Yet another potential bombshell, as noted by the New York Post:
In another stunning development, Robert Novak today reveals in his column – published in PostOpinion on Page 31 – that even after House GOP leaders knew that Foley had written an inappropriate e-mail to a 16-year-old former male page, they were still urging him to seek re-election.
Novak writes, “A member of the House leadership told me that Foley, under continuous political pressure because of his sexual orientation, was considering not seeking a seventh term this year but that Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), talked him into running.”
The Post also notes:
Foley’s Palm Beach lawyer, David Roth, dropped a bombshell last night, saying his client was sexually abused by a “clergyman” when he was 13 to 15 years old and has carried that “shame” around with him for four decades, affecting his mental health.
“Mark Foley wants you to know he is a gay man,” Roth told reporters, adding his client “continues to offer no excuse whatsoever for his conduct.”
Two things:
- This controversy is far from over, given Novak’s latest. The fact they allegedly TALKED HIM INTO RUNNING AGAIN shows (a) a total obsession with political expediency, (b) an unwillingness to look further into the charges, (c) a near contempt for the authentic promotion and protection of the most fundamental family value, the family of society’s duty to protect kids and young people.
- If Foley was molested, that’s more a possible mitigating circumstance in a court of law, or in a sentencing hearing. It is irrelevant in terms of mitigating the other implications of what happened and it’s unlikely to sway voters. Haven’t REPUBLICANS been the ones to mock lawyers and defendents who talk about their terrible childhoods when they face legal problems? (And P.S.: Not everyone who was molested as a child sends inappropriate and sexually suggestive emails to underage teens when they become adults).
FOOTNOTE: It’ll be difficult for Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh to dismiss Novak’s column as the work of the evil, Howard Dean-controlled liberal press and someone out to get Republicans.
This is one of those rare moments in American history where people of both parties have to decide whether they are responsible members of society and Americans — or simply partisans out to protect their side and their side’s leaders. Many Republicans aren’t echoing the spin-and-damage-control you now hear (if you can stand it) coming from defense lawyers talk-show-hosts Limbaugh and Hannity. Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky is not the issue here (and if you guys have a complaint, then just complain about the relevance of this story to Bob Novak and Bay Buchanan.)
H/T Hinessight.com
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.