Susie Bright on Foley etc
I am having an unexpected reaction to Congressman Foley’s sex scandal.
—Not surprised that a gay-bashing, flag-waving, “save-the-children”
Republican turns out to be a closeted chicken hawk who harasses cute
boy pages in the House of Representatives.
—Not taken aback if the entire House leadership knew about it,
tolerated it, and for all we know, ordered in the beer.
“Foley gets triple bonus points for hypocrisy. As co-chairman of the
House caucus on missing and exploited children, he has been a fierce
advocate for tough sanctions against people who sexually exploit
children over the Internet…”
I fully expect that men like Foley, who scream about the pornographic
dangers of the Web, are likely the most narcissistic predators in
town. Foley wouldn’t know a moral code if it fell on top of him. He’s
part of a very select club.
But here’s my NEW unexpected reaction:
All things considered, I don’t give a shit about this.
I’m rather devastated on another front. Our Congress passed bills
this past week that dismantle habeas corpus, that legalize torture
and free-for-all wiretapping. The emperor’s new edicts target
anyone, including citizens, who might have a bad hair day in the
President’s almighty estimation.
This is that same club— with their teeth bared, instead of their
drawers down. As blogger Ian MacLeod puts it, “The Rule of Law is
dead in America.”
Yet this new regime is apparently a big yawn with the American
public. Snooze on, Victoria. Everyone who watches TV knows all about
Foley’s boxer shorts, but the loss of one’s right to privacy, or a
jury trial, doesn’t seem to make anyone’s dick hard.
That odd select few, the voting crew who put this club in office, are
so precious that they don’t believe that tewworist-related nastiness
will ever happen to them. George Bush wouldn’t dare waterboard anyone
in YOUR family! Terrorists are easy to spot because they incite
hysterical racist feelings you can’t control!
And I’m supposed to care about Tom, Dick, and Mark-Foolery?
I’m not worried about 16-year-old pages insofar as their age is
concerned. It’s damaging to infantilize them. They are NOT children.
When I was sixteen, and my boss harassed me, I was outraged, but I
didn’t want to be treated like a child; I had my own personal sex
life as I pleased.
These pages deserve respect. Their concerns are a legitimate labor
complaint, and they are interns dealing with a hostile work
atmosphere, rather than babies without a minder.
Foley is gross, and resignation is too good for him— but the reason
he disgusts is his politics, his ethical vacuum. It’s not that he’s
gay, or thinks hard-bodied young athletes are hot. I’d love to Gitmo
him and any of his brethren at dawn, but don’t give me this pedo-
titillation crap like that’s what I’m supposed to care about.
Some activists are pressing hard on the “Foley Child Molestor”
talking points because they believe this kind of salacious
description is what it will take to win points in the next election.
Turning red to blue is going to save the day, right? A slight
adjustment will be all it takes, and then all those Dems who voted
for the homeland-uber-alles, leave-no-child-unmolested crap are going
to get on their knees and beg for forgiveness and democracy, right?
That pinned hope is more self-deluded than Mark Foley ever was.
Photo of Magna Carta. Read it and weep:
The fifth amendment of the Bill of Rights guarantees:
No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law.
Written 575 years earlier, in the 13th century, Magna Carta declares:
No freeman shall be taken, imprisoned,…or in any other way
destroyed…except by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law
of the land. To no one will we sell, to none will we deny or delay,
right or justice.