Party of Family Values: Foley Resigns

[gla]

<p>kluge:
But as you know, Republicans have been pandering to the gay vote for decades. It might be necessary for them to sever their ties with this powerful right wing interest group. :)</p>

[DRJ4]

<p>Foley sends overly friendly emails to pages. Parents and maybe pages complain. The people responsible for the Page program tell Foley to stop. What more can they do? The next step would be to call the police and/or FBI. In hindsight, I wish someone had done so but it’s simply not consistent with the way our justice system works. (If it were, Michael Jackson would not be in Bahrain right now.) </p>

<p>In fairness, Kluge, what more could someone do where it appears the truly damning evidence was not made public and there were no witnesses willing to file a formal complaint?</p>

[citygirlsmom]

<p>considering that Hastert was a teacher, he knew better…if a person is willing to send emails that are suggestive, usually there is something more there, but hey, legal is not the same as moral, and the republicans did not do the moral thing, of at least taking away his membership on the internet child protection board thing…seeing that he wasn’t practicing what he was preaching</p>

<p>but nope, all went on as usual…stop that…you naughty boy…</p>

[gla]

<p>DRJ4:
The people in charge of the page program were not notified. Only the Republicans on the committee. Michael Jackson, has nothing to do with this. He was charged and found innocent. His alleged crimes were not covered up. Foley should have been reported to the FBI and they could make a judgement about what to do next. It should not have been left to a cabal of politicians beholden to him for tens of thousands of dollars to ask him to please stop preying on 16 yr old boys.
Does it really seem to you that turning over the emails to a law enforcement agency or somebody with expertise in internet seduction of minors is harrassment?</p>

[mini]

<p>The reality is that the party of family values really didn’t want to know. (I doubt that, had they been in power, the party of clueless would have either, but they weren’t.)</p>

<p>And when they are told, they “forget” as soon as possible. ;)</p>

[hereshoping]

<p>Gla, you state that Republicans are “perceived as anti-gay” and yet you expect them to report emails which contain nothing sexually explicit? They are obviously damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.</p>

<p>Camille Paglia is a conservative lesbian intellectual, a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and the author of a number of books.</p>

[DRJ4]

<p>GLA,</p>

<p>As noted in the Washington Post article I linked on page 12, comment #166 of this thread, the Clerk of the House and the Congressman in charge of the Page program - Congressman Shimkus - were notified about the Foley emails but not the IMs. They investigated and took action against Foley:</p>

<p>

Shimkus said in a statement last night, “in late 2005, I was notified by the then Clerk of the House,” that Alexander had told the Clerk “about an email exchange between Congressman Foley and a former House Page. I took immediate action to investigate the matter.” In the e-mail, “Foley asked about the former Page’s well-being after Hurricane Katrina and requested a photograph,” Shimkus said. He said Foley assured him it was an innocent exchange, but “nevertheless, we ordered Congressman Foley to cease all contact” with the boy and to respect all pages. “Only now have I learned that Congressman Foley was not honest about his conduct,” Shimkus said.

<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092901574_pf.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092901574_pf.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I don’t even know where to start with your other comments. Of course Michael Jackson has nothing to do with this. I used him as an example to illustrate how the criminal justice system only steps in when there is a complaint, not mere suspicion or less.</p>

[mini]

<p>The only problem with that is the party of family values had a trail on Foley that goes back to 2001.</p>

[gla]

<p>DRJ:
That is the most weasly excuse for action I have ever heard of.

He said Foley assured him it was an innocent exchange, but “nevertheless, we ordered Congressman Foley to cease all contact” with the boy and to respect all pages.

Are you truly sincere?</p>

[kluge]

<p>Maybe it’s because I spent a number of years on a Little League board but the idea that there is absolutely nothing that can be done between “asking him to stop” sending “overly friendly e-mails” and calling the FBI strikes me as almost willful blindness. Let me repeat what has been posted over and over on this thread: The “overly friendly e-mails” are possibly innocent but they are also strongly suggestive of pedophilia. There’s a whole universe of actions between “asking him to stop” and turning the matter over to law enforcement for investigation - particularly if you have the resources the top GOP guys had at their disposal. The problem wasn’t that he was sending “friendly” e-mails - the problem was that he was grooming teenagers for sexual interaction. And when you are made aware of something like that, and you have kids under your protection, you have a responsibility to act appropriately.</p>

<p>Seriously. All they had to do was ask a few questions. Have someone talk to some current and former pages. You would quickly find out who the guy was “friendly” towards. Ask them if there was anything that made them uncomfortable. This stuff would have been easily and quickly uncovered. And I’m not at all sure that the true facts weren’t known, as more information comes out from former pages. I’ve put more effort into getting to the bottom of a claim that a T-Ball coach told another coach to “Shut up!” than the GOP is admitting to doing here.</p>

<p>The fact that the GOP apologists here keep insisting that there’s absolutely nothing anyone could have done between “asking him to stop” and reporting him to the FBI strikes me as an attempt to force the more obvious responses off the radar.</p>

[gla]

<p>hereshoping:
Thank you. I know who Camille Paglia is. I was wondering about here expertise in pederasty. Is it that she is a conservative, a lesbian or a proffesor of ???</p>

[weenie]

<p>Priceless:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6BKR4cTmAg&eurl=[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6BKR4cTmAg&eurl=&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>

“When you violate a child you lose your civil liberties…”

</p>

<p>

“If I were one of these sickos…I’d be nervous…”

</p>

[hereshoping]

<p>You know, what is disgusting about this is that you are trying to blame Republicans for Foley’s actions. Again, there was nothing particularly overt in his emails to this former page. Maybe he had a reputation. People were warned here and there. He resigned as soon as the IM’s were made public (by whom we do not yet know). This is in contrast to Gerry Studds who had a sexual relationship with a 17 year old page, and not only did not resign but went on to be reelected in his state. Why don’t you just stop trying to pin this on Hastert and the Republicans to gain election points until we find out who released the IM"s to ABC?</p>

<p>My point about pederasty is that one cannot call gays on it. It is politically incorrect to do so.</p>

<p>Once again, in the Dem’s view I guess it was okay for Studds because he was not a hypocrite about it, unlike Foley.</p>

[DRJ4]

<p>GLA and Kluge,</p>

<p>If the GOP leadership only knew about the basic emails, then I believe they acted appropriately based on what they knew at the time. Here’s a quote that was not made in this context but I think is applicable:</p>

<p>

In a free society, your basic rule is you have a right to go where you want to go and do what you want to do and yes, you have the chance to do something bad. But if you do something bad, we’re gonna do everything we can to catch you and punish you. That’s deterrence.

<a href=“Featured Contest: Michelle Chamuel at The Howard Theatre - Metro Weekly”>Featured Contest: Michelle Chamuel at The Howard Theatre - Metro Weekly;

[gla]

<p>hereshoping:
Are you addressing me? I hold no brief for the Democrats. I don’t know anything about Studds and could care less. I think what is disgusting is saying that the Republicans are not so bad because someone else do something repugnant. I don’t blame Hastert, et al for what Foley did, but I do blame them for willfully ignoring it. Yes, nothing overt. But he did ‘have a reputation’ as you say. That would warrant someone looking into this a little more than telling him to stay away from a particular page. For goodness sake, parents are entrusting their children to the membership of this body. Would you be happy day care were run like this? This man (Hastert) is third in line for the Presidency!</p>

[gla]

<p>DRJ4:
You are convinced that the House leadership acted appropriately. I hope if your children are ever placed in a situation (and I sincerely hope this is not the case) like this more acion is taken.</p>

[hereshoping]

<p>Oh, please. This goes on in our public schools every day, for example. The politicization of this is sickening.</p>

[DRJ4]

<p>GLA,</p>

<p>I hope nothing bad happens to anyone’s family. I support laws designed to protect children and, given the history of the page and intern programs, I favor higher minimum ages and/or greater supervision for those programs. However, it’s a fact that (1) children are more at risk sexually in society today and (2) our justice system is designed to punish after the fact, not to prevent all bad things from happening.</p>

[gla]

<p>

Oh, please. This goes on in our public schools every day, for example

If teachers at my childs public school behaved like Foley, and the principal reacted like Hastert I WOULD KICK HIS ASS! (excuse me, but saying everybody does this is just idiotic)
Republican or Democrat, people like these have no business running our country.</p>

[hereshoping]

<p>Good luck trying to get rid of all of 'em. ;)</p>