Thursday, October 05, 2006
“INNOCENT MENTORING”
Ben Shapiro on Republican reaction to the pervy online antics of Mark Foley:
House Republicans were not simply negligent in failing to investigate allegations regarding Foley’s pedophilia—they were downright malfeasant. When a 16-year-old page informed top House Republicans that Foley had e-mailed him and asked for a picture, the Republicans did nothing. When Republican officials confronted Foley over the e-mails, Foley explained that they were innocent mentoring—and Republicans did nothing.
Trusting Foley at his word was inexcusable.
Hard to disagree, although some on the right are now backing away from Foley fallout:
Paul Weyrich, an author of the letter from the Arlington Group, a coalition of 70 socially conservative organizations, called for House Speaker Dennis Hastert’s resignation.
But after speaking with Hastert Wednesday, Weyrich says he changed his mind, and the speaker should not step down.
Republican Rodney Alexander is also putting some distance between himself and the Foley shame. How will this play in November? George F. Will:
After the 1936 election, in which President Franklin Roosevelt shellacked the Republican nominee in all but two states, a humorist wrote: “If the outcome of this election hasn’t taught you Republicans not to meddle in politics, I don’t know what will.” If, after the Foley episode—a maraschino cherry atop the Democrats’ delectable sundae of Republican miseries—the Democrats cannot gain 13 seats, they should go into another line of work.
So should the e-unaware media, writes Stephen Spruiell:
The Mark Foley scandal has revealed something deeply troubling about the state of our news media: In the year 2006, most reporters are still either unable or unwilling to distinguish between e-mails and instant messages. And in this story, that’s a crucial difference. The e-mails Mark Foley sent to a former male page give off a creepy old man vibe, but don’t cross the line into sex-offender territory. The instant messages he sent to former pages, on the other hand, ooze slime from the monitor. (Note to reporters: That’s the thing you’re looking at right now.)
The distinction is important because of the debate that has erupted over Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert’s awareness of Foley’s conduct.
That might be the GOP’s big out in the Foley case. Give this scandal at least one more week to run.