Punishment and Crime
This whole Foley fiasco is maddening for a number of reasons. Obviously, a respected member of congress and an outspoken advocate of tougher laws for predatory behavior being exposed as the exact thing he was supposed to be fighting is despicable. I can't stand hypocrisy to begin with but this seems more purely evil. Seeing some of those old video clips of him make my skin crawl.
Second, I don't believe that Dennis Hastert or any other member of congress had any real knowledge of specific indiscretions with pages. There may have been secrets about Foley's sexuality or predilections that were kept quiet, but I can't believe any parent or adult would have allowed predatory behavior to continue if they were aware of it. Besides, knowing about it and not saying something would be political suicide, so there's no reason why anyone would have protected him if they were truly aware of the circumstances.
If the guy that supposedly alerted the Hastert camp three years ago thought it was a serious issue, why wouldn't he have taken it to the authorities or the media back then? There's a lot of potential for conspiracy and speculation but it appears that there's enough on the table to refocus on the actual criminal and skip the politics on this one.
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2 comments:
I don't see how Denny didn't know. Surely an issue as explosive as this would find its way back to him. There are no secrets of this magnitude in DC. We do know his chief of staff was alerted, and he's not talking. I think it's incredibly naive to think this guy would purposely shield Denny from this bombshell--it's not his call to make. This issue could've been handled in a way that made the Speaker look decisive, turning a negative into a family values-affirming positive. Instead they tried to bury it--mistake #1. Mistake #2--playing the know-nothin' card. I don't think he anticipated the volume and duration of the backlash. Frankly, it's well deserved. By this point, he hand two band hands to play---he's gonna get torched either for his refusal to act on the information or for him not knowing what's going on under his own roof. I don't know if it warrants a death sentence, but it was very poorly played. Heck, he might be irrelevant in a month if the Dems take over, so what does it matter?
I'm saying that I'd bet he knew *something* was happening but not the full extent. I just can't imagine that anyone would allow a predator to continue and ignore it.
Besides, at the end of the day, if the person who told the chief of staff thought this was as serious as it now sounds, why not go to the press two and a half years ago when nothing was being done about it?
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