Foley at dad's grave: 'I disappointed him so much'

[Human Torch]

ROYAL PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- Former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley sobbed Saturday as he delivered a eulogy at his father's grave, alluding to his resignation from Congress amid a sex scandal as disheartening to his dad.

"I disappointed him so much," said Foley, surrounded by about 50 friends and family. "But he was so good of a man."

The six-term GOP lawmaker from Florida resigned September 29 after being confronted with sexually explicit messages he sent to male teenage pages who had worked on Capitol Hill.

Edward Foley, a longtime educator, died Tuesday of complications from cancer. He was 85. The two had a close relationship, though in the last weeks of Edward Foley's life his son was in a secluded Arizona treatment facility.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/18/foley.sobbing.ap/index.html

[northofdenali]

1. Doesn't matter what your politics are, nor your dirty secrets -

losing a parent, regardless of your relationship with them, is one of the hardest things to bear.

Foley is a pedophile and a loser - yeah, he disappointed his dad - but he can still grieve.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. If Foley cared so much for his father

then he shouldn't have run away to a rehab/spa in Arizona for the last month of his father's life.

If Foley wasn't a coward, he would have stayed in Palm Beach and gotten help there, so he could be with his father. Of course, he would have been subject to being arrested or brought in for questioning by the FDLE and so he chose to run away.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

2. i sort of feel sorry for this guy

he's screwed-up beyond belief

maybe now that he's out-of-the closet he can stop living a lie and become a better person

[davidwparker]

3. let's hope. his behaviors, like those of Haggard, are a function of

trying to live a lie. If he (they) came to grips with who they are, the sneaking around and things related to that would go away.

[zanne]

9. That's exactly what he's hoping.

He'll "rehabilitate" and come back as a "sinner who has atoned". To hell with him.

[Auntie Bush]

4. I feel sorry for the fact that people have to deny who they are and

pretend to be someone else. What does it do to ones psychic to be ashamed of who and what they are?

[Erika]

5. Yep

The thought Haggard is in a religious reeducation camp gives me chills. Sounds so Nazi.

[Human Torch]

7. People can be proud or ashamed of who they are, but they are still "who they are"...

...and yeah, if you spend 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year showing one face to the public and another behind closed doors, it will wear you down. That's especially true if your second face is the one worn my Maf54...

So that burden, coupled with getting caught and the public humiliation that followed, plus the loss of a career, then the loss of a parent, must certainly equal the worst year of Foley's life. That's life...we all get a spin on the big wheel. This is Foley's spin.

He's got to deal with it. It's not about pricey rehab centers or political rhetoric. It's about Foley's willingness to re-assemble the broken pieces into something worthwhile (or not). And more often then not, life will mercilessly kick your ass while you are attempting to put those pieces together.

:patriot:

[Auntie Bush]

11. Well said! n/t

[gratuitous]

6. A disappointment? You could always change

Your registration.

[blondeatlast]

8. Lord knows I find Foley to be a sick, hypocritical fuck, but...

did CNN REALLY have to ogle his father's funeral?

[LizW]

14. I know.

Some things should just be private.

[AZBlue]

12. That's sad. Losing a parent is hard. And so is feeling like you disappointed them.

eom

[beaconess]

13. I feel sorry for him.

I wouldn't wish this on any of my enemies.