Think Progress

Gingrich: House Leadership Would Have Been Accused Of ‘Gay Bashing’ If They Investigated Foley ‘Overly Aggressively’»

This morning on Fox News Sunday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich excused the House leadership for their apparent cover-up of Mark Foley’s predatory behavior. Gingrich said the emails seen by House leadership were “relatively innocuous, there was nothing sexual in those notes.” Asked if there should be “second thoughts” about the leadership’s conduct, Gingrinch responded:

Well, you could have second thoughts about it, but I think had they overly aggressively reacted to the initial round, they would have also been accused of gay bashing.

Watch it:

Screenshot

Full transcript:

WALLACE: Speaker Gingrich, did House Republican leaders do all they should have?

GINGRICH: Well, I think if you look at what they actually knew, which was that the family did not want anyone involved, and the actual notes were relatively innocuous, there was nothing sexual in those notes. They had him counseled. They had the head of the page program, Congressman Shimkus, talk to him very directly. And I think they thought it was over. The newest incident only surfaced when ABC News interviewed Foley and he resigned within two hours, or I think the House leaders would have moved to expel him.

WALLACE: But, during all those months, they left Foley in the House Republican leadership. They left him as the head of the congressional caucus dealing with exploited children. No second thoughts about that?

GINGRICH: Well, you could have second thoughts about it, but I think had they overly aggressively reacted to the initial round, they would have also been accused of gay bashing. I mean, the original notes had no sexual innuendo and the parents did not want any action taken.

WALLACE: Well, how would it have been gay bashing?

GINGRICH: Because it was a male-male relationship. And it had no — there was no proof, there was nothing that I know of in that initial round that would have led you to say in a normal circumstance that this is a predatory person.

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315 Responses to “Gingrich: House Leadership Would Have Been Accused Of ‘Gay Bashing’ If They Investigated Foley ‘Overly Aggressively’”


  1. College Progressive Says:

    Sure, and judicial activism causes criminals to shoot judges.


  2. Juan+C Says:

    Well, yeah. Lets free all gay convicts now.


  3. Concerned Says:

    I agree. I also think this is more of a gay issue than a pedaphile issue. Foley repeatedly attempted to verify age.


  4. thomas Says:

    gay bashing?? GAY BASHING!!???? How about CREEPY PEDOPHILE HYPOCRITE BASHING?


  5. Zooey Says:

    Say Anything, Do Anything.

    Desperate times for the Republicans. :)


  6. Jim+Source Says:

    The GOP is pro-gay now? Talk about a flip-flop.

    I thought the culture war was the most important issue facing America. If so, the GOP just cut and ran.


  7. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    I agree. I also think this is more of a gay issue than a pedaphile issue. Foley repeatedly attempted to verify age.

    Comment by Concerned

    wrong, under the NEW Foley caucus the age of consent is 18.
    He knew damn well the kid was not 18. Cmon.


  8. BigCynic.com Says:

    “Afraid of being accused of gay bashing”? As we can see, the Republicans have elevated sophistry to an art form. They could teach bulls a thing or two about bulls**t.


  9. Badmoodman Says:

    I wonder how far back the eyes of Newt’s lesbian half-sister, Candace, rolled back and up into her forehead when she heard that.


  10. AncientPurple Says:

    Gingrich continues to be a parody of himself. Since when is it ever acceptable for an adult to ask a 16-year-old online “What are you wearing?” or “Send me a photo of yourself”?

    But considering that Gingrich thought it was acceptable to give his ex-wife divorce papers while she was in the hospital recovering from surgery, I can’t say I am surprised.


  11. rochelle Says:

    Oh Newt! Thanks for giving perverted pedophiles a new legal defense in your attempt to minimize the actual meaning of ‘gay bashing’. It’s tragic that you failed to protect a minor for fear of becoming even more unpopular in the LGBT community.


  12. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    So now they are agressive, but not too agressive?

    Heck the GOP has been agressively attacking gays for years!!

    Newt is not one to be speaking of morals BTW!
    Gingrich: Do as I Say, Not as I Do
    By Robert Scheer
    Published August 17, 1999 in the Los Angeles Times

    The news that Newt Gingrich is headed for his second messy divorce, allegedly involving a longtime affair with a House of Representatives employee, has been largely ignored by news media that have not always been as sensitive to the privacy needs of major politicians.

    It’s true that Gingrich is no longer in Congress, where he orchestrated the impeachment of the president of the United States over charges rising from Bill Clinton’s sexual dalliances. But Gingrich, through his many public appearances, remains a self-appointed definer of the Republican Revolution, which counted family values at its core. These very values are called into question if the married speaker of the House was having an affair with a much-younger congressional employee who ultimately reported to him.

    Critics of Gingrich have long made much of the insensitivity he demonstrated in serving his first wife with divorce papers while she was in the hospital being treated for cancer. Nor did news of his efforts to cut life insurance coverage for the mother of his children always endear Gingrich to his family values supporters, but it was generally assumed that his marital errors were in the past.

    This time, his approach was less personal. Marianne Gingrich told the Washington Post that she was informed of the affair and the request for a divorce last May in a telephone call from Newt to her mother’s home, where she was visiting.

    After first expressing best wishes to his mother-in-law on her 84th birthday, he asked to speak to his wife, who was soon reduced to tears by Newt’s news.

    “I said, ‘Marianne, what’s wrong?’ ” Gingrich’s mother-in-law told the Washington Post, and she said her daughter replied, “He doesn’t want me as his wife anymore.” According to the Post: “There was a second jolt soon afterward. Newt Gingrich, now 56, informed his wife that he was having an affair with a congressional aide, a woman 23 years his junior.”

    Give it up Newt, Retire, your a hasbeen.


  13. ThinkCensorship Says:

    thomas,

    Acorrding to the DSM-IV, pedophilia is attraction to “prepubescent children.”

    Foley is a homosexual, not a pedophile.


  14. Tom Coffin Says:

    The GOP is utterly shameless. The big question is who else?

    Ken Mehlman? Karl Rove?, etc. ….the same sort of “rumors” have been guarded for them as well. How would an isnside look turn out?

    How can we have respect for anyone who follows this leadership?

    It’s time to crush the GOP.


  15. ThinkCensorship Says:

    thomas, rochelle:

    According to the DSM-IV, pedophilia is defined as an attraction to “prepubescent children.”

    Foley is a homosexual, not a pedophile.


  16. dlet Says:

    They are just throwing shit excuses out there and seeing what sticks. It’ll have to be pretty sticky shit to have this fly by with no damage.


  17. College Progressive Says:

    #4, even if you don’t consider Foley a pedophile, he’s still a sexual predator and a hypocrite. No progressive-minded person really cares whether someone is gay or not, but it’s entirely irresponsible and wrong for a 54 year old U.S. Congressman to pursue 16 year-old pages, male or female.

    Are you saying that a U.S. congressman sending sexually explicit messages to a 16 year old female page would be a non-issue? Please.

    The fact that the pages Foley approached were male simply illustrates the Republican hyprocricy over homosexuality. Through all this self-righteous bullshit about how sinful homosexuality is, elected Republicans have been the most plagued by this type of scandal. They’ve also covered it up and the Radical Right has been eerily silent so far.


  18. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    I mean, the original notes had no sexual innuendo and the parents did not want any action taken. -Newt

    Cmon Newt you guys are always talking about the Man-Boy love association [NMBLA] and how evil it is? Now your for it?

    Nice try Newt. Go Away.


  19. Marie Says:

    There is so much wrong with the GOP and its twisted perversion of truth it would be hysterically funni if it were not so serious.
    Since when are Republiscum defenders of homosexuals?
    This is not a homosexual issue - this is about pedophilia.
    Consenting adults is one thing that this is not.
    Gingrich is a man of no morals, no honesty, and he is the last one to pontificate on sex considering his own history.


  20. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Getting a divorce is like being a homosexual? huh?


  21. CLK Says:

    Sorry Newt,
    your skill at reframing issues does not fly in this case, and you know it.

    Consenting adults cannot include a minor/child.
    Age is the dividing line.
    A minor/child CANNOT GIVE CONSENT.
    The age of the boys makes Foley’s actions a crime.

    Gay or Straight, involving a minor/child in sexual words or action is a crime, as well it should be.


  22. osage Says:

    Everytime a Bush Republican makes a shameful attempt at defending Mark Foley, a Conservative Republican decides to sit the November 7th election out. It’s hard for those who have no scruples to understand how much they turn the stomachs of people who innately know the difference between right and wrong and good and evil.


  23. Jim+Source Says:

    Let’s get the talking points right, people. It’s not pedophilia, it’s not homosexuality, it’s a fragile, budding May-December romance.


  24. Badmoodman Says:

    #15: “Foley is a homosexual, not a pedophile.” - - Riiiight. Foley is SO principled that he purposely avoids contact with boys under adult age but does look at them as “future draft choices.” Amazing that anyone would try and defend Foley’s actions.


  25. concerned Says:

    No charges, no crime. The boy was 16? And 16 is the legal age where the boy lives? I know congress just threw away Habeas Corpus and all but really.


  26. David Says:

    Does Newt really think the gay community condones what this jerk did? Most of us wouldn’t accuse them of gay bashing we’d help them get the pervert removed from office. Let’s face they just asked a couple of quick questions the first time around so they could say they looked into and then push it under the rug. ABC asked three or four questions and hit pay dirt, no one is calling that gay bashing. Newt and company need to stop blaming the GLBT community and the hispanic community for everything and take responsibility for there own inepitude.


  27. El+Tonno Says:

    So in what kind of universe would trying to get to the bottom of those “relatively innocuous, nothing sexual” notes possibly lead to accusations of “gay bashing”?


  28. Midnight+Rambler Says:

    Foley is a homosexual, not a pedophile.

    Comment by ThinkCensorship===============================
    Foley is a sexual predator. Being gay has nothing to do with preying on underage boys. His behaviour is indefensible and trying to excuse it by saying he is not properly defined is inexcusable.


  29. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Badmoodman,

    No one defended Foley’s actions, liar.


  30. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    FOLEYS CAUCUS RAISED THE AGE TO 18!

    The guy is a sexual predator!

    READ IT!

    Getting a divorce is like being a homosexual? huh?

    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    Yes, family values and morals, remember your talking points!

    And Clenis!!


  31. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Gery Studds has a sexual relationship with a minor; Democrats reelected him. Foley resigned immediately. That is the difference.


  32. Zooey Says:

    I know congress just threw away Habeas Corpus and all but really.
    Comment by concerned

    On the money, concerned. This scandal makes the Repubs look bad, but they are using it to distract from the real crap going on in this country.

    Please TP, some threads on the interrogations bill?


  33. pgl Says:

    On the one hand, Newt says there was nothing sexual in the first round of information, but when he was asked how would it have been “gay bashing”, he says it was “a male-male relationship”. So did they know there was sex or did they not know? BTW - this relationship involved an older man and a teenage boy. Was Newt drunk when it appeared on Faux News?


  34. Badmoodman Says:

    ThinkSenseless:“Badmoodman,

    No one defended Foley’s actions, liar.” - - LOLOL


  35. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Read Foleys caucus and you will see using the internet [email] as a sexual predator is 18, not the local age of consent.

    Bwahahahahhaha FOLEY Hamstrung himself.

    Thinkcensorship,do you get paid to post such damage control drivel?

    I saw this same crap on Kevin Drums blog.


  36. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Dog,

    I posted a fact from the DSM. You think facts are “drivel”. Enough said.


  37. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    10 million to investigate clinton and consenual sex and nothing to investigate Foley the Predator?

    HYPOCRITES!!!


  38. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Clinton’s sex with Juanita Broadrick was not consensual.


  39. Juan+C Says:

    Why do pages hate America?


  40. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    I posted a fact from the DSM. You think facts are “drivel”. Enough said.

    Comment by ThinkCensorshi

    The fact is you should read Foleys caucus, before you continue your apologetics for the deraanged predator.

    And yes, your here posting your damage control DRIVEL.


  41. Zooey Says:

    ThinkCensorship is the same kind of troll who has been here lately, who, no matter what anyone says, they just keep repeating themselves. Remember the idiot with the “anti-semitic” meme? Same thing.


  42. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Clinton’s sex with Juanita Broadrick was not consensual


  43. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    hmm Jason Kello….media contact for Foley…


  44. Zooey Says:

    Clinton’s sex with Juanita Broadrick was not consensual.
    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    Then Juanita ought to get herself a lawyer, if the statute of limitations haven’t run.


  45. s Says:

    Any decent person should be outraged and nauseated by this fat, spoiled immoral man ( Gingrich) and his party. I have no words….

    The GOP is a blight on this country. It will take the victim stance in every single situation no matter how much twisting, lying, and bad it takes. Had enough?


  46. ThinkCensorship Says:

    I have said nothing that could be construed by any reasonable person as a defense of Foley. Dog+Doo is either a liar, an illiterate, or a moron.


  47. unbelievable Says:

    Except that Foley wasn’t an admitted homosexual, so how would it be gay bashing?

    Ridiculous as ever Newt. It is your party that wants to ban gay marriage, and force gays to be celebate. Try looking in the mirror before you accuse others of being a big fat hypocritical bigot…


  48. Tigris+Lily Says:

    And of course no one in the Republican leadership has ever engaged in”gay bashing” have they? So, can we assume that had this been a 16 year old girl, Foley would have been kicked out of Congress months ago? I don’t think so.


  49. RealScientist Says:

    Is this really the best excuse Fox/GOP can come up with? Lame.


  50. ThinkCensorship Says:

    So according to Zoophile, if the statute of limitations has expired, that’s all that matters. Sicko.


  51. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    back to Clenis are we thinkcensorship?

    Good.

    * Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

    * Republican Mayor Tom Adams was arrested for distributing child pornography over the internet.

    * Republican Mayor John Gosek was arrested on charges of soliciting sex from two 15-year old girls.

    * Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

    * Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

    * Republican Committeeman John R. Curtain was charged with molesting a teenage boy and unlawful sexual contact with a minor.

    jajajjaajaaa thinkcensorship!!
    Quit while your behind already!!


  52. Shin Gallon Says:

    Thanks, Foley, for helping perpetuate the incorrect negative stereotype about gay people being pedophiles. It’s not hard enough trying to combat the wave of misinformation about that lie about us (us as in gay people in general, not you and I, Foley), no, you have to go and exemplify the damn stereotype.
    Way to give homophobes some free ammunition, idiot.


  53. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Dog+Doo,

    So a few Republicans have committed crimes, which no one denies. Many Democrats have committed similar crimes. So what is your point?

    Foley resigned, Democrats reelected Studds. QED


  54. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    have said nothing that could be construed by any reasonable person as a defense of Foley. Dog+Doo is either a liar, an illiterate, or a moron.

    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    Yeh right. When you started with your clinton claptrap you exposed yourself.

    And now that you have regressed into third grade name calling..

    HAHHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!


  55. Juan+C Says:

    Dog+Doo is either a liar, an illiterate, or a moron.
    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    TRy GWB instead of Dog+Doo and the sentence has meaning.


  56. Zooey Says:

    ThinkCensorship,

    Since you’re so fond of calling me “Zoophile,” maybe you could share with all the kids exactly what it is you’re calling me.

    You have a lot of nerve calling me a sicko.


  57. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Shin Gallon,

    According to the DSM-IV, pedophilia is attraction to “prepubescent children.” Stop lying.

    Foley is a homosexual, not a pedophile.


  58. Anonymous+Dem Says:

    It’s the corruption, stupid

    One of the keys to winning the upcoming Fall ‘06 election is to show the electorate that the Republican party is fundamentally corrupt to the core. Nobody wants corrupt government. And Republicans set the anti-corruption bar themselves back in 1994. The truth is that Republicans rode into power with their Contract With America. They set the standard. And they aren’t living by it, to say the least.

    As we sink into Republican congressional resignations over pedophilia, the Republican corruption gets worse and worse. All this Republican corruption and what do they do? What do our captains of the ship do? Blame the iceberg again.

    Republicans are supposed to be leading this Nation. Let’s not let America forget that. That’s what Republicans promised they would do when they ran for office. Lead. And I also seem to remember a lot of criticism of Democrats for being immoral, and a promise to bring a new conscience to Washington, D.C. That contract with America again. Or am I mistaken? Did Republicans run on the platform which says “we’ll be corrupt and immoral and then try to justify our conduct by lamely claiming everybody does it”? Because that’s what it seems like to me now.

    Where is the Republican responsibility? Where is the accountability? Where is the leadership?

    Let’s remember the contract with America that Republicans promised us in return for their votes:

    On the first day of their majority in 1994, the Republicans promised to hold floor votes on eight reforms of government operations:
    • require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply to Congress;
    • select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste, fraud or abuse;
    • cut the number of House committees, and cut committee staff by one-third;
    • limit the terms of all committee chairs;
    • ban the casting of proxy votes in committee;
    • require committee meetings to be open to the public;
    • require a three-fifths majority vote to pass a tax increase;
    • and implement a zero base-line budgeting process for the annual Federal Budget.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Contract_with_America#Content_of_the_Contract

    Republicans are not delivering. This is not the contract they promised us. Except for a brief flurry of activity when they introduced their contract in 1994, Republicans are, have been, and appear like they always will be in MATERIAL BREACH OF THEIR SO CALLED CONTRACT WITH AMERICA.

    Let’s review again for our Republican friends how incredibly dishonest Republican Administrations have been starting with Nixon through today. And we’re not just talking lies, we’re talking felonies. Lot’s of them. I think hopefully there’s one thing we can all agree on – this is highly inappropriate and unacceptable. Felonies cross the line. Here’s the Republican rap sheet, followed by the record of Democratic Administrations (hint- there is no rap sheet because there is not one conviction since Nixon despite Republican witch hunts):

    Nixon was the epitome of a crook caught red handed (please try to deny it, please do my good Republican friends), followed by his VP crony Ford who amazingly gave Nixon a complete free pass to America’s great dismay, followed by a record busting 29 convicted criminals in the Reagan Administration, followed by Bush I giving the Secretary of Defense under Reagan and no less than five other Reagan officials ensnared in the arms to Iran scandal another complete free pass to avoid getting caught himself (sworn testimony from Cap and crew shows that despite bogus denials Bush I knew all about Iran-Contra), followed by W. whose White House Procurement Officer has already gone from the White House to the Big House due to getting wrapped up with none other than Abramoff - the biggest scandal guy since Nixon.

    And let’s look at Republicans in Congress today. It’s another huge MATERIAL BREACH of Republicans’ bogus promises. Republicans have swung so far into the sewer that these people who we entrusted with our votes, our money and our lives to be our REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS HAVE TURNED INTO LAWBREAKERS.

    Starting at the top, Republican leader and Speaker of the House Tom “The Hammer” Delay had to resign in disgrace and is on trial for his political life claiming the prosecutor is partisan against him even though the prosecutor has gone after more Democrats than Republicans (something’s not clicking here . . .) Top Republican Bob “The Velvet Hammer” Ney (notice the pattern of criminal gangster names – would be funny if it weren’t so apt) — another Abramoff pal — admits to being a dirty guilty felon politician and that all his prior bogus denials and blaming liberals and the media and blah blah blah for his own big “persecution” were just that.

    And we all know what happened to Republican “Duke” Cunningham, whose multiple felonies in taking millions of dollars of bribes even W. admitted were “outrageous.”

    And the leader of the Senate, the Republican Senate Majority Leader and multi-multi millionaire Bill Frist is under investigation by the SEC and other authorities for insider trading in dumping his family stock to get even more money right before bad insider news broke and otherwise has a terrible record for honesty (happy to get into it if you want to).

    And that’s just the start. To avoid a bad sentence, Republican ringleader of the massive K-Street scandal (yup, it takes a whole block of Republican lobbyists), Abramoff is ratting out lots more Republican pols.

    And this is not to mention “Scooter” Libby who has been indicted and will stand trial for obstructing justice.

    Or that little abhorrent thing that our “moral” “law abiding” Republicans don’t seem to be too concerned about — PEDOPHILIA! Look at the PEDOPHILE Mark Foley who just resigned in disgrace after being caught red handed in doing things that are too disgusting to repeat here. And this guy Foley was sitting on committees responsible for dealing with child issues. And what about our new crop of Republican leadership in Congress? What did they do? They saw the warning signs. And they hid them. What about Rodney Alexander (it was his page not to protect) and those senior leaders who learned of the indicators of Foley’s pedophilia? What did they do? Coverup. This fine new “leadership” includes Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and senior congressmen John Boehner and Tom Reynolds.

    This is not to mention those other Republicans in Congress under a serious corruption cloud like Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Alan Mollohan (D-WV), as well as Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT). In fact, out of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress, only 3 are Democrats! http://citizensforethics.org/ press/ newsrelease.php?view=156. Yup, no less than 85% of the corrupt scum in Congress are Republican. When you hear 4 out of 5 dentists recommend brushing with fluoride, and you think that’s the overwhelming majority, Republicans have the dentists beat hands down on corruption with no less than 4.5 out of 5 of the most corrupt politicians in Congress being Republican.

    And this doesn’t even get at the Republican Administration’s illegal wiretapping or torture. They didn’t like the laws so they secretly broke them. Then they got caught so what did they do? What else. Rewrite them. Let’s review: secretly break the law, get caught, deny you broke the law while at the same time desperately trying to rewrite it. Twice. With in not getting warrants to spy on Americans and in ordering widespread torture. Hmmmm.

    If these Republicans were in business there would be a real investigation and they would all be fired by now. Shareholders don’t have the patience of the Republican electorate. And by the time these Republicans get through with us we will be morally bankrupt in addition to being financially bankrupt.

    In the meantime let’s look at the top Democrats, the Democratic Presidents from Nixon to today. Say what you want about the man’s effectiveness, but Carter was, is and always will be . . . well let me say something understated that even the extremist Bush Republicans will have a hard time arguing with . . . not a President who broke the law. Clinton was persecuted to the point of impeachment by a Republican controlled House of Representatives over blow jobs — only to be . . . again let me say something understated even the Bush Republicans will have a hard time arguing with . . . surprise! . . . not convicted. Yes it’s innocent until proven guilty for the Republicans of course, if you’re innocent like Karl “The Architect” Rove.

    You want more criminals in office? Vote Republican. It’s in the bag.

    And let’s not let America forget it. Over and over and over.


  59. Shin Gallon Says:

    Way to give homophobes more ammo to use against us by perpetuating the incorrect negative stereotype of all gay people being pedophiles, Foley, you great git.
    I’d like to formally apologize on behalf of all gay people for some of us being horrible perverts.


  60. Paul Jackson Says:

    I’d like to see these “original notes”. Just how explicit were the ones that the house leadership was aware of?

    These people are so slimey it’s disgusting.


  61. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Democrats relected Studds, Foley resigned. That’s the difference.


  62. Shin+Gallon Says:

    RE: 59.
    Lying? What the hell are you talking about? I know what the definition of “pedophile” is, idiot.


  63. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Foley is a homosexual, not a pedophile.

    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    A homosexual that seeks young kids, thats a sexual predator, thats an illness, thats a sicko, thats a card carrying member of the NMBLA!

    FOLEY= National Man-Boy Love Association predator sicko!


  64. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Shin,

    “I know what the definition of “pedophile”…”

    So then you know you’re using the term incorrectly, i.e. you’re purposely lying. Thanks for the frank admission.


  65. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Democrats relected Studds, Foley resigned. That’s the difference.

    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    Yesterday you were calling him ’stubbs’ lmao!!


  66. Zooey Says:

    Shin Gallon,

    I’m afraid you are right that Foley has re-opened the door to the false sterotype of gay people being after our children.

    A sick little bonus to his party, from the self-hating gay man, Foley.


  67. Chauncey+Gardner Says:

    I guess they censor or edit out comments here.
    Oh well, back to Eschaton.


  68. ThinkCensorship Says:

    #68, prove it, liar.


  69. freedom hater Says:

    Its pretty sick that the repubs are defending predatory homosexual pedophiles


  70. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Dog+Poo,

    “A homosexual that seeks young kids, thats a sexual predator, thats an illness, thats a sicko, thats a card carrying member of the NMBLA!”

    So presumably if the kid was 18, then Democrats would be A-OK with Foley, correct?

    And your refusal to condemn Studds is noted as well.


  71. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Democrats relected Studds, Foley resigned. That’s the difference.

    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    LMAO!!! What ODD LOGIC!

    BTW I’m not a democrat, we are Secular Progressives, didn’t you get the memo?


  72. headybrew.net Says:

    re: 59.

    16 years old my not be “pre-pubescent” physically, but it is psycologically and that’s the standard set by our society and by our laws.

    You can argue that he’s not a pedophile by the the DSM’s strict diagnostic guidelines. But you can’t argue that he’s not HARMFULL by the standards of our society, or that he’s not a CRIMINAL by the standards of our laws.


  73. ThinkCensorship Says:

    “Its pretty sick that the repubs are defending predatory homosexual pedophiles”

    No Republican is defending Foley, liar.

    Studds was reelected by Democrats, Foley resigned. That is the difference.


  74. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    71,

    I saw your exact same apologetic reasoning on kevin drums blog.

    duhh


  75. aguafiero Says:

    Whatever he ( Foley) may be clinicaly diagnosed as is irrelevant with regards to him being suitable as a public servant.
    When anyone is false, as in pretending to be one thing when in reality is another, renders that person unfit for public service as an elected representative of the people who have elected him or her.


  76. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Watch poor illiterate Dog+Poo be unable to explain this:
    “What ODD LOGIC!”


  77. Badmoodman Says:

    ThinkCensor: “#68, prove it, liar.” - - Any moment now TC will break into a chorus of, “Liar, liar, pants on fire…”


  78. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Studds was reelected by Democrats, Foley resigned. That is the difference.

    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    So why hasnt NEY resigned?

    Your difference makes no difference, I am not a Democrat!!

    LMAO!!


  79. ThinkCensorship Says:

    “16 years old my not be “pre-pubescent” physically, but it is psycologically…”

    LOL What nonsense.


  80. Zooey Says:

    Gary Studds retired from congress in 1997, and lives a quiet life with his husband.

    No one covered up for him, the way the Repubs covered for Foley.


  81. Shin+Gallon Says:

    Shin,

    “I know what the definition of “pedophile”…”

    So then you know you’re using the term incorrectly, i.e. you’re purposely lying. Thanks for the frank admission.

    In what manner did I use the term incorrctly? What Bizzaro-English rules are you trying to apply here? Are you high, or merely stupid?


  82. richb Says:

    I loathe Gringrich as a spokesperson.

    richb


  83. Spudge_Boy Says:

    So presumably if the kid was 18, then Democrats would be A-OK with Foley, correct?

    Yep, then Foley would just be a homosexual, not a sex offender.


  84. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    I’m illiterate yet I’m here typing and reading your Foley apologetics. Yeh your a genius.


  85. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.


  86. jurassicpork Says:

    OMFG, what a swollen penis this guy is. Can’t we shut him up by an Act of Congress?

    Elsewhere, Frank Rich asks, “So You Call This Breaking News?

    I just got back home, so better late than never, I guess.


  87. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Zoophile:

    “No one covered up for him [Studds]”

    He was reelected by Democrats several times. LOL

    aguafiero:

    “Whatever he ( Foley) may be clinicaly diagnosed as is irrelevant with regards to him being suitable as a public servant.”

    Agreed.


  88. Zooey Says:

    Are you high, or merely stupid?
    Comment by Shin+Gallon

    Can we get a vote here?

    High - 0
    Stupid - 1


  89. ruskindoc Says:

    HAHAHAHAHAHA! Now that’s a good one! Since when is the ‘gay bashing GOP” AT ALL concerned about “gay bashing”? ahahahahahahah! They’re not only jokesters but fools as well. People remember…..people remember….people remember…..thank goodness!


  90. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Shin Gallon:

    “In what manner did I use the term incorrctly? What Bizzaro-English rules are you trying to apply here? Are you high, or merely stupid?”

    I’m applying the DSM-IV, as I said more than once. Are you illiterate as well as dishonest?


  91. Wayne Says:

    There is no excuse for what Foley has done, no excuse for the Repug leadership covering it up and no excuse for any troll trying to make excuses for them .

    All have shown what kind of low, scumbag pieces of crap they are trying to excuse and coverup this pedophile.

    Thinkcensorship, you are beyond being the lowest scum ever.
    Maybe you send little boys email as well, since you seem tothinknothingis wrong with it.


  92. Zooey Says:

    ThinkCensorship,

    Since you’re so fond of calling me “Zoophile,” maybe you could share with all the kids exactly what it is you’re calling me.

    Re-election several is not a cover up.


  93. ruskindoc Says:

    This GOP is certifiably NUTS now! They must be so desperate that they are willing to make absolute jackasses of themselves when there’s nothing left to “spin”….. let’s see….you couldn’t investigate a “known perv” because he happens to be gay? What kind of legal system are they operating under? Certainly not US law!


  94. Zooey Says:

    #94 - correction

    Re-election several [times] is not a cover up.


  95. ruskindoc Says:

    Maybe Gingrich has some predatory skeletons in his own closet? It certainly seems like he’s got some “personal” interest in all of this, doesn’t it? Maybe he needs to be checked out.


  96. Jay Randal Says:

    Gingrich is a sly fox, but this issue is NOT about Foley being Gay, but it is about him being a sexual predator and pervert trolling for underage boys!


  97. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Wayne,

    We have as much evidence, according to the DSM-IV, that you are a pedophile as we have that Foley is. There’s no evidence that Foley did anything related to any prepubescent child (the DSM standard).


  98. ruskindoc Says:

    Also, I’ve seen the IM messaging between Foley and the child and they were far from “inocuous”. What will the GOP now say….that they didn’t see “the original transcript”? Hell, half of the world has seen it by now - who are they kidding?


  99. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.

    Lets talk about the ‘difference’, huh?

    In 1983, after a yearlong investigation by the House Ethics Committee, Crane was found to have engaged in an illicit sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl working as a congressional page. When the question of whether the House should expel, censure or merely reprimand Crane reached the floor, Hyde popped up to beg mercy for his friend.

    Crane deserved mercy, Hyde explained, because he already had suffered enough. “He is embarrassed, he is humiliated, he is disgraced. And it endures; The House voted to censure Crane rather than expel him.

    The difference is,,???

    studds vs crane

    JAJAJAJJAAAAA!!

    So much for your studds argument, and your ODD LOGIC.


  100. ScrewBush Says:

    Hypothetical here:

    Video tape surfaces of President Bush having sex with both of his daughters on the White House lawn.

    Right wing response: “You have to understand, what we’re seeing here is a loving father performing a medical procedure, as documented by the leader of the United States Senate, himself a noted doctor, and doing that in obvioius pain to himself, but being a Man-of-God, this is just a father going the extra mile for his children…”

    I’m a getting warm?


  101. OxyCon Says:

    Isn’t is a bit odd how Fox News uses such a terrible human example of sexual fidelity, such as Newt Gingrich, as a character witness for a GOPervert Pedophile?
    Do you think any of the Kool Aid Fox Viewers noticed this fact?


  102. ruskindoc Says:

    SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN….NOTHING IS GOING TO SPIN OVERT PEDOPHILIA IN THE MINDS OF PARENTS - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. THE GOP IS TOTALLY ‘COOKED’ NOW.

    NOW IT’S CLEAR THAT WE NOT ONLY HAVE TO “FIGHT THE CRIMINALS IN IRAQ AND WE ALSO HAVE TO FIGHT OUR OWN ELECTED PERVERTS WHO ARE ENTERING THE BEDROOMS OF OUR CHILDREN AND MOLESTING THEM RIGHT IN OUR OWN HOMES”…..WHAT A CAMPGIAN SLOGAN!


  103. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Crane did not resign did he thinkcensorship?

    Your Studds logic aint gonna fly.

    As far as your ‘DSM’ logic goes…hahahhahahaaa!


  104. Shin+Gallon Says:

    Oho, I see now…I used a more common meaning for “pedophile” than the strict MI usage, so that equates to me being dishonest and illiterate. Sophistry at it’s finest, in the grand Republican tradition.
    Whatever. Have fun defending thieves and liars, buddy.


  105. aguafiero Says:

    #89…
    Do you also agree with the second sentence of my post? (#78)


  106. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Both Crane and Studds were repremanded by the House.

    Studds was reelected by Democrats, Crane was not reelected. You were saying?


  107. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    * Republican Judge Ronald C. Kline was placed under house arrest for child molestation and possession of child pornography.

    * Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.


  108. ruskindoc Says:

    And when the trolls have to resort to “semantics” and “proper usage of terms”, they also know they’re “cooked”. …You say potato and I say po-tat-a….you say tomato and I say tomata…potato/potata - tomato-tomata…it’s all so Republican to me! trallalalalala


  109. Jason+M.+Hendler Says:

    Aaaaahhhhhh,

    No more Katrina …

    No more Darfur …

    No more “two America’s” poverty speeches …

    Just Republicans and Republican wannabe’s

    Bwah hah hah hah hah haaaaaaaaa ….


  110. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Shin,

    Yes, making up your own definitions is dishonest.

    aguafiero:

    Your second paragraph would eliminate every member of Congress.


  111. Zooey Says:

    You are right, ruskindoc.

    Trolls — Dismissed.


  112. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    * Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.

    Robert Bauman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bauman
    Bauman is perhaps most famous for his well-publicized fall from political grace. Bauman had established a reputation as a strong conservative, often bemoaning the perceived moral decay in the United States. He was a founding member of several conservative activist groups, including Young Americans for Freedom and the American Conservative Union and received a perfect 100 on the Christian Voice Morality Rating.[1] A devout Catholic, he was married to Carol Dawson, a fellow founding member of YAF, and they had four children.

    Moral Majority? What a joke.


  113. Uncle_Ho Says:

    “Accused of gay bashing”? The GOP prodded by the American Taliban(Falwell, Robertson, & Dobson), has raised gay-bashing into an art form, part of their “moral values platform. Sheeeesh, you could fertilize the Sinai with this republican bs.


  114. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Dog+Poo will not list any Democrats who have been convicted, proving his own double standard. Thanks Poo.


  115. ruskindoc Says:

    How can you tell when a troll is posting on a thread?

    Because he’s “so Republican”…..hahahahah!

    G=Greatest
    O=Opportunist
    P=Pedophiles


  116. WaltTheMan Says:

    ThinkCensorship,
    If any of my sons had been subjected to what Foley’s victims had been subjected to by this pervert, I would have given Foley the ability to perform a blow job on himself - I have one of those ultra-sharp Japanese Samurai swords (A token from my Asian trip courtesy of Uncle Sam from 1963 to 1965). Fortunately, for Foley, all of my sons are in their thirties.


  117. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Dog+Poo will not list any Democrats who have been convicted, proving his own double standard. Thanks Poo.

    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    for the third time, I am not a democrat!! LMAO!!!

    ERGO, Genius, It cannot be a double standard!!

    JAJAJJAJAAAAAA!!


  118. ruskindoc Says:

    Isn’t it comical for the GOP to be worried about “gay bashing” when they’re precisely the ones who have become “experts” at it? I guess the ugly mirror is up for them and they are seeing themselves for who they truly are - finally!


  119. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.


  120. aguafiero Says:

    #112….
    thank you, my point exactly!
    So, where do we begin, hmmm?
    Aren’t we forgetting the other two branches of government?
    And let’s start at the very very tippy top and work our way down, shall we?, it may give some of the more petty apprentices time to straighten up……
    And, party affiliation will no longer matter if we apply this simple yardstick to prospective public servants.


  121. Klaus Says:

    I guess Gingrich falls under the Hume standard too.


  122. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Hey thinkcensorship I am a true conservative, I am only trying to help educate the Neo-Cons!!


  123. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Dog+Poo,

    “I am not a democrat!! LMAO!!!

    ERGO, Genius, It cannot be a double standard!!”

    That makes no sense at all.

    You are demonstrating a different standard for Democrats than for Republicans. Whether you belong to either group is irrelevant.


  124. ruskindoc Says:

    Just like when we send our children to school, these parents sent their kids to Washington to view our elected “role models” and this is what goes on?

    I believe that this is just the tip of the Pedophile-gate and an iceberg that will swallow many, many more in high places when the kids begin to speak.

    Didn’t I read that this young man had been “warned” by his classmates about Foley’s “hitting on them” before he went there? Obviously, Foley has a lengthy history of this behavior??


  125. Dave+von+Ebers Says:

    This is all part of a well orchestrated plan. Foley’s out, so there’s no saving his career or his seat. Gingrich purposefully tried to link Foley’s actions - that is, in appropriate sexual advances to a minor, whether it meets the DSM-IV definition of “pedophilia” or not - to homosexuality. Sure, Foley’s gay (or bi, I suppose), but every one knows that the offense is going after someone who’s underage. But Gingrich and other right wingers want to convince people that gay men are more likely to go after underage boys.

    Shameful, plain and simple.


  126. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    and BTW thinkcensorship, I am a Christian and I do believe in GOD, and I’m just helping to open the eyes of other good Christians who are being tarnished by the likes of these GOP perverts and pedophiles!!

    I am doing GODS work!!


  127. ruskindoc Says:

    And to the trolls above, if “education” means learning how to molest minors, take your drivel elsewhere! and fast!


  128. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    THE GOP is TARNISHING THE NAME OF GOOD CHRISTIANS!!!


  129. carolyn Says:

    so why didn’t they contact other pages? They would have found the IMs.
    The pages said they were warned about Foley. It was apparently well known and givien the content of the IMs it would have been hard for Foley to conceal it. Those young men certainly got the message from him.


  130. rochelle Says:

    Pedophilia is defined as the act or fantasy on the part of an adult of engaging in sexual activity with a child or children

    In the US, 18 is the age of full citizenship aka adult status. Your attempt to engage in semantics does nothing to change the fact that Foley, a 53 year old man engaged in sexually explicit emails with someone under the age of 18. Pedophile or Pervert - whatever you want to call him – the whole incident is disgusting.


  131. ThinkCensorship Says:

    Klaus, unlike accused rapist bill Clinton, Gingrich - a) was not accused of lying uder oath, and b) resigned.

    So what is your point?


  132. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    You are demonstrating a different standard for Democrats than for Republicans. Whether you belong to either group is irrelevant.

    Comment by ThinkCensorship

    change that goalpost!!

    Keep helping to tarnish Jesus for your party!!


  133. S.D. Says:

    (sigh)
    Being a Gay is far different then being a Pedophile


  134. ruskindoc Says:

    And, in case you haven’t noticed, this thread is not about “censorship”. It’s about bringing to justice predators who have injured our children!


  135. trueblue Says:

    My what an increasingly unhinged troll we have here.

    I see 16 year old boys AND girls everyday at the High School.
    They are children. Their hormones may be popping because of evolution, but not a one of them is in any way sexually desirable to me.
    I am an adult. I desire adult companionship.

    Foley is sick. Period.


  136. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    I am posting facts thinkcensorship, not standards.

    You can find your own facts to post.


  137. ruskindoc Says:

    Right on Rochelle! Thanks for the clarification. This is “precisely” what’s occurred here. No argument about semantics will alter that. The trolls need to take their “censorship arguments” elsewhere. They’re trying to hijack the thread and we’re not going to allow it.


  138. dlet Says:

    TC,
    WHen you find a similar situation with a Dem making advances to an underage boy and the Dem leadership knows about it and does absolutely nothing even though it is quite possibly a crime and they elicit $100,000 from their own little pervert for their campaigns then lets compare. Your “Dems did it too” arguement is about as empty as W’s head.


  139. Zooey Says:

    Hi true,

    How’s Miniblue?


  140. ThinkCensorship Says:

    We have equal evidence that ruskindoc engaged in inappropriate conduct with a prepubescent child as we do against Foley.

    rochelle,

    Using the proper definitions for words is not “semantics.”


  141. ruskindoc Says:

    Who cares if Foley is gay or straight? That’s a moot point. Pedophilia is pedophilia - period!


  142. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    Bauman was arrested in October of 1980 for attempting to solicit sex from a 16-year old male prostitute, contributing to his electoral defeat one month later. As he related in his autobiography, The Gentleman from Maryland (1986), he had led a secret double life for years. The resulting stress eventually caused him to become an alcoholic. Bauman was renominated in 1982,

    The difference is the Democr..er Republicans renominated Studds …er Crane


  143. ruskindoc Says:

    nice try, troll!


  144. Zooey Says:

    They’re trying to hijack the thread and we’re not going to allow it.
    Comment by ruskindoc

    Apparently we are.

    Just sayin’


  145. trueblue Says:

    Hi.

    Well enough to go to school tomorrow.
    Thanks for asking.

    :)


  146. Dog+named+Boo Says:

    I’m gonna go now, my face hurts from laughing at Jason Hend..err thinkcensorship.


  147. ruskindoc Says:

    Troll attempts to hijack the thread….don’t feed the paid trolls!


  148. ruskindoc Says:

    ROFL, trolls! hahahahahah!


  149. trueblue Says:

    Troll attempts to hijack the thread….don’t feed the paid trolls!
    Comment by ruskindoc

    Can you imagine what the general feeling is at the White House today? After Woodward, Foley, Intelligence Reports - all in one week?!


  150. Jim+Source Says:

    The GOP seems to fundamentally misunderstand its base (and most Americans) on this issue. Soccer moms and helicopter parents (the intensely involved parents who hover over their kids, even after they head off to college) are extremely protective of their children and extremely tuned in to the issue of the sexual exploitation of minors. They do not like the idea of their 16-year-old sons being subjected to pestering by horny adult men (of any political party).

    Telling them that unsolicited “overly friendly” emails from congressmen to their sons are “relatively innocuous” and that there’s “nothing sexual” about a 52-year-old man collecting photos of teenage boys isn’t going to fly. Regardless of the clinical definition of childhood and puberty, most Americans do not consider their minor children fair game for sexual advances from adult men. Ask the average church member if an adult man who likes 16-year-old boys is a pedophile and she won’t consult a diagnostic manual, she’ll open her Bible.

    Telling people that Democrats have done worse doesn’t give the GOP a free pass on this. Liberals have been so thoroughly demonized by the GOP, people won’t exactly be comforted to learn that the congressional leadership uses them as a yardstick for their own behavior. Their base isn’t into moral relativism.

    By the way, Gingrich’s head seems a lot smaller than it used to be. Slow leak?


  151. Zooey Says:

    Can you imagine what the general feeling is at the White House today? After Woodward, Foley, Intelligence Reports - all in one week?!
    Comment by trueblue

    I think that’s why there were no trolls yesterday — they were getting their talking points for today from Unka Karl.


  152. Bluestocking Says:

    Are you kidding me?!? What total, utter crap. This has to be one of the lamest, flimsiest, and most pathetically feeble excuses I’ve ever heard. Foley’s resignation and censure has virtually nothing to do with the fact that these electronic exchanges (e-mail and instant message) involved people of the same sex. It has everything to do with the fact that at least one of the participants was a MINOR who did not invite these overtures, did not encourage them, and considered them inappropriate. If I’m not mistaken, in the private sector, the mere fact that the object of such overtures considers them inappropriate and/or offensive can be sufficient grounds for a harassment suit — sexual or otherwise.

    There’s some debate, I know, as to whether the recipient of the e-mail messages was past the age of consent or not — but this is something of a moot point anyway, since the fact remains that the recipient of the e-mail messages found them disturbing and offensive enough to show them to a Capitol Hill staffer and describe them as “sick”. That hardly sounds like someone who’s really a willing and consenting participant, does it? The fact also remains that although the age of consent in DC is 16, the age of consent in Florida (Foley’s state) is 18 — and it seems a bit too laissez-faire and disingenuous, not to mention convenient, to claim that what Foley did wasn’t wrong if he was in DC at the time when it would have been wrong if he was in Florida. Foley’s position as the Co-Chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children’s Caucus also adds fuel to the issue — he’s supposed to be stopping people who take advantage of children, not imitating them.

    Gingrich’s excuse might hold a drop or two of water (and only a drop at best) if there weren’t any openly gay members of Congress or if this were prohibited — but there are, and it isn’t. There was nothing explicit in the e-mail messages which originally broke the story, that’s true — but notice that Gingrich only mentions those and not the instant messages to another anonymous page, which were what really served to nail Foley’s political coffin shut.


  153. Jay Randal Says:

    Gingrich is basically Gay bashing by claiming this was just male on male action > he fails to clarify that a 53 year old male was going after a 16 year old underage boy! This is Karl Rove’s spin for the GOP: Foley is a closeted homosexual, who hid his sexuality from his party, and was just trying to have consenual sex with another male. Do NOT allow that spin to take hold in the press, because the real fact is that Foley is a sexual predator soliciting underage boys for sex!


  154. trueblue Says:

    Zooey,
    I can just see TC, furiously typing at it’s computer to the sound of a whip cracking!
    That Karl is one tough cookie!


  155. Nat Says:

    I thought gay bashing was the GOP strategy to get out the knuckle draggers.


  156. unitynow Says:

    Obviously, the administration is in a tailspin and understandably so. That’s what occurs when the first lie is covered by a second lie, etc. and the layering process begins. I suspect that it may be a full two years of daily regurgitation of facts proven false, timelines intentionally skewed, and various and sundry skeletons popping out of many GOP closets. Just saw on another site that Rove’s office apparently is being re-investigated for lying about Abrahamoff contacts….what else is new? I think we all expected that?!

    I do concur with the previous post, however, that, regardless of political affiliation, what Foley did was improper and potentially criminal and will impeact the quite understandably protective parents of underage children and definitely will be reflected in how they vote in November and in ‘08. People, especially parents where children are involved, do not “forget”.

    It’s beginning to shape up as a truly “surprising october” - which I suspect is something less than the GOP termed their “october surprise”.


  157. trueblue Says:

    By the way, Gingrich’s head seems a lot smaller than it used to be. Slow leak?

    Comment by Jim+Source

    … good one! :)


  158. unitynow Says:

    The reality is that this is about one man - Mark Foley - and his inappropriate contacts with minor children….nothing else!


  159. trueblue Says:

    Unitynow,
    I’m afraid of the “October Surpise”
    Going into Iran (which is what I fear it is) would be disasterous.
    But that’s another thread!


  160. biggreenpea Says:

    These guys are nuts. Does anyone expect Gingrich to say anything that does not shed good light on his pals? Just like Stephanopoulos asking a White House spokesman if the Woodward book is accurate. “No George, the whole book is inaccurate…” As if amending the Constitution to deny marriage to gays is not also gay bashing. Hog-wash from a real hog!!!


  161. unitynow Says:

    And, speaking as a parent myself, I don’t believe parents care one iota if the sexual predator is male or female/gay or straight. Pedophilia is pedophilia.


  162. Zooey Says:

    It looks like the troll knocked off at 5.


  163. unitynow Says:

    True, trueblue but that’s another thread and I would’t want to be accused of attempting to hijack this very important and worthwhile thread.


  164. ThinkNoDissent Says:

    Jim Source,

    No one has given Foley a “free pass”.

    Bluestocking,

    No one has made any excuses for Foley.


  165. unitynow Says:

    Huffington Post has some more on this topic; in fact, they have the original transcript of Foley’s IM messaging there. “inocuous”….yikes!


  166. Jason+M.+Hendler Says:

    #132, rochelle,

    Foley had an inappropriate conversation with a 16 year old male. Although the 16 year old male was below the age of consent, and not considered an adult, at 16, he is far from pre-pubescent, and NOT a boy, so pediphilia is not a correct description. Since there was no physical contact alleged, it is NOT statutory rape either, so clearly, what he did is NOT even criminal, but it is inappropriate and unethical, so it was being processed as such.

    Now that he has resigned, it is resolved in the minds of most Americans, so once again, Dems are over-reaching, trying to appear tough on crime, when they are not. Again, this makes them Republican wannabe’s.


  167. Zooey Says:

    Trueblue and I vehemently disapprove of thread hijacking.


  168. ThinkNoDissent Says:

    unitynow,

    Foley’s actions, while wrong obviously, do not fit the definition of pedophilia.

    Foley is a homosexual, not a pedophile.