Editorial: Foley's follies

October 11, 2006

The Republican party’s integrity has recently taken a big hit. This does not quite refer to the political party’s handling of the Iraq War or the economy, nor to George W. Bush’s foreign policies. Rather, what is so troubling of late is the Republicans’ handling of the recent sex scandal involving former Florida Congressman Mark Foley.

By now, the basic details of Foley’s scandal are public knowledge. On Sept. 28, ABC News reported on alleged correspondences sent between Foley and a male former Congressional page, in which he randomly asked for a picture of the boy, in addition to other more blatant sexual requests. This report prompted another page to come forward, claiming that he or she had also seen e-mails from Foley which were similarly sexually suggestive.

Given the content of the instant messaging session, it’s obvious why Foley resigned soon after its release. He had been openly exposed as a pedophile. However, more disconcerting than this revelation is the Republican response to the affair. Spin control instantly took priority, and the party somehow managed to both defend and destroy Foley. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert said, “Democrats…have put this forward to try to block us. We are the insulation to protect this country, and if they get to me it looks like they could affect the election as well,” while noted Republican Newt Gingrich tried to downplay Foley’s actions by comparing them to Democrats’ sex scandals.

The innate problem of this situation is that the Republican party has taken the illicit and illegal sexual deviancy of its party members and tried to spin the blame outwards, towards other entities and political parties. Anti-gay activist Tony Perkins has blamed the liberal values of tolerance and diversity for leading to Foley’s underage homosexual acts. Others made allegations claiming that the release of Foley’s IM conversations so close to the November election seem suspect, implying that it was merely a smear campaign against him.

The Republican party simply must face this situation for what it is. The Democratic party had nothing to do with Foley’s actions. The right thing to do at this juncture is to dissociate completely from Foley and prosecute him for his actions to the fullest extent of the law. It is time that this issue became larger than Republican v. Democrat. Such a terrible event could actually prove to engender a little unity in this divided country of ours: imagine Republicans and Democrats actually agreeing that a sexual predator of teenagers deserves jail time. The Republicans have to cease this spin war immediately; two wrongs never make a right.