E-Mails Force Rep. Mark Foley R-Fla. to Resign

Originally posted by loam
Found on Crooks and Liars, now the AP is also listing not on Folely as a Democrat, but Hastert as well.

That's an interesting 'tactic' I've noticed over the past few years. Blatant lying. It's as if politicians think that if they say something over and over again, overtly lie, people will believe it. And you know what? They're right. I'll bet you that somewhere in America, there are many people saying, "Harry, did you hear about those nasty Democrats fiddling with the little boy and then covering it up? I saw it on the news! He's a Democrat! We're voting Republican again"!

And Rove is chuckling all the way back to his hole.

Great video, too!

This is from alternet.org


[evidence suggests that Foley's behavior was well known in GOP circles for years, with former page Matthew Loraditch telling ABC News that pages were warned to "watch out for Foley" as early as 2001.]

Once again I refer back to my post about age of concent and how it will come into play with this issue. It seems that this boys true age at the time was somehow left out of the report that the Democrats took and ran with. (do you smell scandle) It apears that what we have here is a Gay man hitting on another man of leagle age I hope none of you have a issue with that because that would be so wrong. This is about to blow Old Nancy P right off here podium because she will find out this was a democratic sham from the bigining and there own statements will come back to haunt them.

www.actwin.com...

you don't get it do you factfinder? Age isn't important, the fact that a congressman was hitting on pages (our sons), whom he and all the other congressman were responsible for (and indeed Mark Foley was on the committee in charge of laws to protect kids from exactly what he was doing) and the leadership swept it under the rug is the scandal. Hastert didn't even bother to notify the ranking democrat on the page over site board about the issue. Democrats did not start this scandal or leak it.

Personally I would never consider a 16 year old teenager a man or a woman...they are still kids.

[edit on 6-10-2006 by grover]

Was Monica one of (Our Daughters)?

What OUTRAGE you expressed at OUR outrage over that...

How about when Studds had sex with his 17yo 'Page'? Again, you quieted our outrage with cries of "Consenting Adults."

We were wrong then to exposed this, what you called two consenting adults, yet, you are justified in your moral indignation here.....

So it is only outrageous if it happens with a Republican, or are Democrats the only ones allowed outrage?

Funny how time seems to heal the wounds of hypocrisy...

Semper

Semper...Monica was 23 and by all standards a consenting adult. BTW I thought Bill was an ass for doing it and foolish to lie about it but neither were impeachable offenses.

Politics aside....how would you feel if some congressperson (male or female) came on to your teenager, son or daughter?

Personally I do not recall the Studds incident.

Ya think if the Republicans didn't go around posturing themselves as more righteous, more American, more patriotic, more, religious, more moral, more judicious than just about everybody else besides Jesus Christ, much less liberals and Democrats, their hypocrisies wouldn't matter so much and they wouldn't be held to higher standards?

Moral posturing is BS no matter who does it.

[edit on 6-10-2006 by grover]
[edit on 6-10-2006 by grover]
damned speeling

[edit on 6-10-2006 by grover]

I just looked it up....the Stubbs affair was in 1973...I was still in high school....are you THAT old semper that you remember it?

it has been my personal experince that the more a person proclaims their morality, their decency and so forth the more they have to hide. The Republicans (leadership) make alot of noise about their morals....hhhmmmmmm!!!

[edit on 6-10-2006 by grover]

Foley has resigned, the story is almost over, but one thing has yet to be discussed. These IM records were taken from Foley and the boy, but how did they get out? Many programs such as trillian, MSN, or Yahoo keep record of conversations, but this is the beginning of the 21st century Freedom of speech debate. Blogs, IM convos, etc. can be accessed and used against the user. When will people realize the dangers of this system?

On a side note, but still related, I wouldn't mind some input on this.

So it is only outrageous if it happens with a Republican, or are Democrats the only ones allowed outrage?

Because the pages in this incident were not consenting, and it was complaints from pages that felt that they were being sexually harassed that led to the disclosure.

While both Studd's and Clinton's actions were inappropriate & unprofessional, theres a difference when the person in question is an unwilling party being sexually harassed by a superior. Both Monica and the page involved with Studds stated that they consented.

This from the Washington Post today:

["House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff confronted then-Rep. Mark Foley about his inappropriate social contact with male pages well before the speaker said aides in his office took any action, a current congressional staff member with personal knowledge of Foley and his behavior with pages said yesterday.

The staff member said Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, met with the Florida Republican at the Capitol to discuss complaints about Foley's behavior toward pages. The alleged meeting occurred long before Hastert says aides in his office dispatched Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.) and the clerk of the House in November 2005 to confront Foley about troubling e-mails he had sent to a Louisiana boy.

The staff member's account buttresses the position of Foley's onetime chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, who said earlier this week that he had appealed to Palmer in 2003 or earlier to intervene, after Fordham's own efforts to stop Foley's behavior had failed. Fordham said Foley and Palmer, one of the most powerful figures in the House of Representatives, met within days to discuss the allegations."]

Yes, Grover I am that old...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

The point being, it is a comparative study in perceived moral outrage when each side becomes enflamed over the actions of the other, when those same actions were committed in kind.

They are all a bunch of morally bankrupt pseudo criminals....

It is the merry-go-round all over.

Foley did it, Bill did it, Ted did it, THEY ARE ALL DOING IT for goodness sake. So the pretentious outcry of moral indignation is sickening.

Semper

I couldn't agree more semper.

There's a trend here, that we can't ignore. The halls of power are stuffed to bursting with compromised individuals. They don't have our best interest in mind. They have a vested interest in doing whatever they're told to save their own skins.

Blackmail has always thrived in the halls of power. This age, this country, is no different.

I wish I had a solution, but I don't.

Increasing awareness of what's going on is a big first step though. So many people are ignorant of what's going on, they can't be trusted to make good decisions. Dispelling that ignorance should be the goal of every upright, concerned citizen.

Thank you WO,

What was it a very wise man said once...

If power corrupts, then absolute power corrupts absolutely...

This is not a new phenomenon, remember Kennedy and his meetings with Monroe? There is no way to judge how far it goes back, but I would bet it is safe to say around ... hmmmm the beginning...

Semper

[edit on 10/7/2006 by semperfortis]

Originally posted by semperfortis


Foley did it, Bill did it, Ted did it, THEY ARE ALL DOING IT for goodness sake. So the pretentious outcry of moral indignation is sickening.

Semper

I agree, but here's what I find sickening. The GOP claimed the moral high ground with constant Clinton bashing, anti gay rhetoric, embracing the likes of Falwell and Robertson and now that they are found to have feet of clay, they turn on one of their own and sacrifice him to the Gods of Political expediency.



[edit on 7-10-2006 by whaaa]

the difference is Foley was at the very least being incredibly fresh with 16/17 year old boys. It is not that he was coming onto boys that is outrageous. Its that with his office/status/power, however minor, his actions come extremely close to intimidation, and abuse of his influence (power) over these kids. Will it come out that while Haggrid was looking the other way, he was actually able to get some boys into bed?

I agree, it is not so much a case of the guys age but that they were his subordiates, and that he could screw up their future careers royally if they said no. Under normal circumstances this guy could have said "no thanks, not interested".

The issue to me is not "pedophilia" (which this isn't) but the cynical abuse of power.

History
The age of consent for heterosexual vaginal sex was 12 until 1890 when it was raised it to 14. It remained there until 1985 when it was raised to 18 in cases where an adult partner is in a position of authority over a minor [1].

Ok that is for heterosexual sex, but I think the main point is at the end with

"until 1985 when it was raised to 18 in cases where an adult partner is in a position of authority over a minor"

Mark had authority over the pages, and the pages were warned in 2001 to avoid him by other Republicans. So how this is not a bad thing I can't figure out. Also, the age of consent in Florida is 17, Mark Foley is a Florida representitive, but his lovers/supporters say "Well it is 16 in D.C."

Fine, I want to have sex with a 12 year old girl, I'm going to Vietnam and having sex with a 12 year old girl. I did nothing wrong because it is legal there so you better not report it on TV because there is nothing illegal involved with having sex with a 12 year old girl in Vietnam.

That is the arguement defending Mark, that 16 is legal in D.C. but not in FLorida where FOley is from. So again, if I go to Vietnam and have sex with a 12 year old it's ok since I did nothing illegal, right? All hunky dorey, no problems, I'm still defended by my followers since I did it in an area where it was legal.

Edited
Speaking of him being from Florida...
Florida -- All sodomy acts illegal. Penalty = (60 days/$500)

[edit on 9-10-2006 by HoorahUSMC]

Amazing how a little thing like a faked NUKULAR test can sideline this story to old news.

It just shows you the attention span of the media and the voting public.