October 5, 2006 at 05:59:09

Foley, The Purple Monkey and the Log Cabin

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By Robert Raitz (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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On one hand, he is the guy who is the champion of legislation to protect children from exploitation via the internet. On the other, his one-handed typing is doing exactly that which his legislation is supposed to stop. If this isn't a clear case of complete hypocrisy, then I ask what is it? If it isn't a case of the fox guarding the rooster-house, then what is it?

It goes even further. As I cited in my article http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_robert_r_061002_they_just_can_t_help.htm, it's not just the fact that Foley did the things of which he is accused, it's about the fact that there were rumblings of his deeds at least since 2005. Some other reports state there was knowledge of his tawdry actions as long ago as 2002. In other words, there were many who knew what he was up to. It has been suggested, and in my opinion rightly so, that Dennis Hastert knew what was up at least in 2005. Others knew of Foley's actions in 2002. In classic Republican style, they swept it all under the carpet for at least one year, if not four.

Don't ask, don't tell...you could say that's what the Republicans were doing, but I think it would be an incorrect statement. I think the Republican leadership was being told. They were just hoping that this little bit of truth would escape the eyes of America at least until after November of 2006. They were plugging their ears, covering their eyes, and holding their tongues to keep it out of the news, just like the orangutans in the original Planet Of The Apes.

They didn't get their wish, and now it appears at least on some level this scandal might be the one that breaks the governmental investigation logjam. After all, there is nothing that fires the American imagination like a good old sex scandal. Just like rubberneckers ogling a wreck on the highway, we may be repulsed by the gore and destruction, but we just can't look away.

So perhaps there will be a bit of good to come from this debacle. Damage control will be a complete impossibility. The genie has escaped the bonds of his bottle, and there's no putting him back. At this point, I think that it's a given the hope for a real shake up in congress come November is all but in the bag. There just isn't enough time to put any kind of believable spin on this and have it stick.

Blessed be!
Pappy

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