Defending Foley is a Fool's Folly!

So far, these are some of the arguments I’ve seen thrown out in defense of Mark Foley:

1. He’s checked himself into rehab for alcoholism “and related behavioral problems.” (according to Foley)


2. He’s not really a pedophile because he didn’t actually have inappropriate sexual contact with a minor. (according to his lawyers)


3. He was simply sending “naughty e-mails.” (According to Tony Snow)

I’ll comment on these individually.

First of all, I think Foley may have stumbled on to the solution to the problem of overcrowded prisons in America. If “related behavioral problems” among alcoholics are best handled by alcohol rehab rather than the criminal justice system, then I guess we could probably release about half of the convicts currently clogging our prisons. How about a new catch phrase: Use a Beer, Stay Out of Jail?

Regarding the argument that he’s not a pedophile because he didn’t actually touch any underage pages, I’d be curious to know how this one flies with all of those “enemy combatants” locked up in Gitmo and other secret prisons for being potential terrorists. According to Foley’s lawyers, you can talk and plan all you want, but I guess you aren’t a terrorist until you actually blow up a building!

And as for Tony Snow’s characterization of Foley’s “naughty e-mails?” Well, this one seems to have been slipped into the conversation by the Foley camp, perhaps in the hope that Foley would be able to parlay it into a good spanking - maybe even by one of the underage pages! Sorry, but I couldn’t resist!

By the way, the image above comes from the website of the Republican Main Street Partnership, where Mark Foley was Emcee of their annual awards dinner just one week ago. Here’s what the organization’s website has to say about their policy on ethics:

The Republican Main Street Partnership is committed to improving the public perception of government. We say "perception", because the overwhelming majority of our men and women in office uphold the highest level of ethical standards.

I guess when they picked Mark Foley to be their Emcee they were forced to settle for the highest level of ethical standards they could find on “Republican Main Street!”