[whiteperil] Sean: Long Way 2 Go

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by Sean:
Long Way 2 Go
http://whiteperil.com/posts/1159850632.shtml


   Okay, I wasn't going to write anything more about Mark Foley--trying
   to keep the herbed chicken and ratatouille baguette down, you
   know?--but Michelle Malkin has a [1]post that's full of links and has,
   I think, the best-pitched response I've seen so far to the whole
   thing:

     What I am hearing from some conservatives inclined to pooh-pooh
     Foley's behavior and carry on about Barney Frank instead does not
     sit well with me. You can't possibly read Foley's communications
     with minors that have been disclosed so far--including his attempts
     to rendezvous with one--and dismiss them as merely "naughty
     e-mails."
     ...
     At this point, I think the GOP is making a mistake banging the drum
     so hard over the apparent far left/MSM orchestration of the story.
     However long the other side sat on the e-mails and IMs, the fact is
     that Mark Foley--and Mark Foley alone--is responsible for giving
     his enemies something to spring upon his campaign in the first
     place.

   It's interesting that so many of the same people who seem fond of
   referring to everyone under the age of thirty as "children" whose
   unworldliness must be preserved by any means necessary have taken,
   this weekend, to acting as if nothing short of "Lay me down and f**k
   me, stud!!!!" crossed the line into inappropriate sexual content. As
   [2]Michael and [3]one of the people Malkin cites say, whether Foley
   planned to close the deal isn't the only, or even the primary, issue.
   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.

References

   1. http://michellemalkin.com/archives/006033.htm
   2. http://gayorbit.net/?p=5555
   3. http://www.townhall.com/blog/g/e6040776-7b16-4f3e-8ab4-ffa34fb567b3