I haven't gotten a chance to post on Rep. Foley's apparent taste for harrassing teenage congressional pages since the very first inklings of this story began to trickle out. When considering the House leadership's preposterous effort to exonerate themselves in this mess, it's worth considering the sheer speed with which the story has developed. Integral to the leadership's case is Dennis Hastert's effort to draw a distinction between Foley's emails, and Foley's IM messages. And, of course, Hastert's right -- the former were suggestive, but not damning in the way the IMs were.
That said, the emails were genuinely suggestive -- weird, inappropriate communications that suggested something bigger was going on. Various media organizations saw the emails and when they did, they decided to dig deeper, leading to the IMs. And it didn't take very long once people were on the case. The difference, in other words, isn't that the press saw something (the IMs) that the GOP leadership didn't see. The difference is that when ABC News and others saw smoke, they went looking for fire. They investigated. When Hastert and co. saw smoke, by contrast, they decided to turn off the smoke detectors and hope the house didn't burn down until after the midterms. Which is bad enough on its own terms, but when you think about it is also more-or-less how today's Republican Party handles information of all kinds, up to and including things directly related to the conduct of shooting wars.
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Heads in the Sand
Foley is being admitted to rehab for alcoholism. Sexually pursuing subordinates is wrong. When those subordinates are minors it's criminal. However, these young men were of an age eligible to marry in many, many states. They're of an age millions of their peers are engaging in sex with nary more than a sideways glance by their parents and an admonition to use contraceptives. At least some of the outrage over this isn't because of the ages or positions of the parties involved. It's because the potential sexual liasons would have been homosexual in nature. Now Foley wants to infer his homosexuality and desires to act on it are the result of a chemical dependency? If you're gay it can't be natural or right, it's because you're an alcoholic and suffer from resultant behavior problems? 50 year old men bedding teenage boys probably isn't the best example of idyllic love. I do have to ask though, if a 50 year old man bedded an emancipated 17 year old girl and then married her would the ensuing kerfuffle last but more than a few days? Certainly no criminal charges or investigations would result. And more than a few of the man's friends would think to themselves "Goddamn, I'd give one of my nuts to be in his position for even a few weeks!". Bottom line, Foley seeking to excuse his behavior by entering rehab smears the gay community at least in some small way. He wanted sex with a young man, just like many men his age would kill to have sex with a young woman. Their desires are tolerated and sometimes accepted because they're hetero in nature. He chose the wrong sex to feel strongly about.
Posted by steve duncan | October 2, 2006 9:37 AM