Mark Foley

I blogged some of this over at Kuff’s World yesterday, and I really don’t want to get too bogged down in it because it’s impossible for me to keep up with a story like this, but do note what Josh says about now-former Rep. Mark Foley of Florida.

In this story at the ABC site, reporters write that “according to several former congressional pages, the congressman used the Internet to engage in sexually explicit exchanges.”

There’s another point too though. This all started to come out yesterday when ABC reported on a series of suggestive but not explicit emails between Foley and a House page. That appears to be the then-16 year old page who had been sponsored by Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA). Reportedly, that page became concerned about the suggestiveness of the emails, cut off communication and reported the emails to a member of Alexander’s staff.

The graphic IM exchanges, which blew the story open this afternoon, are clearly from a minor who actively engaged with the congressman. So it seems clear it’s a different page. The clincher is that that the published IM exchange is from 2003, two years earlier. So it’s clear there are at least two different pages in question.

So the Republicans had a serial predator in their caucus, one who ironically enough had a leadership role in crafting legislation against child predators. And House Majority Leader John Boehner knew about what Foley was doing but took no action.

Remember when Paul Burka said the following?

The terrorist plot to blow up airplanes will completely change the midterm elections, and the big beneficiaries are the Republicans and George W. Bush.

[…]

A major event has occurred that is going to remind the public that the danger of terrorism continues to exist. That is going to change the dynamic of the election. And there is nothing the Democrats can do about it.

I believe the proper response here would be “Often uncertain the future is”.

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