representative in florida resigning; Merged

[CrimsonWhite]

Really think that your year or two out of college child is 'capable?' Your son is too young for you to be slipping into those shoes.

This 'child' is now 19, from all accounts, Foley never touched. I bet Monica's parents wish the same could be said. In any case, the sick bastards should never have been able to abuse their power in these ways.

I'm pretty sure that Monica was a consenting adult.

http://www.time.com/time/daily/scandal/starr_report/files/6narrit.htm#L31

 

[jillian]

I'm pretty sure that Monica was a consenting adult.

http://www.time.com/time/daily/scandal/starr_report/files/6narrit.htm#L31

Monica also wasn't the one who complained about it. (She still hasn't).

 

[Annie]

I'm pretty sure that Monica was a consenting adult.

http://www.time.com/time/daily/scandal/starr_report/files/6narrit.htm#L31

And according to DC law, so was a 16 year old, if consenting. However, again, looks to be cyber s*x.

 

[Dr Grump]

I can't believe
1) People are comparing Lewinsky to a 16 year old. How old was Lewinsky? 22? 23?? An age society has deemed old enough to vote, drive, join the military, consume alcohol and bonk. Most male and females of that age have started bonking their brains out a good few years before that - some with those the same age, some a little older, adn some a lot older.

2) People are trying to score points by pointing out hetro and homo paedophilia are somehow different - that homo is worse than hetro. How sick is that!

 

[CivilLiberty]

More proof that pedophilia and homosexuality are related.

Well, considering that most pedophiles are heterosexual, there's an even greater proof that heterosexuality is related to pedophilia.


So, here are a few Republican heterosexual pedophiles:


Republican executive Randall Casseday of the conservative Washington Times newspaper was arrested for soliciting sex from a 13-year old girl on the internet.

Republican chairman of the Oregon Christian Coalition Lou Beres confessed to molesting a 13-year old girl.

Republican County Constable Larry Dale Floyd was arrested on suspicion of soliciting sex with an 8-year old girl. Floyd has repeatedly won elections for Denton County, Texas, constable.

Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

Republican Party leader Bobby Stumbo was arrested for having sex with a 5-year old boy.

Republican petition drive manager Tom Randall pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 14, one of them the daughter of an associate in the petition business.

Republican County Chairman Armando Tebano was arrested for sexually molesting a 14-year-old girl.

Republican teacher and former city councilman John Collins pleaded guilty to sexually molesting 13 and 14 year old girls.

Republican campaign worker Mark Seidensticker is a convicted child molester.

Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

Republican Mayor Tom Adams was arrested for distributing child pornography over the internet.

Republican Mayor John Gosek was arrested on charges of soliciting sex from two 15-year old girls.

Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

Republican Committeeman John R. Curtain was charged with molesting a teenage boy and unlawful sexual contact with a minor.

Republican anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a convicted child rapist in Florida.

Republican zoning supervisor, Boy Scout leader and Lutheran church president Dennis L. Rader pleaded guilty to performing a sexual act on an 11-year old girl he murdered.

Republican anti-abortion activist Nicholas Morency pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a bounty to anybody who murders an abortion doctor.

Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced to three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl.

Republican racist pedophile and United States Senator Strom Thurmond had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced a child.

Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.

Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

Republican advertising consultant Carey Lee Cramer was sentenced to six years in prison for molesting two 8-year old girls, one of whom appeared in an anti-Gore television commercial.

Republican activist Lawrence E. King, Jr. organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.

Republican lobbyist Craig J. Spence organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.

Republican Congressman Donald "Buz" Lukens was found guilty of having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.

Republican fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty of child porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos.

Republican activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts of sex crimes involving children.

Republican campaign chairman Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child and was arrested again five years later on the same charge.

Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.

Republican Judge Ronald C. Kline was placed under house arrest for child molestation and possession of child pornography.

Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.

Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.

Republican legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged with molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.

Republican Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of having sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after the allegations were reported in the media.

Republican preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to traditional values, was sentenced to jail after offering $20 to a 14-year-old boy for permission to perform oral sex on him.

Republican talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to exposing his genitals to an 11 year old girl.

Republican anti-gay activist Earl "Butch" Kimmerling was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

Republican Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six counts of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.

Republican election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced to two years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from a 14-year old girl.

Republican legislator Keith Westmoreland was arrested on seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under the age of 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children).

Republican anti-abortion activist John Allen Burt was found guilty of molesting a 15-year old girl.

Republican County Councilman Keola Childs pleaded guilty to molesting a male child.

Republican activist John Butler was charged with criminal sexual assault on a teenage girl.

Republican candidate Richard Gardner admitted to molesting his two daughters.

Republican Councilman and former Marine Jack W. Gardner was convicted of molesting a 13-year old girl.

Republican County Commissioner Merrill Robert Barter pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy.

Republican City Councilman Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr. pleaded no contest to raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in prison.

Republican activist Parker J. Bena pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined $18,000.

Republican parole board officer and former Colorado state representative, Larry Jack Schwarz, was fired after child pornography was found in his possession.

Republican strategist and Citadel Military College graduate Robin Vanderwall was convicted in Virginia on five counts of soliciting sex from boys and girls over the internet.

Republican city councilman Mark Harris, who is described as a "good military man" and "church goer," was convicted of repeatedly having sex with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years in prison.



Yea, you guys got them morals all right. Losers.


CL

 

[dilloduck]

Well, considering that most pedophiles are heterosexual, there's an even greater proof that heterosexuality is related to pedophilia.


So, here are a few Republican heterosexual pedophiles:


Republican executive Randall Casseday of the conservative Washington Times newspaper was arrested for soliciting sex from a 13-year old girl on the internet.

Republican chairman of the Oregon Christian Coalition Lou Beres confessed to molesting a 13-year old girl.

Republican County Constable Larry Dale Floyd was arrested on suspicion of soliciting sex with an 8-year old girl. Floyd has repeatedly won elections for Denton County, Texas, constable.

Republican judge Mark Pazuhanich pleaded no contest to fondling a 10-year old girl and was sentenced to 10 years probation.

Republican Party leader Bobby Stumbo was arrested for having sex with a 5-year old boy.

Republican petition drive manager Tom Randall pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 14, one of them the daughter of an associate in the petition business.

Republican County Chairman Armando Tebano was arrested for sexually molesting a 14-year-old girl.

Republican teacher and former city councilman John Collins pleaded guilty to sexually molesting 13 and 14 year old girls.

Republican campaign worker Mark Seidensticker is a convicted child molester.

Republican Mayor Philip Giordano is serving a 37-year sentence in federal prison for sexually abusing 8- and 10-year old girls.

Republican Mayor Tom Adams was arrested for distributing child pornography over the internet.

Republican Mayor John Gosek was arrested on charges of soliciting sex from two 15-year old girls.

Republican County Commissioner David Swartz pleaded guilty to molesting two girls under the age of 11 and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

Republican legislator Edison Misla Aldarondo was sentenced to 10 years in prison for raping his daughter between the ages of 9 and 17.

Republican Committeeman John R. Curtain was charged with molesting a teenage boy and unlawful sexual contact with a minor.

Republican anti-abortion activist Howard Scott Heldreth is a convicted child rapist in Florida.

Republican zoning supervisor, Boy Scout leader and Lutheran church president Dennis L. Rader pleaded guilty to performing a sexual act on an 11-year old girl he murdered.

Republican anti-abortion activist Nicholas Morency pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography on his computer and offering a bounty to anybody who murders an abortion doctor.

Republican campaign consultant Tom Shortridge was sentenced to three years probation for taking nude photographs of a 15-year old girl.

Republican racist pedophile and United States Senator Strom Thurmond had sex with a 15-year old black girl which produced a child.

Republican pastor Mike Hintz, whom George W. Bush commended during the 2004 presidential campaign, surrendered to police after admitting to a sexual affair with a female juvenile.

Republican legislator Peter Dibble pleaded no contest to having an inappropriate relationship with a 13-year-old girl.

Republican advertising consultant Carey Lee Cramer was sentenced to six years in prison for molesting two 8-year old girls, one of whom appeared in an anti-Gore television commercial.

Republican activist Lawrence E. King, Jr. organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.

Republican lobbyist Craig J. Spence organized child sex parties at the White House during the 1980s.

Republican Congressman Donald "Buz" Lukens was found guilty of having sex with a female minor and sentenced to one month in jail.

Republican fundraiser Richard A. Delgaudio was found guilty of child porn charges and paying two teenage girls to pose for sexual photos.

Republican activist Mark A. Grethen convicted on six counts of sex crimes involving children.

Republican campaign chairman Randal David Ankeney pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault on a child and was arrested again five years later on the same charge.

Republican Congressman Dan Crane had sex with a female minor working as a congressional page.

Republican Judge Ronald C. Kline was placed under house arrest for child molestation and possession of child pornography.

Republican congressman and anti-gay activist Robert Bauman was charged with having sex with a 16-year-old boy he picked up at a gay bar.

Republican Committee Chairman Jeffrey Patti was arrested for distributing a video clip of a 5-year-old girl being raped.

Republican legislative aide Howard L. Brooks was charged with molesting a 12-year old boy and possession of child pornography.

Republican Senate candidate John Hathaway was accused of having sex with his 12-year old baby sitter and withdrew his candidacy after the allegations were reported in the media.

Republican preacher Stephen White, who demanded a return to traditional values, was sentenced to jail after offering $20 to a 14-year-old boy for permission to perform oral sex on him.

Republican talk show host Jon Matthews pleaded guilty to exposing his genitals to an 11 year old girl.

Republican anti-gay activist Earl "Butch" Kimmerling was sentenced to 40 years in prison for molesting an 8-year old girl after he attempted to stop a gay couple from adopting her.

Republican Party leader Paul Ingram pleaded guilty to six counts of raping his daughters and served 14 years in federal prison.

Republican election board official Kevin Coan was sentenced to two years probation for soliciting sex over the internet from a 14-year old girl.

Republican legislator Keith Westmoreland was arrested on seven felony counts of lewd and lascivious exhibition to girls under the age of 16 (i.e. exposing himself to children).

Republican anti-abortion activist John Allen Burt was found guilty of molesting a 15-year old girl.

Republican County Councilman Keola Childs pleaded guilty to molesting a male child.

Republican activist John Butler was charged with criminal sexual assault on a teenage girl.

Republican candidate Richard Gardner admitted to molesting his two daughters.

Republican Councilman and former Marine Jack W. Gardner was convicted of molesting a 13-year old girl.

Republican County Commissioner Merrill Robert Barter pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual contact and assault on a teenage boy.

Republican City Councilman Fred C. Smeltzer, Jr. pleaded no contest to raping a 15 year-old girl and served 6-months in prison.

Republican activist Parker J. Bena pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on his home computer and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison and fined $18,000.

Republican parole board officer and former Colorado state representative, Larry Jack Schwarz, was fired after child pornography was found in his possession.

Republican strategist and Citadel Military College graduate Robin Vanderwall was convicted in Virginia on five counts of soliciting sex from boys and girls over the internet.

Republican city councilman Mark Harris, who is described as a "good military man" and "church goer," was convicted of repeatedly having sex with an 11-year-old girl and sentenced to 12 years in prison.



Yea, you guys got them morals all right. Losers.


CL

This is the some of the silliest shit I've heard for while. An argument about which party has the most pedophiles in it. Maybe the two parties could join up and become the anti-pedophilia party. Who would dare vote against them?

 

[musicman]

Well, considering that most pedophiles are heterosexual, there's an even greater proof that heterosexuality is related to pedophilia.

This is a singularly idiotic statement. You really ought to think before you post. Try to stay with me here: Heterosexuals comprise 97-99% of the population. Can you take it from there?

So, here are a few Republican heterosexual pedophiles:

If the coin of the realm is going to be, "once wore a specific political party's campaign button", John Wayne Gacy more than cancels out your list. Active in Illinois Democrat politics - once, indeed, having had his picture taken with Rosalynn Carter - Gacy tortured, raped, and murdered 33 boys - burying most of them in the crawl space under his house.

Yea, you guys got them morals all right. Losers.


CL

Let's go ahead and hold the elections anyway, shall we?

 

[Nuc]

Pretty impressive list of Republican pedophiles. Unfortunately I don't think it proves anything, other than that Republicans maybe should stop claiming to be the virtuous party. It appears that pedophilia, gay and straight, is an epidemic, or perhaps it always has been and it's just coming to light more right now.

It's particularly galling when hypocrisy is involved, such as with priests or holier than thou politicians.

But does anybody really think this sick behavior is the result of any particular political ideology? I don't. I think sick people do it and unfortunately enough of them function well enough or excel in society to the extent that they never get caught. Or it takes decades.

 

[USViking]

One thing missing from this thread and a similar one
on another board is that it may be Foley is not guilty
of illegal behavior: I believe the age of consent for
homosexual intercourse is 16 in both Washington DC
and Florida. If this is so, then an act where physical
contact did not even take place could hardly be criminal.

Legaility aside, I would not vote for anyone who chases
around 16 year olds, and I would hold it against anyone
who did vote for such a person. The best we can hope
for from this case is that Congress adopts rules prohibiting
all sexual content including verbal in relations between
members and pages.

 

[dilloduck]

Pretty impressive list of Republican pedophiles. Unfortunately I don't think it proves anything, other than that Republicans maybe should stop claiming to be the virtuous party. It appears that pedophilia, gay and straight, is an epidemic, or perhaps it always has been and it's just coming to light more right now.

It's particularly galling when hypocrisy is involved, such as with priests or holier than thou politicians.

But does anybody really think this sick behavior is the result of any particular political ideology? I don't. I think sick people do it and unfortunately enough of them function well enough or excel in society to the extent that they never get caught. Or it takes decades.

Nothing new---political mudslinging---hopefully a different news cycle will begin and we can move on. This shit is all to be expected this close to elections. Politics is a scummy endeavor.

 

[jillian]

You know, it's kinda weird seeing this made a partisan issue. The guy is a skank... end of story. Whether there's enough evidence to charge and convict him... well, we'll see, but he's still a skank.

Anyway, this is a transcript of one of the im convos.... all I can say is, guity or not on a criminal level, if an adult carried on like this with my kid, he'd have no place to hide....

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/BrianRoss/story?id=2509586&page=1

 

[dilloduck]

You know, it's kinda weird seeing this made a partisan issue. The guy is a skank... end of story. Whether there's enough evidence to charge and convict him... well, we'll see, but he's still a skank.

Anyway, this is a transcript of one of the im convos.... all I can say is, guity or not on a criminal level, if an adult carried on like this with my kid, he'd have no place to hide....

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/BrianRoss/story?id=2509586&page=1

Are you crazy? This is Politics As Usual.

 

[dilloduck]

One thing missing from this thread and a similar one
on another board is that it may be Foley is not guilty
of illegal behavior: I believe the age of consent for
homosexual intercourse is 16 in both Washington DC
and Florida. If this is so, then an act where physical
contact did not even take place could hardly be criminal.

Legaility aside, I would not vote for anyone who chases
around 16 year olds, and I would hold it against anyone
who did vote for such a person. The best we can hope
for from this case is that Congress adopts rules prohibiting
all sexual content including verbal in relations between
members and pages.

The ACLU will tell you that's unconstitutional restriction of speech.

 

[Annie]

Well, considering that most pedophiles are heterosexual, there's an even greater proof that heterosexuality is related to pedophilia.


So, here are a few Republican heterosexual pedophiles:

Hey Andy, got those talking points down!


Plenty of links:

http://instapundit.com/archives/032986.php

October 04, 2006

GAY PATRIOT says that Democrats are descending into "sexual McCarthyism" in the wake of Foleygate, circulating lists of Republican Hill staffers who are presumed to be gay. "I am not surprised that this is where we are headed. But my question is…. why have our national gay organizations (HRC, Log Cabin, NGLTF) not stepped in to stop this witchhunt which originated on the Gay Left in the first place? I think we know the answer."

UPDATE: Eric Scheie writes on when "outing" isn't enough. "Who'd have ever expected to see gays and antigays rejoicing together?"

I guess it's more of that strange-bedfellows stuff.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Not FoleyGate, MasturGate: "This may well be the reverse Monica of the new century; the first time that a remote hand-job has had a hand, so to speak, in bringing down a government. . . . Coming from a party that is first and foremost about advancing gay and lesbian rights on all fronts, it seems especially shameful that -- to settle all their old scores and gripes and grievances -- they are going willing to sacrifice the lives, careers and reputations of their fellow Americans."

MORE: It boils down to "Where were the Republican Taliban when we needed them?"
posted at 03:42 PM by Glenn Reynolds

 

[musicman]

Pretty impressive list of Republican pedophiles.

And yet you go on to say:

Unfortunately I don't think it proves anything,

First, your choice of the word, "unfortunately" is rather illustrative. Second, having said, "pretty impressive list of Republican pedophiles", you cannot then claim the moral high ground, and say that we can't play this game. You've already played it; you can't have it both ways. And now, having decided to play this game, you certainly must concede that Civil Liberty's list - within HIS parameters of what constitutes a party member - pales to ridiculous insignificance in the context of John Wayne Gacy.

other than that Republicans maybe should stop claiming to be the virtuous party.

I don't see the Republicans "claiming to be the virtuous party". I see them trying to adhere to basic values of decency long ago abandoned by the Democrats in favor of "tolerance" and "diversity". That a Republican has been shown to be frail and human in no way negates, or renders hypocritical, the values of the Party.

It appears that pedophilia, gay and straight, is an epidemic, or perhaps it always has been and it's just coming to light more right now.

While I'd certainly agree that there's nothing new under the sun, I get the sense that the world has, in some way, slipped its moorings. The insanity and inhumanity are going to get worse.

It's particularly galling when hypocrisy is involved, such as with priests or holier than thou politicians.

Hypocrisy is, tragically, part of the human equation.

 

[USViking]

The ACLU will tell you that's unconstitutional restriction of speech.

No Congressman is going to hire the ACLU to take his
case for screwing around with pages!

And if the ACLU took up for the pages they might not
make it through one hearing.

You can be fired for unwelcome sexual innuendo in the
workplace, high schoolteachers can be fired for exchanging
innuendo with students, and numerous other professionals
such as MDs are prohibited from having sex with their customers

The ACLU is not all-powerful, and there is copious legal precedent
for curtailing employer-employee and clientary sexual activity.

 

[dilloduck]

No Congressman is going to hire the ACLU to take his
case for screwing around with pages!

And if the ACLU took up for the pages they might not
make it through one hearing.

You can be fired for unwelcome sexual innuendo in the
workplace, high schoolteachers can be fired for exchanging
innuendo with students, and numerous other professionals
such as MDs are prohibited from having sex with their customers

The ACLU is not all-powerful, and there is copious legal precedent
for curtailing employer-employee and clientary sexual activity.

I never said they would be right.

 

[jillian]

No Congressman is going to hire the ACLU to take his
case for screwing around with pages!

And if the ACLU took up for the pages they might not
make it through one hearing.

You can be fired for unwelcome sexual innuendo in the
workplace, high schoolteachers can be fired for exchanging
innuendo with students, and numerous other professionals
such as MDs are prohibited from having sex with their customers

The ACLU is not all-powerful, and there is copious legal precedent
for curtailing employer-employee and clientary sexual activity.

One doesn't hire the ACLU, they "take your case" if it contains a speech or civil liberties issue they find compelling.

This isn't a speech issue... sexual harassment even between adults in the work place is a no - no. Between adults it doesn't rise to a criminal level, but with a child??? lol...

 

[musicman]

I never said they would be right.

Obviously, we need a "you shot over their heads" smilie...

 

[Annie]

This blogger is gay and very, very smart. There are many links, just so everyone knows, his 'readers' have given $$$ for him to post from Middle East, more than once. Most are conservatives, so somehow they've overcome their problems with gays, probably because he does not usually make an issue of it. (Who woulda thought?):

http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/004100.html

October 04, 2006


When "outing" isn't enough

it is hard to deny the sweet, sweet justice of Republicans being politically damaged by a lurid sex scandal in Washington.

-- Glenn Greenwald.

Yeah, and it's also hard to deny the irresistible nature of the Foley "pedophile sex scandal." Were I working for Bob Casey, I'd advise him to scour the record for every photograph taken of Rick Santorum with Foley. Similar photos could of course supply last minute hit pieces for every Democrat running for Congress unless the Republicans treat this as the hardball operation that it is, and do the same thing. (As Glenn Reynolds says, "it's starting.")

The problem with politics is that watching these things happen is as predictable as it is frustrating (especially if you've seen it coming).

Glenn Reynolds also links Gateway Pundit's speculations about why Michael Rogers and John Aravosis -- both specialists in that noxious invasion of privacy called "outing" -- kept so quiet for so long about Congressman Foley's penchant for male teenage pages:

Radical Gay Rights Activists held on to information about Representative Foley for months and years. These "Rights Activists" knew that representative Foley had relationships with "young men less than half his age." They did their own investigation on Foley. They even flew in their sources in to be interviewed about the Representative. They shared this information with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. They held on to the information for over a year. They wrote about how they would break the story at midterm elections.

But, the radical gay activists and democrats never thought about the safety of the teens who were at risk!​

How true. But how loudly they complain that the nation's youth are at risk!

As Gateway Pundit says, it's not as if their agenda wasn't made clear over a year ago:

Everyone already knows Foley's a self hating closet case. When we get closer to the mid-term elections, I am sure more will surface.
​

The "self hating closet case" stuff is critical to understanding this outing mentality. In 2004, Bill Clinton accused a gay Republican of "self-loathing" because he opposed Hillary Clinton, and as I pointed out, this was a transparent attempt to dictate gay ideological conformity:

Sullivan devotes a great deal of time disagreeing with Hillary's position.

Does that mean that Andrew Sullivan would also be a self-loathing hypocrite were he to oppose Hillary Clinton? Somehow, I doubt it.

There's also the issue of gay Republicans. There is much ferocious opposition to the very idea of such a thing, and while some of it comes from moral conservatives in the Republican Party, they're not as shrill as the Democrats. Bill Clinton is hardly from the Democratic Party fringe, either. There is a general consensus that any homosexual in the Republican Party is the equivalent of a gay Uncle Tom, and guilty of self hatred, because since all Republicans hate homosexuals, any Republican who is a homosexual must hate himself.​

But to make this work, Republicans have to be made to appear to hate homosexuals.

Bush hates homosexuals, while Clinton loves them!

Bush is the fake president, while Clinton is "the REAL president." And here's the real president with a real admirer (who seems to have forgiven him for supporting the Defense of Marriage Act):

johnandclinton2-716224.jpg

Good job well done!

All homosexuals who support Republicans are not only guilty of supporting a fake president, but by definition they're guilty of self hatred for doing so.

They're also in the closet whether they know it or not, and people who are in the closet either molest children or contribute to a loathsome climate where it will occur. "Sex with children" fits right in with the self loathing meme, which doevtails nicely into what I consider a central goal here: to reinvigorate anti-homosexual animosity within the Republican Party.

Not that it matters whether there has in fact been sex with children. Here's Reason's Kerry Howley:

...as it turns out, the Mark Foley pedophilia sex scandal lacks two things: pedophilia and sex. (Emphasis added).​

Ahem, that's what I've been saying...

(HT Justin.)

But emotion stoked by demagoguery can supply pedophilia which isn't there, as well as sex which isn't there. Character assassination leveraged by identity politics is a powerful combination -- especially when antigay forces can be manipulated into working in collusion. I think Aravosis and company are, whether they admit it or not, working with the anti-gay crowd in what ought to be called "Operation Pink Triangulation."

Outing gay Republicans has historically been shown to be ineffective. But this stuff works, and they couldn't be happier. (And there's even a hidden, unstated message -- sex with teens is OK if you're a loyal Democrat. Or someone who does their bidding.)

Thus, the Foley scandal does what ordinary "outing" could not have possibly done. It emboldens those in the GOP for whom homo-loathing is a bread-and-butter issue, and if things go the way the activists want, maybe some of them will call for witch hunts. (According to the predictable meme of restoring morality or something.)

That'll teach the cowards in the closet who their friends are!

Whenever two apparent adversaries agree with each other, it worries me. Right now, I see agreement along the following lines:

RESOLVED: Gays do not belong in the Republican Party.

But there's still hope for these people who hate themselves. If they convert now, it's not too late.

Why, the libertarian apostates will welcome them with open arms! (Aren't they forgetting that former leftists who become libertarians are already apostates?)

Such condescension is a bit hard to take.

In my view, identity politics -- especially the "self hatred" meme in conjunction with "outing" -- makes non-conforming gay citizens afraid to voice what they think.

That's a first step towards not being allowed to think what they think.

MORE: Please bear in mind that when I refer to the bread-and-butter antigay crowd I am not talking about people who oppose same sex marriage, or even those who have political or religious disagreements with homosexuality. I'm talking about the angry Peter La Barbera types who run web sites like Americans for Truth, and people who think that Western civilization itself is threatened by things like Brokeback Mountain.

AND MORE: I should probably point out the obvious -- that I don't especially want Bill Clinton and his wife back in the White House. I realize that many Americans feel otherwise, and will work for what they believe in. But such political beliefs are not "self hatred." To say that they merely perpetuates endless cycles of what was originally called the "politics of personal destruction."


UPDATE: Drudge links to David Corn's post about a thing called "The List":

what an unidentified House GOPer called a "network of gay staffers and gay members who protect each other and did the Speaker a disservice." The implication is that these gay Republicans somehow helped page-pursuing Mark Foley before his ugly (and possibly illegal) conduct was exposed. The List--drawn up by gay politicos--is a partial accounting of who on Capitol Hill might be in that network.

[...]

anytime a gay Republican is outed by events, a dicey issue is raised: what about those GOPers who are gay and who serve a party that is anti-gay? Are they hypocrites, opportunists, or just confused individuals? Is it possible to support a party because you adhere to most of its tenets--even if that party refuses to recognize you as a full citizen?
​

Is the GOP "a party that is anti-gay"?

A lot of people on both sides want it to be.

Who'd have ever expected to see gays and antigays rejoicing together?


MORE: Sean Kinsell also has a tough time seeing the Foley scandal as pedophilia, and offers perspective:

Flirtation from a powerful adult mentor, with recommendations and network access to offer or withhold, is not in the same category as flirtation from one's prom date.

And yet...and yet...calling this "child abuse" (as Malkin approves of) unsettles me. This is not an apologia for Foley, mind you; assuming things are as they appear, he's done nothing illegal, but he deserves a ruined reputation and an end to his political future. Yes, I know--I'm a childless gay guy who lives abroad and doesn't know what it's like for parents, et c. But it seems reasonable to expect people who are parents to know the difference between a Capitol Hill internship and church camp.

They should also know the individual adolescents they've been reading for a decade and a half. Washington is an exploitative place in many ways, including plenty that are non-sexual. A teenager who is still psychologically a child shouldn't be permitted to spend a semester there away from parental supervision.
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Sean also criticizes some of the banter about "the closet":

Talking about what "the closet" does in the active voice--as if it were some kind of independent baleful force--can be rhetorically effective, but the flip side is that it makes closeted gays sound helpless and passive.​

Sean is right, but then, he's one of the wisest men in the blogosphere.


UPDATE: Here's outing practitioner Michael Rogers:

"Had Foley lived his life openly and been proud of who he is, this never would have happened."
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That depends on how the phrase "proud of who he is" is construed. If being attracted to teenagers is part of who he is, and he'd been open and proud of that, I think it's highly unlikely that he'd have been elected to Congress.

posted by Eric on 10.04.06 at 12:07 PM