I shouldn't even tell you this, but I'm just so thrilled at having found--and deleted--the gopblogger cookie in my computer that has been locking me out from commenting here. So I thought I'd mention:

You're shooting yourself in the foot by trying to hoist the "democrats are hypocrites" flag.

Normally, that's an honest and effective technique. But the Foley situation is a loaded gun. Child abuse has become a touchy "hot button" that unites the country in opposition to predators. This may be the only topic on which the people are united, and to try to gain political points by harping on a quarter-century-old affair does you worse than no-good; it makes you look opportunistic.

But-but-but," you say, "the Democrats are having a field day, spinning this to their advantage." Good point. This fell in their lap, and they're using it.

In an earlier post, gopbloggers responded to the news appropriately, saying, essentially, "We had a bad guy, and he's gone now. Good riddance." That looked honest because it was honest.

That was the place to stop. Trying to squeeze something positive out of the situation does you no favor. The speaker of the house figured this out PDQ. You'll notice he's called for investigation without partisan spin. Even though he may suffer negative backlash from it, he looks stalwart by acting openly.

It's not an issue of whether the 1983 scandal is relevent. It's an issue of whether highlighting it at this time helps or hinders your cause.

Your call, of course. But if I were you, I'd yank this post off my site in a Hastert Heartbeat.

John,

We never yank posts - once up, they stay up, warts and all.

This isn't a tit for tat thing, but an illustration of the double standard Democrats are treated to as opposed to GOPers.

It is an unseemly affair - it is turning off everyone...but its what the Democrats want to talk about, so lets talk...I'm willing to have a debate over sexual morality.

Mark, now you're just flat out lying. People ARE looking at the site ya know...and they're not blind. They're SEEING that posts are being removed. Geez, man, give it up and start demonstrating some ethics yourself.

This blanket statement that Dems have a double-standard is quite a junior statement; every rational person can see otherwise. It's clear that you're operating in a state of denial to continue to post anything outside a request for Hastert to step down. Even the Washington Post did this. Perhaps their editors are a little more mature and have a more objective view than you. Objectivity is truly the only option if you're trying to appeal to intelligent readers. I would hope that you come to your senses and save face before people stop posting comments at all. There's no reason to have piddly arguments with folks who can't exercise keen judgment.

Nara and Mario:
I like how y'all (presumably members of the Democratic viewpoint) act like you're well reasoned and intellectuals.

It wouldn't take me more than 30 seconds at the Daily Kos to find what you call "junior statements."

If the Democrats are going to paint this is as a wide-spread ethics issue of Republicans, then by all means be prepared to have it given back to you 100 fold. If you want sleaze... look in the proverbial mirror.

Nara,

No, some times comments are deleted for being off topic or insulting...posts are never removed.

At best, Foley's use of his position is unethical. The age of consent in DC after a quick net search is apparently 16.

Would you like to know why the Democrat with the page in 1983 was treated differently? Because he was right. It was nobody's damned business who he was having sex with, male or otherwise. The Republican got voted out by his constituents because the Republican party prides itself on this illusory 'moral compass' they claim to have and prides itself on the fact that it hates sex except between married people and it especially hates sex between two men.

The Democrats feel that what two consenting adults do is their own business. The Republicans feel that they have the right to dictate what two consenting adults do. It has to be along lines THEY approve of or it's wrong. So when Crane decided to use his position of power to have sex with a 17 year old girl, it ticked off his voters. He violated one of the more basic tenants of what the Republicans believe.

That's all. No Democratic conspiracy. No double standard. No liberal media. No Bill Clinton moral decay or any of the other BS excuses that have been coming out like a turrent.

The bottom line is, Foley's human. He made a mistake. That's all. But because his party at some point decided that it's the paragon moral compass of everyone in America whether they like it or not, he's going to fry for it and it will be his own party frying him. Sucks to be him.

Oh and as far as the Democrats using this as an indicator of a 'widespread ethics issue' they'd be fools not to. There very well appears to BE a widespread ethics issue when you look at the conections between the Iraq War and Haliburton and many other things going on with the Republican majority in all branches of Gov.

You know quite well that if the positions were reversed, the Republicans would do the same and they wouldn't hold back one ounce. Just watch a few of the right wing talking head shows. Even when there isn't some issue they make a few up like 'war on Christmas' and so forth. So the act of a bunch of Republicans sitting around -worried that the Democrats will use this issue just confirms my oppinion that you're not really concerned with ethics or morality at all - you're just concerned with power and are terrified to lose it.

As an independant and a centrist I have the unique position of watching without any particular attachment to the Republican or Democratic party. Personally I think the Democrats should take this issue and all the other issues created by the current administration and run it in for a touchdown. I can't for the life of me understand why they're not going for the Republican jugular. They can't just run on a platform of 'At least we're not them'.

But then that's part of the reason why I don't like Democrats. They're cowards.

Ed,

If they do run with it, actually, they're foolish in my view, because they more the Dems talk about it the more forcefully they remind everybody of how they behaved in the Clinton scandal, which was much worse in every way than the Foley one. We were treated to an incessant barrage of insistence that perjury itself should be ignored as long as the perjury was connected to a sex scandal -- it is, apparently, okay to lie under oath as long as you're a Democrat and you can relate your lie to the covering up of adulterous sex. There are so far no pages coming forward willing to testify that Foley trapped them against a wall and fondled them over their protests, much less that Foley raped them; nor has Foley looked the American people in the eye and wagged his finger and said, "I did not have internet sex with that page;" nor has Foley sworn under oath that he did not have a sexual relationship with the page immediately after the cross-examining lawyer had specified that having conversations about masturbatory techniques counted as a sexual relationship...yet Foley is not acceptable to the Republican Party, but Bill Clinton was plenty good enough for the Democrats. The more Democrats make noise about this sex scandal the more they remind everybody about the Clinton one (and about how they insisted that sex scandals should be ignored) -- and the comparison is bad for them in every way. Hence the need to let the media handle pushing the story rather than Democratic politicians themselves.

All the hypocrisy aside, and there is troubling signs on both sides of the aisle to support the hypocritical challenge, the Foley matter gives the American Public a peak into the privileged, political class and how out of touch it is with the American mainstream.

Oh, how I dream of a 3rd political waves where we throw ALL of them out and start with fresh, honest people to do the Peoples work. And then every 10 years clean house again before they get too corrupt.

I'm constantly amazed at what is news and what isn't. We have three school shootings in one week and we're focussed on sex in Washington. Kids are dying from war and starvation all over the globe and we're focussed on Flag Burning. Our planet is falling apart and we're focussed on Jon Benet Ramsey's false confessor. Anyone see a pattern here? We are called the United States of America and yet we're more polarized each and every day. They're stealing our money, our freedom and our children and we're "staying the course". I pray for all of us and mostly I pray for our planet and our nation. We used to be the greatest idea ever, now we're just another great idea gone bad? The best thing we can all do is start paying attention, start taking our money back and start making politicians fight the wars they start. We've only got a short time on this planet, maybe it's time to re-priortize. "Be the Peace you wish to see in the rest of the world"
"There is no path to peace, peace is the path"
Opie