Foley's follies

What is the one thing that can put a real damper on a (Republican) party? Illegal wire-tapping? Nope. Misleading and frightening an entire country in order to attack sovereign nations? Think again. Exchanging sexually explicit text messages with 16-year-old pages when you're a representative? Bingo. \nWith Mark Foley's recent sexual indiscretions coming to light, the GOP is scattering like roaches. Terrified, its members are scrambling to find a finger to point, a way to place the heat on someone else's back. It's refreshing to see the GOP mouthpieces be anything but cool and collected. And I must say to Rep. Foley, well-done. This is infinitely better than anything the Democrats could have come up with for campaign mud-slinging. Your horny ass has single-handedly taken the legs out from underneath the arrogant, religious right. It's about time someone took the "party of morality" off its high horse, because nothing is so disgusting as hypocrisy. And the kicker? You might be prosecuted under the child protection legislation you helped pass. Oh, sweet irony! \nAll sarcasm aside, Foley is scum who has selfishly hurt innumerable people who trusted him. He hurt the young man (or possibly men) who came for a learning experience and instead got exploited. He hurt the GOP irreparably before the upcoming elections. He hurt the democratic system and his constituents who put their faith in him to lead justly. And now he suddenly has the gall to bring up an allegation that he was molested by a priest? Give me a break! \nFoley seems to be thwarting trust all over the place. A recent Newsweek poll showed that since the scandal, Bush's approval rate has plummeted to a record low of 33 percent. For the first time since 2001, the Democrats own the majority of trust in issues of morality, spending, health care, immigration and the economy. Also taking a beating is the public's belief in the causes and rationality of the Iraq War. Though I surmise that the new wave of doubt is connected to Bob Woodward's expose, Foley couldn't have helped matters either. \nIn comparing Newsweek's data to polls in the last decade, it looks to me that the American people are not swayed considerably by illegal, unconstitutional acts. Nor are they concerned so much with mounting death tolls, global despise or squandered resources. They are not, on the whole, terribly worried about crime, poverty or education (though it looks good to say so at the PTA). \nHave we really watched so many episodes of "Desperate Housewives" that the only thing to get our attention is a man's sexual indiscretions? Are you really going to connect an entire party to one idiot's mistake? I would hope that America is a little more critical than that. If you value democracy and desire representatives who support your political views, whatever they might be, then resist the knee-jerk reaction to punish the party for Foley's mistakes. Punish it instead for the things that truly matter.