Common Folk Using Common Sense

ITEM 1: Former Rep. Mark Foley, under FBI investigation for salacious e-mail exchanges with teenage congressional pages, has checked himself into rehabilitation facility for alcoholism treatment and accepts responsibility for his actions, his attorney said Monday.

Foley was chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, which introduced legislation targeting sexual predators and creating stricter guidelines for tracking them.

“I strongly believe that I am an alcoholic and have accepted the need for immediate treatment for alcoholism and other behavioral problems,” Foley, a Republican, said in a statement, Roth told the AP.

Foley abruptly quit Congress on Friday after reports surfaced that he’d sent sexually charged electronic messages to boys working as pages. In the statement, Foley said the “events that led to my resignation have crystalized recognition of my long-standing and significant alcoholism and emotional difficulties.”

SHITNIT! Says buddy joe-6-pack: “Sorry, even if one is drunk, one doesn’t do this sort of stuff, unless it is already in one’s soul.”

No, this is just as weak as when Kennedy zoned out and crashed his car while tripping from Ambien and whiskey. Register this clown as a sex offender, drum him out of Washington, and send him away. I have no tolerance for this.

And it’s not like these IMs happened yesterday. They’ve been going on for at least a few years.

EXAMPLE 1
Xxxxxxxxx (7:41:57 PM): ugh tomorrow i have the first day of lacrosse practice
Maf54 [Foley] (7:42:27 PM): love to watch that
Maf54 (7:42:33 PM): those great legs running
Xxxxxxxxx (7:42:38 PM): haha…they arent great
Xxxxxxxxx (7:42:45 PM): thats why we have conditioning
Xxxxxxxxx (7:42:56 PM): 2 days running….3 days lifting
Xxxxxxxxx (7:43:11 PM): every week
Xxxxxxxxx (7:43:14 PM): until the end of march
Maf54 (7:43:27 PM): well dont ruin my mental picture
Xxxxxxxxx (7:43:32 PM): oh lol…sorry
Maf54 (7:43:54 PM): nice
Maf54 (7:43:54 PM): youll be way hot then

EXAMPLE 2
Maf54 (7:46:33 PM): did any girl give you a haand job this weekend
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:38 PM): lol no
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:40 PM): im single right now
Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:57 PM): my last gf and i broke up a few weeks agi
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): are you
Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): good so your getting horny
Xxxxxxxxx (7:47:29 PM): lol…a bit
Maf54 (7:48:00 PM): did you spank it this weekend yourself
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:04 PM): no
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:16 PM): been too tired and too busy
Maf54 (7:48:33 PM): wow…
Maf54 (7:48:34 PM): i am never to busy haha
Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:51 PM): haha
Maf54 (7:50:02 PM): or tired..helps me sleep
Xxxxxxxxx (7:50:15 PM): thats true
Xxxxxxxxx (7:50:36 PM): havent been having a problem with sleep though.. i just walk in the door and collapse well at least this weekend
Maf54 (7:50:56 PM): i am sure
Xxxxxxxxx (7:50:57 PM): i dont do it very often normally though
Maf54 (7:51:11 PM): why not
Maf54 (7:51:22 PM): at your age seems like it would be daily
Xxxxxxxxx (7:51:57 PM): not me
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:01 PM): im not a horn dog
Xxxxxxxxx (7:52:07 PM): maybe 2 or 3 times a week
Maf54 (7:52:20 PM): thats a good number
Maf54 (7:52:27 PM): in the shower

There is more. And it gets worse. You get the picture.

ITEM 2: In scorching language, House Republican leaders on Monday condemned Foley’s actions as they tried to contain the damage to the party five weeks before midterm elections.

“Congressman Foley duped a lot of people … He deceived the good men and women in organizations around the country with whom he worked to strengthen child predator laws,” Speaker
Dennis Hastert told reporters. “I have known him all the years he served in the House and he deceived me too.”

The Bush administration, meanwhile, sought to distance itself from the scandal and the increasing questions about when members of the House Republican leadership knew of the e-mail exchanges and what did they know of Foley’s actions. Coming five weeks before the election, the scandal involving the Republican congressman could cost the GOP control of the House.

OK Hastert, as of this morning I’m going to give you a pass … for now. It’s entirely possible that you didn’t know anything about this until the media exposed it.

BUT …

If it becomes known that you knew something about this and tried to hide it until after the elections then you are as guilty of abusing a child as Foley is. And if so then you deserve the same treatment as Foley. Period.

ITEM 3: Democrats demanded that investigators determine whether Republican leaders tried to cover up Foley’s actions for political reasons.

“The attorney general should open a full-scale investigation immediately,” Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a statement, including whether GOP leaders “knew there was a problem and ignored it to preserve a congressional seat this election year.”

OK, Mr. Reid, I am going to hold you to the same criteria that I’m going to hold Mr. Hastert. All these revelations against Foley, coming just days before a Congressional election, appear very suspicious to me. Just way too convenient. The timing of the revelations, as we noted, couldn’t be more propitious for the Democrats. If I learn that House Democrats have been “holding on” to this story, waiting for just before the elections, then I’ll hold you as guilty as Foley for abusing a child. Period.

It may be that both the Democrats and several newspapers knew about Foley’s problem as far back as November, according to research by several blogs. “October Surprise?” This is far from over.

ITEM 4: Let’s not gloss over any hypocrisy here, either.

In 1983, then-Democratic Rep. Gerry Studds of Massachusetts was caught in a similar situation. In his case, Studds had sex with a male teenage page — something Foley hasn’t been charged with.

Did Studds express contrition? Resign? Quite the contrary. He rejected Congress’ censure of him and continued to represent his district until his retirement in 1996.

In 1989, Rep. Barney Frank (news, bio, voting record), also of Massachusetts, admitted he’d lived with Steve Gobie, a male prostitute who ran a gay sex-for-hire ring out of Frank’s apartment. Frank, it was later discovered, used his position to fix 33 parking tickets for Gobie.

What happened to Frank? The House voted 408-18 to reprimand him — a slap on the wrist. Today he’s an honored Democratic member of Congress, much in demand as a speaker and “conscience of the party.”

In 2001, President Clinton, who had his own intern problem, commuted the prison sentence of Illinois Rep. Mel Reynolds, who had sex with a 16-year-old campaign volunteer and pressured her to lie about it.

You get the idea. Democrats not only seem OK with the kind of behavior for which Foley is charged, but also they protect and excuse it. Only when it’s a Republican do they proclaim themselves shocked — shocked! — when it comes to light.

(1) Abuse of a child, (2) covering up the abuse of a child, (3) turning the abuse of a child into a political opportunity, and (4) holier-than-thou hypocrisy are all evil, and all guilty parties should do hard time.

Mark Foley, Congress, Dennis Hastert, Harry Reid

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