Hypocrisy, thy name be Foley!

Does anyone really wonder why the political class is held in such low esteem by those who they portend to represent? The latest bit of hypocrisy comes from south of the border with the current scandal swirling around now ex-Florida Representative, Mark Foley, who up until Friday represented the people of West Palm Beach.

Foley, a six term representative of course resigned his seat on Friday after his suggestive comments to a 16 year old male page at the US Congress were reported by an ABC news report. He has since disappeared into the sanctity of an alcohol rehabilitation centre to deal with what he calls his addictions. A place it seems that most public people go to when they suddenly become the focus of the nations attention.

The creepy IM’s and e mails from Foley have provided the firestorm of the internet today, as his resignation and the question of who else knew of his problems came to light late Friday afternoon. There is a very good possibility that the fallout of the Foley file may very well bring down the Republican hold on Congress.

Even more intriguing about this whole scenario is the fact the Mr. Foley was one of the fiercest critics of Bill Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal. It was back in the Clinton witch hunt days, when the Republicans were busy extracting their pound of flesh from the then President. We all remember those halcyon days, complete with lurid suggestions and obvious glee in having cornered the Democratic President. Let’s go back in time and see just what Rep. Foley thought of it all. Courtesy of the Just Ain’t Right blog.

“It's vile," said Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach. "It's more sad than anything else, to see someone with such potential throw it all down the drain because of a sexual addiction."

Now, perhaps Mr. Clinton did not showcase the best judgment and certainly lost a bit of moral authority over that episode. But sheesh, the systematic stalking and creepiness of the Republican representative in his quest for the young 16 year old male pages of the Congress surely must have its own place in hell.

Even more ironic about this is the fact that he was leading the morality charge against the prospect of pedophiles luring children over the internet. He was chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children. National Public Radio archives brought up his thoughts on the use of the internet and the exploitation of children from 2002, including this bit of speechifying.

“Where I have to draw the line is using children for the excitement of those more mature people who should know the difference and know better.”

To read his words from then and then examine the scandal that has brought him down today is to leave you to shake your head in wonderment.

Needless to say the Republicans are in full damage control all the while putting as much distance between themselves and Foley. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert calls Foley’s messages vile and disgusting, though the Republicans didn’t see the need to do anything about him when the issue was brought up in 2005.

Now that they’re caught in the glare of Foley’s spotlight they are scurrying, akin to rats we guess, who leave when the light comes on. Where were they when the Representative was working the internet for not exactly educational purposes? Where was the accountability that they so often scream for of others?

Foley was quite obviously wrong with his inappropriate advances, but equally too wrong is the way his party just swept any concerns under the rug. For a party that seems to enjoy standing on that high holy ground of morality, there seems to be a dis-connect between their thoughts and their deeds.

In American politics there is always an October surprise before the November elections. October got a head start on September 30th, but the ramifications of it will carry through for much longer than Election Day.