A war with dwindling support, a lame duck president, and scandal after scandal show that things are not going very well for the Republican Party. And now, one of their foremost opponents of pedophilia has just been discovered to be something of a pedophile himself.
Representative Mark Foley of Florida was a strong opponent of child pornography and now, it’s been discovered that he frequently sent sexually suggestive and even explicit e-mails and instant messages to underage male pages. This is just yet another nail in the coffin for a party that will undoubtedly lose control of Congress to the Democrats in the next election.
What Foley did was disgusting. But what makes it even more disgusting is the attitude of his fellow Republicans. Apparently, House Speaker Dennis Hastert knew of these e-mails for a year, and his only reaction was to give Foley a warning.
How can the Republicans claim to be the party of morality and family values when they know one of their own congressmen was propositioning sixteen-year-old boys? They not only kept it secret, but they allowed him to remain the head of a Congressional caucus on children’s issues, which is like putting a wolf in charge of a flock of sheep.
Now, some Republicans have joined with Democrats in calling for an investigation and have condemned Foley’s actions. Once the scandal breaks, there’s an outcry from Republicans, which is very convenient. Never mind the fact that they knew about this for months and did absolutely nothing.
If the Republicans were truly the champions of morality they claim to be, they should have led the charge against Foley the instant they knew about this. Instead, they gave him a slap on the wrist and allowed him to maintain his position in Congress. Now the truth comes out about Foley and with it, more proof that the Republicans cannot claim the moral high ground.