Right-wing Powerline blog defends Foley

[Bjorn Against]

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/015429.php

The Mark Foley story, that is. Truthfully, this is the kind of story I don't take much interest in. The latest headline is that GOP leaders knew of Foley e-mail in '05. Some people I respect, like Captain Ed, have been harshly critical of Speaker Dennis Hastert for knowing of the Foley scandal and 1) not doing enough about it, and 2) allegedly lying about his knowledge of the Foley matter.

Well, maybe. But the starting point is to figure out what Foley did. As far as I can tell from the news stories I've read, there is no claim that Foley did anything with any House page. The claim is that he sent inappropriate emails to one or more pages. These emails were described to Hastert, apparently, as "over friendly," but he was also told that the family of the page in question "didn't want the matter pursued." I've never been Speaker of the House, but I can imagine that such a conversation would not be among the most significant Hastert has had in the last year, and would not necessarily make a deep impression. Foley was, I take it, generally assumed to be gay.

snip

So I'm not particularly surprised that Foley wrote some "over-friendly"--I'm sure I would find them creepy--emails to one or more underage pages. He has resigned, which is appropriate. Studds and Franks should have resigned, too. But, in view of the history of far more egregious cases in the House, the idea of pursuing the House leadership on a "when did they find out that Foley sent a creepy email" basis seems ludicrous, and is understandable only in the context of two facts: Foley is a Republican, and there is an election in five weeks.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Assrocket strikes again.

The idiot could not find his ass with both hands, a flashlight and a GPS. Without a doubt, either the biggest liar or the most cognitively-challenged yahoo on The Internets.

[longship]

2. Somebody needs to inform this guy...

of the laws that Mark Foley and Denny Hastert championed in the House, specifically the Adam Walsh Child Predator law.

[davidinalameda]

3. wonder if this guy gets paid in kool-aid

from the RNC

[sandnsea]

4. Well good luck with that

That actually might work with a more liberal audience - but not with suburbia, the moms or the dads. We know the difference between a friendly email and sexually explicit overtures from an adult to a teen; and we don't like dirty old men talking to our kids that way. It doesn't matter if a bishop, principal or CONGRESSMAN is the one who knew and did nothing, we aren't going to like them either.

And like somebody else said, this is the THIRD Republican Speaker directly involved in a sex scandal. Enough is enough.

[Bjorn Against]

5. A more liberal audience?

No liberal I know supports pedophilia. Virtually everyone is opposed to pedophilia except apparently the GOP leadership.

[sandnsea]

8. You put it in your post

Along the lines of 'I don't want to hear any of that 16 age of consent crap.'

Point being, I've seen people at DU try to say this is just normal sexual attraction. Liberal people are more inclined to consider all angles of a situation, give all sides a listen. I've seen it today at DU, it's just an "is" sort of thing - a trait that can be a quality or a hindrance, and sometimes at the same time.

However, the right trying to minimize in that way is just not going to work because THEIR target audience is black and white. As are most parents when 50 year old men leer at their teen-agers.

[Bjorn Against]

10. I never said any such thing

I posted an excerpt from a Powerline blog, an extreme-right wing blog that has a lot of influence in the GOP community.

I posted it to show how ridiculous it is, please don't think I stand by any of that crap.

[sandnsea]

11. Wow, I never said you did

I was referring to the irony between their idiotic tactics, your line about 'age of consent', and that, ironically, their minimizing tactics aren't going to work because they're not targeting an open-minded audience who might buy the everybody does it, 16 is an adult, bullshit. Now you've changed your post, so mine becomes completely irrelevant, but that's what I said.

[Bjorn Against]

16. You have me completely lost here

I never even uttered the words "age of consent". I did not change a single word in the post either, I simply put it in the grey box to make it more clear that it came from an outside source. Oh yeah, and I guess I capitalized the "R" in "right-wing" in the subject line. Other than that it is the exact same post I originally put up.

Lets just drop this because I think we can both agree that what Powerline wrote is moronic, or should I say moranic. I think I understand the point you are trying to make and I agree with you, I just wanted to make it clear that I never said anything about age of consent and I absolutely do NOT think any argument like Powerline's would work on a "more liberal audience".

Oh yeah, and as far as that "someone else" who brought up that Hastert is the third Speaker of the House with a sex scandal, I think you are referring to me. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2856994&mesg_id=2856994

[SoCalDemGrrl]

6. Foley's actions are even more serious given that he was co-chair

of the Missing and Exploited Childrens committee and in that capacity

he could always use the excuse that any child porn found on his computer was

"all in the line of his work". That's a sick thought -especially since the media

was in a lather just a few weeks ago about this Mark Karr guy and the Jon Benet case.

In fact Karr will now be prosecuted in California for having child porn on his computer.

This sick puppy Foley can use his job as a beard, load his hard drive with kiddie images

and have a ready excuse (and I'm betting he probably already has).

[Frances]

7. The instant messges were pretty explicit

I read them on an ABC link. I don't want a 50-year-old man writing that kind of thing to any teen boy I know.

[napi21]

9. Someone should post the transcript of the IM on that blog and see

if they still feel the accusations are only for creepy emails!

I read the transcript here on Du a little whole ago,and it was way past creepy!!!!!

I also suspect there are many more IM's and emails out there, and maybethis whole mess didn't stop at only internet exchanges,ya know!

[MADem]

12. Holy shit, the only thing that asshat forgot to do is blame the victim! NT

[Hav]

13. Send them the IMs

One should send them the Aim-messages. There is noone who will protect him after these messages.
http://abcnews.go.com/images/WNT/02-02-03b.pdf

[salin]

15. no way, after reading those, that they can be catagorized as "over

friendly". They are disturbing - esp from a Congressman, writing to an underage boy. I agree - send him the AIM transcripts.

[Dem2theMax]

14. Someone PLEASE send him the IM's.

I don't dare get near a pdf file. My computer freezes up every time. Or I'd send it myself.