The Problem with the 'Foley Problem'

I have to agree with this commentary by John Nichols in The Nation, The Problem with the Foley Problem
Democrats, especially "liberal progressive" Democrats have mistakenly labelled Foley a "pedophile" (which involves sexual attraction to pre-adolescent children), which we have no evidence of (yet), and have reinforced the anti-gay Religioius Right's stereoype of gay men as child molestors. So far all of pages Foley has tried to seduce have been over the age of consent in Washington D.C. (16). What Fole did was wrong and unethical for other reasons, just like a teacher pursuing sexual relationships with students even if they are over the "age of consent," i.e., abuse of their power and position.

As Nichols points out, the real scandal is not Foley, that is another problem, the scandal is a REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP scandal and coverup. It is one of many scandals plaguing the most corrupt Congress in decades (from the Jack Abramoff scandals, Tom Delay, Bob Ney, Duke Cunningham...) one by one, Republicans in Washington are being hauled off to jail, or "rehab". And the most criminal of all is still occupying the White House and needs to be removed from power if the Democrats win back Congress and have any political backbone.

Democrats and Progressives have not been able to focus on the big scandals, or the lies and crimes of the Bush Administration. It has taken a "sex scandal" that does not seem to involve any sexual contact thus far, to get the media and the Democratic Party fired up.

Let's hope between now and Nov. 7, the personal attacks on Foley do not back fire, and the Democrats can get as much traction out of the far more serious issues and scandals plaguing the Republican Congress and White House.