Congressman Foley resigned

[dahunan]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: dahunan
hmm.. but if they knew of newer emails.. why not older ones too

The older emails were to different pages. Different pages who didn't report them to the FBI. It is only the 2005 page (which had fairly harmless emails) that were known.

Thank you.

I suspect they didn't report him because he held a lot of power over their potential future careers on the hill... sounds like some potential for blackmail there

 

[BaliBabyDoc]

OK, I've been compelled to turn the corner. Foley probably isn't a bona fide pedophile, but he has just plain terrible judgment and clearly failed in his responsibility to act like a decent human being around other people's kids (young men, albeit).

I like gay people (platonic . . . don't get excited) and I like 'almost' Libertarians that can't find a party so they play Republican. Given the facts that early reports were of 'inappropriate' contact and Foley resigned, I really wanted to give the guy the benefit of just having really bad judgment.

Now it looks like he's borderline pervert. There are literally tens of thousands of gay men between 21-30. If Foley was having such a hard time, he should have moved to SF. I would have given him a fighting chance against Pelosi . . . most people in SF still don't know who she is.

As for the Hastert, Limbaugh, Hume crowd trying to paint this as an October surprise by the Democrats . . . let's look at the facts:
1) The one Democrat in Congress that SHOULD have known about Foley (House Page Board) wasn't told about Foley's 'affinity' for pages. He found out on the same day as the public.

2) Barney Frank is as gay as the day is long but I doubt he knew since Mark 'not quite out of the closet' Foley had politics that were almost diametrically opposed.

3) Democrats . . . plan something . . . HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

4) The newspapers didn't run the story due to lack of corroboration. Only someone with inside info could possibly fill in the blanks . . . which means it was most likely a Republican or at least someone associated with them.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: dahunan
Thank you.

I suspect they didn't report him because he held a lot of power over their potential future careers on the hill... sounds like some potential for blackmail there

That is one possible answer. Here is another possible answer:

They were human beings. They were young males engaging in cyber sex with another male. Why would they want their lives turned upside down by reporting this? I mean, they'd be the laughing stock of every other person their age. Say goodbye to any social life. For teens, that is all they have. Most people who are gay don't come out of the closet at that age for the very same reason. Except in the case of the pages, it'll be on the front page news on every newspaper in the country.

It appears that the 2005 page wasn't gay, wanted the advances to stop, and thus wanted to tell everyone.

 

[UberNeuman]

Oh, noes! The GOP is being "swiftboated!"

/and it feels so good.....

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

IMO the only reason the Washington Times wants Hastert's resignation is that they'd prefer a more conservative Speaker of the House. I imagine they also feel that his resignation will placate the public and reduce the fallout to the GOP in the elections.

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: catnap1972

Originally posted by: DealMonkey

Originally posted by: Pens1566
Can't wait for the apologists explanation of this one. I'm betting it has the word Clinton in it though.

I wish the mods would assign a nice vacation for anyone who utters "Clinton" in a completely unrelated thread. Mods? Are you listening?!

Plenty of "But Clinton!" in the reader comments on that Blotter page linked above (that and the usual "LIBERAL CONSPIRACY!" angle)

Bush (and the Republicans) could eat a live baby on TV, crap out the remains and the brain-dead would STILL stick by them, no matter what.

It would have to be a baby that was actually born though, remember they don't kill fetuses.

 

[Termagant]

Foley's lawyer now says Foley was molested as a boy by a clergyman.

Foley can now be construed as a victim, who apparently didn't physically act out on his paedophilia.

Along with the recent paedophile attack on the Amish school, could these episodes help Republicans in the elections? The Republicans will be seen as the Family Values party fighting sexual deviants of all stripes. The actions of the House Republican leadership is simply them placing too much trust in Foley to back off his "over-friendly" relations with pages.

Who can blame Hastert for having too much faith in humanity and not realizing the true heart of darkness and sexual deviance that the Democratic party takes a softer approach toward?

 

[Pens1566]

Next up: "War on text message pedophilia". Better get your duct tape and skyscraper parachutes ready.

 

[chuckyH]

The Gop leadership only new about benign emails not sexualy explicit ones The parents of the Page asked that he not recieve any more emails last year and Foley was made to comply with that. Via the GOP leadership. at the time nothing sexual was koow to public or GOP.
The real question is why did the Liberal backed CREW's organization waited to divulge the emails and IM's that are 3 years old (and what teenager keeps those anyway) until the day before congress lets out for election break! sounds like partisan politics to me.

By the way Foley is a scum for what he's done but that doesnt make every republican that way far from it.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: Termagant
Foley's lawyer now says Foley was molested as a boy by a clergyman.

Linkzilla

Lawyer Says Foley Was Molested As a Teen

Attorney Says Former Rep. Mark Foley Was Molested by Clergyman As a Teenager

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Oct 3, 2006 (AP)? Former Rep. Mark Foley's attorney said Tuesday that his client was molested between the ages 13 and 15 by a clergyman.

Foley had represented the West Palm Beach district for 12 years and was seeking re-election until his sudden resignation last week after the disclosure of lurid online communications with teenage congressional pages.

"This is part of his recovery," Roth said, declining to identify the clergyman or the church.

Roth also announced for the first time that Foley is gay.

He insisted Foley never had sexual contact with a minor.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

But... but... yesterday, he suddenly discovered he was an alcoholic, and he checked into rehab. Now, today, he was a "victim" of a molesting clergyman? Isn't that just a bit too convenient? What's it going to be, tomorrow? His mother forced him to have sex with the dog who ate his homework? The devil ate his manhood? :roll:

Foley can now be construed as a victim, who apparently didn't physically act out on his paedophilia.

How does that square with the first two paragraphs of the article I quoted, above:

New Foley Instant Messages; Had Internet Sex While Awaiting House Vote

Former Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) interrupted a vote on the floor of the House in 2003 to engage in Internet sex with a high school student who had served as a congressional page, according to new Internet instant messages provided to ABC News by former pages.

ABC News now has obtained 52 separate instant message exchanges, which former pages say were sent by Foley, using the screen name Maf54, to two different boys under the age of 18.

Stick a fork in Foley. That turkey's dead and done, and nothing's going to save his political career.

The more important issue is the coverup because it's further proof that those oh so self righteous hypocrites who proclaim moral and ethical superiority are the same liars who:

• Wrapped themselves in the flag and their oh so mighty deity while sending thousands of Americans to die for non-existent WMD's in a land where terrorists didn't exist until they created the conditions that put them there.
  
• Questioned John Kerry's and Max Cleland's credentials as a genuine heros of war.
  
• Whored themselves out to the ultra-religious right to save the brain dead Terry Schiavo.
  
• Shredded the U.S. Consitution by redefining the Geneva Conventions to allow Bush to define torture as whatever he says it is.
  
• Cut taxes for the very rich at the expense of everyone else.

A single post with the list of their lies and betrayals could take up pages of a thread on the forums. If they were merely incompetent, we could blame them and the scant majority of our citizens who were stupid enough to fall for their BS and vote them into office. The audacity and magnitude of their lies means there aren't enough years in enough prisons to repay these criminals for what they've done to our poor, wounded nation. :thumbsdown: :| :thumbsdown:

What's worse is, even tossing the lot of them into prison couldn't begin to undo the damage.

 

[Bitek]

Originally posted by: Termagant
Foley's lawyer now says Foley was molested as a boy by a clergyman.

Foley can now be construed as a victim, who apparently didn't physically act out on his paedophilia.
...?

Well I guess this brings it full circle. I was just beginning to wonder what these "family-values" Republicans are learning in their churches.

This sends a reassuring message to the evangelical base, "don't worry, its just the Catholics who can't be trusted"

 

[johnnobts]

Cut taxes for the very rich at the expense of everyone else.


I must be rich since i got to keep more money in my pocket. thankds for clearing that up.

-If Hastert knew abuot the illicit, illegal stuff, he's toast (rightfully so). but remember, abc was sitting on this story for weeks. weeks without reporting possibly illegal behavior... they don't care abou the pages' well-being. its all about ratings. shame...

 

[catnap1972]

Originally posted by: johnnobts
Cut taxes for the very rich at the expense of everyone else.


I must be rich since i got to keep more money in my pocket. thankds for clearing that up.

-If Hastert knew abuot the illicit, illegal stuff, he's toast (rightfully so). but remember, abc was sitting on this story for weeks. weeks without reporting possibly illegal behavior... they don't care abou the pages' well-being. its all about showing their liberal bias in a shameful and desperate attempt to change the balance of power

(but of course, it's going to FAIL MISERABLY! SNORT SNORT!)

FIXED for you

And you're welcome.

 

[Pens1566]

Originally posted by: johnnobts
Cut taxes for the very rich at the expense of everyone else.


I must be rich since i got to keep more money in my pocket. thankds for clearing that up.

-If Hastert knew abuot the illicit, illegal stuff, he's toast (rightfully so). but remember, abc was sitting on this story for weeks. weeks without reporting possibly illegal behavior... they don't care abou the pages' well-being. its all about ratings. shame...

There's a difference between Hastert sitting on the info for months, and ABC journalists waiting until they had the necessary info to go public with the story. Journalism 101.

 

[Harvey]

Originally posted by: Pens1566
There's a difference between Hastert sitting on the info for months, and ABC journalists waiting until they had the necessary info to go public with the story. Journalism 101.

Journalism 101 and accusing someone of a felony without being able to back it up is libel.

OTOH, anyone in a position of leadership or oversight in the House has a legal, moral and ethical duty to those who elected them to investigate such accusations. The purpose of an investigation is to confirm or refute the allegations. What's done about it depends on the results of the investigation.

In this case, Hastert and other Republican leaders are accused of knowing about at least some of Foley's contacts with minor pages. Instead of investigating, they did less than nothing, and in fact, it looks like they actively covered it up.

THAT is disgusting! :| :| :|

 

[Thump553]

Originally posted by: Termagant
Foley's lawyer now says Foley was molested as a boy by a clergyman.

Foley can now be construed as a victim, who apparently didn't physically act out on his paedophilia.

Along with the recent paedophile attack on the Amish school, could these episodes help Republicans in the elections? The Republicans will be seen as the Family Values party fighting sexual deviants of all stripes. The actions of the House Republican leadership is simply them placing too much trust in Foley to back off his "over-friendly" relations with pages.

Who can blame Hastert for having too much faith in humanity and not realizing the true heart of darkness and sexual deviance that the Democratic party takes a softer approach toward?

OMG. Is this satire or are you so party-line adherent so as to believe such a strained thought process (the term logic is inappropriate here).

 

[Termagant]

Originally posted by: Thump553

Originally posted by: Termagant
Foley's lawyer now says Foley was molested as a boy by a clergyman.

Foley can now be construed as a victim, who apparently didn't physically act out on his paedophilia.

Along with the recent paedophile attack on the Amish school, could these episodes help Republicans in the elections? The Republicans will be seen as the Family Values party fighting sexual deviants of all stripes. The actions of the House Republican leadership is simply them placing too much trust in Foley to back off his "over-friendly" relations with pages.

Who can blame Hastert for having too much faith in humanity and not realizing the true heart of darkness and sexual deviance that the Democratic party takes a softer approach toward?

OMG. Is this satire or are you so party-line adherent so as to believe such a strained thought process (the term logic is inappropriate here).

The ending is satire. But do you really think Family Values Republicans are going to vote Democrat over an isolated incident like this? Even if Hastert tried to cover it up? This may only affect turnout by disgusting a few people. Same thing with the Iraq fiasco.

ideology >>>>> performance

Even for moderate Republicans. The Democrats just look whiny, have no ideas, are ideologically incompatible with about 40%+ of the country, and keep trotting out the anyone but Bush mantra.

 

[tommywishbone]

So now Foley is, a victum of child abuse, a drunk, mentally unstable and a wannabe child molester? This guy should run for President.

 

[International Machine Consortium]

Originally posted by: Termagant
Foley's lawyer now says Foley was molested as a boy by a clergyman.

Foley can now be construed as a victim, who apparently didn't physically act out on his paedophilia.

Along with the recent paedophile attack on the Amish school, could these episodes help Republicans in the elections? The Republicans will be seen as the Family Values party fighting sexual deviants of all stripes. The actions of the House Republican leadership is simply them placing too much trust in Foley to back off his "over-friendly" relations with pages.

Who can blame Hastert for having too much faith in humanity and not realizing the true heart of darkness and sexual deviance that the Democratic party takes a softer approach toward?

You defend the party of perverts, criminals, liars and misfits and then attack the Democrats.? That's rich.

 

[International Machine Consortium]

Originally posted by: tommywishbone
So now Foley is, a victum of child abuse, a drunk, mentally unstable and a wannabe child molester? This guy should run for President.

I'd vote for him over bush. Of course, I'd vote for Charlie Manson over Bush.

 

[LittleNemoNES]

Originally posted by: International Machine Consortium

Originally posted by: tommywishbone
So now Foley is, a victum of child abuse, a drunk, mentally unstable and a wannabe child molester? This guy should run for President.

I'd vote for him over bush. Of course, I'd vote for Charlie Manson over Bush.

:disgust:

 

[postmortemIA]

Originally posted by: tommywishbone
So now Foley is, a victum of child abuse, a drunk, mentally unstable and a wannabe child molester? This guy should run for President.

Also, he's gay.

 

[tommywishbone]

Originally posted by: postmortemIA

Originally posted by: tommywishbone
So now Foley is, a victum of child abuse, a drunk, mentally unstable and a wannabe child molester? This guy should run for President.

Also, he's gay.

In that case, if he ran for President, he'd certainly carry the West Hollywood vote.

 

[dahunan]

Drudge today was calling the victims "BEASTS" and saying they played Foley and set him up and took advantage of him.. That damn liberal media again


BTW Do any of you Republicans even care about the youths he was grooming to molest? - THEY ARE THE VICTIMS.. NOT YOUR PARTY OF GANGSTERS

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: dahunan
Drudge today was calling the victims "BEASTS" and saying they played Foley and set him up and took advantage of him.. That damn liberal media again


BTW Do any of you Republicans even care about the youths he was grooming to molest? - THEY ARE THE VICTIMS.. NOT YOUR PARTY OF GANGSTERS

dahunan, none of us have defended the behavior of Foley, I have not seen one post saying that what he did was ok. We have been talking about other things.

The complaint us Republicans have is the timing of this story, was it staged to do maximum damage?
And the guilt by association that the Democrats are using.

Foley has resigned for sending IMs to pages who were of legal age in Washington DC, i.e. they could have had sex and nothing would have been legally wrong with that.
At the same time William Jefferson, who had $100,000 in his freezer is still running for office. I guess the message here is that if you are a pervert you should be run out of town and anyone who ever talked to you should be run out of town as well, but if you abuse your power and take bribes from foreign corporations you should not only keep you seat but go ahead and run for re-election. Nice standards....

Notice, didn't mention Clinton once although I certainly did want when someone mentioned having sex before or during a house vote... reminds me of a little rose garden ceremony, have to find the details on your own though