confident that there was minimum psychological damage to the pages. They are who are most important.
And I must digress just a bit. President Clinton was impeached for not revealing specifics about sexual relations with a consenting adult. Former Representative Foley, is in rehab (we assume) and no charges of any type have been filed.
Ahh, the issue gets more transparent by the moment. And you thought you that really knew who stood for family values. Only a few weeks will tell if all of America has gotten the message that it is time for a change.
2 comments:
Rah.. I agree that using workplace communications tools and taxpayer time to engage in the banter with the young men was inappropriate and punishable – to include forcing Foley out of office. I also agree that everyone – and I mean everyone – that can be proven to have known of these incidences should also suffer the same penalty as collaborators and conspirators of Foley.
However, as a gay man, I’m disappointed that we’re allowing the issue to be turned into one of this being a gay predator with his sights set on children. Moreover, Foley’s admitting to having been molested as a child and having an alcohol problem are irrelevant.
Let’s keep it real… First, by DC standards these young men were at the age of legal consent or older (16). So this wasn’t and isn’t a case of pedophilia. Second, 71% of pedophiles are heterosexual males, so let’s not make the correlation between gays and pedophiles. Third, we’re being led down this gay/alcoholic diversion to avoid the real issue – GOP leaders struggled to cover up an issue they considered would be damaging to Republicans across the board. You see, when you build a party’s foundation with “morality” and “values” as the top message in an effort to be judgmental and exclusionary, you run the risk of finding your fly is open. The problem here is Foley’s pals saw his fly open and no one mentioned it. Now, he and the GOP are reeling at the thought that Democrats have seen Foley is not wearing any underwear when he’s suppose to be a Fruit of the Loom spokesperson. (…well, you get the analogy)
Let’s not be fooled… being straight or gay doesn’t matter. Calling Foley a pedophile is a tad harsh and the only real issue here is that Foley was sexually harassing young men using tax-payer resources and his pals knew about it, but didn’t reveal it to save their butts. That’s it. If gay men allow this issue to be one about sexual orientation we will be as guilty as the Republican party of not singling out the one bad apple in our ranks. We don’t need you to proudly come out as an excuse for f*cking up!
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