The Foley Thing
I haven’t been trying too hard to follow the whole sordid Foley thing, with the IMs and the emails and the unsavory details. Not because he’s a Republican and I have some interest in propping up a pedophile, but more because it just makes my head hurt trying to sort out the lies from the facts. Normally I’d expect the MSM to do this, but hey…
If you really want to wade through it, Pajamas Media has a roundup here.
Certainly, if they guy was predating on underage boys, then by all means, let’s get a rather large bus to throw him beneath (after the due process of law, yada yada yada). And if it turns out that the House leadership was covering it up and let it continue, we need more buses. Someone give Ray Nagin a call.
And the above description is how the story is spinning in the press.
What bothers me is when details contrary to this story start to emerge. Reports now suggest the underage boy was 18 years old. That little fact alone changes what Foley did from pedophilia to wildly inappropriate but not illegal. It migrates from a horrific criminal enterprise to a case of a creepy old man in power preying on young aides in an abusive way.
I think I’ve heard that story before, back in the late nineties.
Now if THAT version of the story ends up being true, I’m still all for running the guy out of town within the confines of due process. I’m murky on the legal proceedings for removing a House member, but it seems possible that there is no crime. That would leave it up to the voters of his district.
Furthermore, more evidence is coming to light that Foley’s predilection for young men might have been an open secret on the Hill, known by both sides of the aisle. Now, shortly before a close election, the whole story explodes?
Pending on the assumption that this might have been an affair between two consenting adults, I find it fascinating to watch the Democrats stoking the fire and what might be described as a gay witch-hunt. I thought that was the exclusive turf of the GOP?
Disclaimer – all of the above is predicated on the circulating report that the subject of Foley’s affection was at his majority at the time of the incident. If it is conclusively shown the Foley engaged a minor, I’ll drive the bus myself.
UPDATE – No sooner than I finish this post when I note the following from Bryan at Hot Air.
Sorry, folks. The teen in question was 17 during some of the chats and 18 during others. Go read this ABC News reprint of a couple of the IMs. The kid says in black and white a little over halfway down the page that he hasn’t reached his 18th birthday yet and wouldn’t “till feb 23.” That would make him 17. Both ages happen to be above DC’s age of consent law, so legally it would seem to me that Foley won’t be charged unless new information emerges.
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