Friday, September 29, 2006

Rep. Foley Resigns Before Most People Know Why

Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) resigned today just hours after ABC reported that he had sent sexually explicit instant messages to female congressional pages under the age of 18. Ironically, Rep. Foley was chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.

We observe again two truths, the first seemingly permanent:

1. Politicians tend to be a corrupt lot, regardless of party or ideology.
2. Republicans, whatever their faults, have for the last couple of decades expected those proved to be bad apples to quit immediately, whereas Democrats have proved determined to rally around the indicted forever.

This episode raises to a new level Republican immediacy on dealing with scandals. Meanwhile, we remind Rep. William Jefferson to call his lawyer.

Update: Thanks to JB in CA for the correction: later reports note that the person in question was a 16-year-old boy and the medium in question was email.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The report I heard said they were male congressional pages.

Anonymous said...

What Clinton did was not illegal. And I don't mean his "lying", I mean his sexual acts, which is what you're comparing here.