I guess Karl Rove did not see this one coming. The House leadership shown for what it really is, a bunch of politicians with no moral compass. And they got into trouble by covering up for a gay guy, how ironic.
This Mark Foley thing has me perplexed. I know what he did was wrong (the emails), but I think mostly because he abused his position of power. In most states in the US the age of consent is 16 (or less). Flirting online seems unethical and very distasteful, in this instance. But you have to wonder - if Mr. Foley were allowed to live openly as a gay man, would he have been in a better place, mentally, and therefore not likely to reach out to these inappropriate contacts?
I know it is hard to see him as the victim in all this, and he is not, but he was forced to live a life filled with lies and deception, and at age 52. Now he is saying he was molested by a priest when he was twelve, which sounds rather off the subject. He wasn't molesting children, he was making inappropriate advances to male pages. He is such a mess mostly because he chose to live a lie, and for purely political reasons.
I think honesty and truth can be very healing, if sometimes painful to deal with. Maybe now that his dirty laundry is out there for the whole country to see and hear about (over and over again on cable news), perhaps he will take stock of his life up to this point and head in a different direction. One that leads him into a healthy relationship with another man, maybe even one around his own age.
It will be interesting to see how the Republicans try and spin this one. Looking out for number one, not caring about the children, a very big oopsy on their part. I am sure they will end up blaming it on the gay movement, they must have made Tom Foley do this, somehow. I am sure Rush Limbaugh and the other deadheads are working on this as we speak.
The good thing is that, so far, no actual physical contact took place between Rep Foley and these boys. Now if we can only say that the Republican party was brought down by a gay man, that would be just too much to ask for. Maybe that will be our November surprise?
