Congressman Foley resigns

[deep]

Republican Foley of Florida to resign seat

Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:24 PM ET



WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Six-term Republican Rep. Mark Foley of Florida will resign from the U.S. Congress following allegations he sent inappropriate e-mails to a 16-year-old male congressional intern, Republican sources said on Friday.

Foley, who represents a district in southern Florida, has served as chairman of a House caucus on missing and exploited children and was a member of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees tax and trade policy.

Republican lawyers are examining state election laws to see if his name can be removed from the ballot in his Republican-leaning district, the party sources said.

There was a time when

Better dead than RED


was the Conservatives Watch Word


now it is

Better dead than GAY

 

[80sU2isBest]

Re: The Sickness and Madness that prevails in the GOP

There was a time when

Better dead than RED

was the Conservatives Watch Word

now it is

Better dead than GAY

I think there's more to this than the gay angle.

The alleged person to whom the alleged emails were allegedly written was allegedly only 16 alleged years old. Yes, I know alleged doesn't make sense with "years", but hey, I was on a role.

If this is true, its' really sick. It ranks right up there with the prostitution ring that someone was running from Barney Frank's house. In fact, if no minors were involved in the prostitution ring, this is worse.

 

[deep]

Re: Re: The Sickness and Madness that prevails in the GOP

I think there's more to this than the gay angle.

you are right

i did jump the gun on this

if the page was a girl

the congressman should still resign

Foley said he was "sorry" today after the emails to the former page were revealed. In the emails, sent from his AOL account, Foley had made repeated references to sexual organs and sex acts.

However, when I read this yesterday

that information was not available

I read that the GOP wanted to draft him to run for the Senate
instead of Katerine Harris

but there were concerns about him possibly being Gay.

 

[deep]

it looks like it was in 2004 or 2003?

that the Conservatives

would not let him run for Senate

Foley's exit leaves Senate field in flux
Fellow Republicans support his family decision but wonder how to proceed.
STEVE BOUSQUET
Published September 6, 2003

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


TALLAHASSEE - The abrupt withdrawal of U.S. Rep. Mark Foley from Florida's U.S. Senate race shocked the political world Friday and created a wide-open race for the Republican nomination for Bob Graham's seat.

Foley, a five-term congressman from West Palm Beach, said he was quitting the race because his father, Ed, 82, is battling cancer. The congressman's 77-year-old mother, Fran, also has been ailing after recent cataract surgery. Foley, 49, said he would seek re-election to his House seat instead.

Foley said he could no longer balance his parents' health problems with the fact that he and his older sister, Donna Winterson, the campaign's political director, are often on the road together.

"We travel as a team. With both of us gone, it wouldn't have worked," Foley said. "I couldn't do it without her, and I didn't want to leave our parents without either of us."

Foley was in the midst of a monthlong "Driving the Distance" tour of 30 counties two weeks ago when he heard his father had been taken to a hospital. Ed Foley was recuperating from quadruple bypass heart surgery when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. Kidney complications soon followed.

Part of a close-knit Irish Catholic family with Massachusetts roots, Foley said: "Sometimes you have to come to a mature conclusion in life. ... As far as my family is concerned, I think it's time to spend a few precious moments for them rather than for myself."

The Florida seat, held by Graham since 1986, is one of four in the South targeted by Republicans in hopes of increasing their 51-48 majority.

The suddenness of Foley's departure caught many Republicans by surprise, including Gov. Jeb Bush, who voiced support for the decision.

"It's the right thing to do," Bush said. "Family matters more than ambition. If he wants to be there to take care of his family, that's great. But he was the front-runner, so it creates a real void."

Rival campaigns and party activists across the state began reassessing the field of likely Republican candidates, all of them social conservatives from Central Florida.

They include House Speaker Johnnie Byrd of Plant City, U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon of Palm Bay, former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum of suburban Orlando, and state Sen. Daniel Webster of Winter Garden. Only McCollum has run statewide. He lost the 2000 U.S. Senate race to Democrat Bill Nelson.

As word of Foley's decision leaked out Thursday night, campaign aides described themselves as shellshocked. They rushed to cancel a series of fundraisers from Palm Beach to Puerto Rico to Los Angeles.

"I was shocked. I didn't expect it at all," said Ana Trinque, a Brooksville real estate agent and chairwoman of the Hernando County Republican Party.

 

[80sU2isBest]

Re: Re: Re: The Sickness and Madness that prevails in the GOP

you are right

i did jump the gun on this

if the page was a girl

the congressman should still resign

And be thrown in jail.

 

[MaxFisher]

Disgusting behavior. He should be put in jail.

But to say this type of thing "prevails" in the GOP is quite a stretch.

 

[80sU2isBest]

Disgusting behavior. He should be put in jail.

But to say this type of thing "prevails" in the GOP is quite a stretch.

That is very true.

 

[verte76]

This is disgusting.

 

[Harry Vest]

Of all the "sick" and "disgusting" things going on in our world this very day...this is very low on the list.

 

[INDY500]

There's an old adage in politics that warns "never get caught in bed with a dead woman or a live boy."

We've heard the last of this guy...until he's on Oprah in a couple of years hawking his mea culpa book.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Sorry but jail? Did the e-mails involve underage girls or something; lewd and obscence pictures are not cause for imprisonment.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Of all the "sick" and "disgusting" things going on in our world this very day...this is very low on the list.

Really? Have you ever seen To Catch A Predator, just to give one example? That's how the whole thing usually starts out. Sexual predators who prey on underage boys and girls have found quite a home on the internet. And, uh-it's with MINORS.

And it has nothing to do with the GOP, this type of sickness and madness crosses all political lines. I bet many of the guys they catch on that show are registered Democrats, wow can you imagine?. Yes many Republicans sure seem to have issues with homosexuality and are hypocritical in their behavior (such as in this case), but certainly you can't apply those instances to the entire GOP. I don't see what "better dead than gay" has to do with it, other than the fact that it's hyperbole for anti-GOP sentiment.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/exclusive_the_s.html

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

In 1983, the House censured two lawmakers -- Daniel Crane of Illinois and Gerry Studds of Massachusetts -- for having improper relationships with pages.

Wikipedia


Daniel Bever Crane (born January 10, 1936) is a former American politician.

Crane, a native of Cook County, Illinois, graduated from Indiana University with a degree in dentistry, and was a practicing dentist before his entry into politics. Crane joined the United States Army in 1965, and served until 1970.

Crane resumed his dental practice after his military service, and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican in 1978. He was re-elected in 1980 and in 1982.

After his 1982 re-election, Crane was charged with having a sexual relationship in 1980 with an underage female congressional page. Crane plead guilty to the charge and issued profuse, tearful apologies. He was defeated for re-election in 1984


Gerry Eastman Studds (born May 12, 1937) is a retired American politician, born in Mineola, New York. He served as a Democratic Congressman for Massachusetts from 1973 until 1996. He was the first openly homosexual member of the US Congress and, more generally, the first openly gay national politician in the US.


Studds is remembered chiefly for his role in the Congressional page sex scandal in 1983, when he and Representative Dan Crane were censured by the House of Representatives for separate sexual relationships with a minor – in Studds's case, a 1973 relationship with a 17-year-old male congressional page.

During the course of the House Ethics Committee's investigation, Studds publicly acknowledged his homosexuality, a disclosure that, according to a Washington Post article, "apparently was not news to many of his constituents." Studds stated in an address to the House, "It is not a simple task for any of us to meet adequately the obligations of either public or private life, let alone both, but these challenges are made substantially more complex when one is, as I am, both an elected public official and gay."

As the House read their censure of him, Studds turned his back and ignored them. Later, at a press conference with the former page standing beside him, the two stated that what had happened between them was nobody's business but their own.

 

[U2democrat]

I don't care what party the man is in, this is disgusting.

 

[80sU2isBest]

Sorry but jail? Did the e-mails involve underage girls or something; lewd and obscence pictures are not cause for imprisonment.

They involved an underage boy.

 

[Dreadsox]

[Q]Gerry Eastman Studds (born May 12, 1937) is a retired American politician, born in Mineola, New York. He served as a Democratic Congressman for Massachusetts from 1973 until 1996. He was the first openly homosexual member of the US Congress and, more generally, the first openly gay national politician in the US.[/Q]

I met Congressman Studds in 1985 between my Jr. & Sr. year in High School. I interned in his office for almost two years afterwards. He was a good Congressman who worked hard for his constituents.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I'm sure he was a good congressman, but his case just points out that it is not strictly a Republican issue (as it seemed deep was implying). I just can't fathom saying that an inappropriate relationship with a 17 year old (in your workplace nonetheless) is nobody's business but yours. And being a gay man, possibly he was feeding certain stereotypes-ones that I definitely do not believe in, but they do exist.

Sure Foley was most certainly a complete hypocrite, given what he said about minors and the internet-but he is not alone.

 

[verte76]

What a loser.

 

[deep]

I'm sure he was a good congressman, but his case just points out that it is not strictly a Republican issue (as it seemed deep was implying). I just can't fathom saying that an inappropriate relationship with a 17 year old (in your workplace nonetheless) is nobody's business but yours. And being a gay man, possibly he was feeding certain stereotypes-ones that I definitely do not believe in, but they do exist.

Sure Foley was most certainly a complete hypocrite, given what he said about minors and the internet-but he is not alone.

Perhaps, it would be helpful for you read the thread before you post

this broke one way the first day

and then the other stuff was released

80s brought it up in the first reply

And I address it in the second reply

So, if you actually read before you reply
you may not feel the need to misrepresent what I was implying

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Perhaps, it would be helpful for you read the thread before you post

this broke one way the first day

and then the other stuff was released

80s brought it up in the first reply

And I address it in the second reply

So, if you actually read before you reply
you may not feel the need to misrepresent what I was implying

I did read the thread- and no matter what way it broke or what day it was, this is what you said in your first post. And um, what is the title of the thread? I was responding to the original title and the fact is that we all tend to jump on things on partisan lines around here and see everything that way. I'm a Democrat, so from that standpoint I have no interest in "defending" Foley or anyone in the GOP.


"There was a time when

Better dead than RED


was the Conservatives Watch Word


now it is

Better dead than GAY"

So he was e-mailing this boy and it's inappropriate whether he's gay or not, or whether he's Republican/conservative or not. That's all I was trying to say. No need to get all defensive and angry.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

I think if all this is true then this is the real prevailing "sickness and madness"

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/09/house-gop-leadership-knew-about-foley.html

"Does House Republican leader Denny Hastert have a soft spot for child sex offenders?

Seems so. Republican House Speaker Denny Hastert has some serious explaining to do, after today's revelations that they knew about ex-Congressman Mark Foley's sexscapades a good year ago, and did nothing.

Whether or not the kid's parents were fine with letting it go, which the story says is the case, why did Republican House Speaker Denny Hastert permit Foley to remain in the House GOP leadership for almost a year after they knew he was having sex talk with minors online, minors he met on the job?

Why did Republican House Speaker Denny Hastert leave Foley as the co-chair of the House body in charge of child sex offenses for a good year after they knew?

Why did Republican House Speaker Denny Hastert permit Foley to stay in the House at all, where he would be around other pages every day all day long?

And just as importantly, why did Republican House Speaker Denny Hastert let Foley lie publicly yesterday about the emails, claiming they were innocent, and simply a dirty attack from the Democrats, when the House leadership knew the real story?

And finally, we find out that the FBI was contacted two months about this story. Was there any follow-up from the Bush FBI? Or did they just let this potential case of child sex offense go by the wayside because it involved a friend of Bush?

From from the SF Chronicle:

"The page worked for Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who said Friday that when he learned of the e-mail exchanges 10 to 11 months ago, he called the teen's parents. Alexander told the Ruston Daily Leader, "We also notified the House leadership that there might be a potential problem," a reference to the House's Republican leaders.

Foley was a member of the Republican leadership, serving as a deputy whip. He also was a member of the House Ways and Means Committee."



It's interesting that Republican Speaker Hastert's home page says Mr. Hastert is having a community meeting about "Keeping Kids Safe in Cyberspace." Here's one way: Next time someone tells you one of your friends is soliciting sex with a minor, do something about it."

 

[deep]

Re: Re: Re: The Sickness and Madness that prevails in the GOP

1. I started this thread

2. this was the first reply:

I think there's more to this than the gay angle.

The alleged person to whom the alleged emails were allegedly written was allegedly only 16 alleged years old. Yes, I know alleged doesn't make sense with "years", but hey, I was on a role.

If this is true, its' really sick. It ranks right up there with the prostitution ring that someone was running from Barney Frank's house. In fact, if no minors were involved in the prostitution ring, this is worse.

3. this was the second reply:

Originally posted by deep 09-29-2006 01:41 PM


you are right

i did jump the gun on this

if the page was a girl

the congressman should still resign




However, when I read this yesterday

that information was not available

I read that the GOP wanted to draft him to run for the Senate
instead of Katerine Harris

but there were concerns about him possibly being Gay.

80s read my reply and most everyone else read my reply and explanation.

So why are you still misrepresenting?


I will accept your apology.

 

[A_Wanderer]

They involved an underage boy.

Where is that bit in the story, from what I read it sounds like he sent an e-mail with porno in it to a 16 year old; wrong I agree with but is the material in some way illegal?

 

[verte76]

I don't know if it's illegal. I do know it's wrong.

 

[80sU2isBest]

Where is that bit in the story, from what I read it sounds like he sent an e-mail with porno in it to a 16 year old; wrong I agree with but is the material in some way illegal?

I was under the impression that he was propositioning the boy. If that's the case, I think he should go to jail while it's still just an attempt to have sex with an underage boy; it will prevent him from having the chance to carry out the act some day.

And if it was case of him sahring porno with the boy, well - let's throw him in jail anyway, just for the heck of it. I am a big fan of the comedian George Wallace; you know what he said - "Some people just need to go to jail."

 

[A_Wanderer]

Isn't 16 of consenting age?

 

[Dreadsox]

I am not sure there are many parallels with the Studds case. At the time the page was of legal concent in 1972 when the affair with the page happened. It was brought before the house in 1983. The house did not impeach him or remove him from office. They censured him, something completely different. Ten years had passed which is why the page who had the affair stood with Studds. He had reached the age of consent, which I understand would have made him feel that it was indeed nobody'd business. If the alleged victem did not feel that Studds had used his power to coerce him into sex, why then should the congress be censuring him. While I do find the incident to be of poor judgement given the fact that it was the workplace, if the legal age of concent was reached, there is nothing short of poor judgement on his part.

I am not sure this is the same type of situation. On a footnore....Studds was reelected multiple times from his district, one that was known to be a republican stronghold in the state, if I am not mistaken.

 

[CTU2fan]

Isn't 16 of consenting age?

Depends on the state...

Comparing a guy emailing porn to a 16 year old to a child molester is a stretch IMO.

 

[diamond]

i think it's suspect and very telling that mr deep consistently posts bad news and hit pieces on the GOP.

it's really quite a sad way to spend one's life.

dbs

 

[U2democrat]

Isn't 16 of consenting age?

I'm pretty sure its 18 nationwide.