Rather than clamoring for Speaker Hastert’s resignation and attempting to take down the entire GOP, maybe the mainstream media and the American public should consider the following(Yahoo HT:Scott Genz):
Despite this, the immediate take by Democrats and much of the mainstream media was that this was a classic example of Republican hypocrisy — talking “morals” and “values” while all the time shielding a child predator. But it was nothing of the kind.
If anything, the episode reveals the Democrats’ hypocrisy about their own behavior. The fact that Foley resigned virtually within minutes of being told that ABC News had copies of his salacious e-mails and text messages indicates he at least felt shame for his actions. Can the same be said for Democrats?
Sadly, it doesn’t seem so. How else can you explain the following?
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. (Reynolds also was convicted of campaign spending violations.)
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.
I am not defending Foley, what he did was wrong. Period. However, he also did something the Democrats (especially their “Liberal Lion” mascot, Chappaquiddick Ted Kennedy) don’t seem to grasp, he admitted his fault, resigned the position he abused and felt shame for his actions.
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Let me ask you this question, Brandon — Can it be that the culture in Washington has changed and that Democrats no longer tolerate such tasteless conduct?
Tommy Thompson used the Hoover (vacuum cleaner) method of fundraising during his entire 13-year term as Governor. No Republican ever complained about it. His DOA Secretary served as chair of Thompson’s campaign and the DOA Secretary’s wife was the campaign treasurer — the person who opened the envelopes containing contributions and reported to the Elections Board. This caused not a pause amongst the Republican ranks.
Roll forward to today and every contribution which the Doyle campaign receives is flyspecked. The RPW issues press releases almost hourly expressing shock, SHOCK over conduct which was routine during the Thompson years.
When Dems complain, people are told that “standards have changed” and Thompson is gone.
So — turnabout is fair play. Perhaps what Washington Dems once ignored is now univerally viewed as reprehensible.
Be fair now — or at least be consistent. I know that’s asking a lot from a political hack.
What makes me real curious about this is the fact that some of these messages are three years old. Someone’s been sitting on these messages for exactly this purpose, and to me, if someone has had knowledge of this for THREE YEARS and done nothing about it just to do political damage before an election, they’re just as morally repugnant for putting these pages in harms way as Foley is for actually having these conversations.
This ain’t over by a longshot.
Come on, you know it’s he pages fault.
All young and sexy, taunting the poor vulernable republican closet gays.
The last time this happened was 1998, when Newt Gingrich was forced out for adultery and a seedy book deal. And it’ gets better…but a loyalist like yourself cannot got there.
So I will.
After Gingrich was ousted, the GOP replaced him with Bob Livingston, who never served a day as Speaker. Why? He too was shown to be an adulterer.
This is no where near Democrats, it is entirely a GOP problem, that they have avoided, covered up, or whatever.
What is a fact, is the Foley was known, and his own party did nothing.
The GOP lost it’s values voters, the very religious base, it’s credability to make ethical reforms and it’s ability to police it’s own.
The Dems and the GOP were guilty in the past, but this is here and now, and nothing is going to deter the fact than an adult went far beyond what is ‘ethically’ considered professional behavior.
Foley is gone, as should those who chose to avoid the issue.
Now, use the Rush Limbaugh rant, that the pages were bribed by liberal media to set Foley up!
What has been set up is the GOP’s lose of the House and, just maybe, the Senate.
It seems to be “ethics reform” seems to be a bit of a fad for the Democratic Party. Complements of Human Events, a top 10 list of sexual deviants who spell their name with that big D at the end of it.
http://www.humanevents.com/lists.php?id=17357
What Foley did was disgusting and shameful, but for a party to come out so opposed to this act versus all the others mentioned above; reaks of cheap partisanship and desperate politics.
what is truly bothersome about this is that Hastert claims he wasn’t aware of this until last friday, isn’t that what he said? when he was made aware by the pretty page’s rep about a year ago.
whether some sort of conspiracy to cover this up, or for opposition to use it as a weapon at the “appropriate time,” the effect is playing politics with a boys life and that’s never justified