Terror, Schmerror.

I must say, all of that throat-cutting and suicide car-bomb mayhem was getting a bit boring. Now we have an honest-to-goodness scandal involving a Republican to talk about just ahead of a mid-term election. Once again, the evils of the two-party system are brought to the forefront.

The Democrats are already circling like buzzards over the carcass of Rep. Mark Foley’s reelection effort.

The Republicans have started the spin cycle in their basement laundromat in an attempt to air out their dirty laundry - after hiding it at the bottom of the hamper. They managed to cover up the foul stench of Foley’s fondness for young boys for 3 years. Unfortunately for Republicans, there’s no cleansing the soiled fabric of Foley’s office. The stain has already set. It’s time for voters to toss every bum who knew about this and covered it up for three years.

Rush Limbaugh made an interesting point, albeit one that was completely partisan; he portrayed the backlash from Foley’s self-destructive shenanigans as a democratic effort to win back Congress, instead of the character flaw that it really was. Republicans don’t need Democrats to win back Congress; they’re doing a fine job managing the war, protecting the border, and generally failing the American people. I think the Oxycontin has gone to Limbaugh’s head. Ohh, what a “RUSH!”

My message to Washington: If you’ve got skeletons in your closet, stop throwing me bones. Stop putting your own career aspirations ahead of doing the right thing, and start doing what we sent you to Washington for.

In the Sorriest Excuse of The Year category, House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

When Foley’s misdeeds became public, Hastert let loose a whopper. He said that he was aware of “overly-friendly”, or perhaps “inappropriate” emails, but not the more “sexually suggestive” instant messages. OK, I have to ask: Does he mean overly-friendly, as in “Hey Billy, do you want to come fishing with me and my family for the weekend?”; or overly-friendly, as in “Hey tiger, don’t forget to measure it“.

As Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dennis Hastert is obliged to deal with “inappropriate” behavior by Congressmen or their staff; not look the other way with a wink and a nod until it becomes public and he’s finally pressured to say something 3 years later. It reeks of dishonesty.

Foley –through his attorney– is now trumpeting the abuse excuse. Alcohol abuse, sexual abuse at the hands of an anonymous priest and various other excuses. Funny, I’ve known dozens of people in Alcoholics Anonymous that weren’t pedophiles; I didn’t know there was a causal connection. Oh that’s right, according to his attorney, Foley isn’t a pedophile, and he’s never had sex with a minor.

He may not be a convicted pedophile, but by all accounts he was certainly a pedophile in training, trying to groom his impressionable young victims. Are we to believe that if he wasn’t caught, that it wouldn’t have come to sex with young pages?

Don’t buy the “I was drinking” excuse. The problem with that one is that alcohol lowers inhibitions. This means that it doesn’t make you engage in any more risky behavior than you already would, minus the alcohol. It’s just more likely you’ll do what you’re already predisposed to do. As for the “abuse excuse”, there are also thousands of victims of sexual abuse who never molest people.

If ever there was a case study for a violation of the workplace laws against sexual harassment that Congress themselves helped to enact, this is it. Those in Congress who knew about it and did nothing ought to be facing the same stiff penalties as Foley, should criminal charges result.

The Foley case is no different than if I asked a female coworker what her “measurements” are, commented on her “rack”, or sent her the same emails Foley sent. It wouldn’t be tolerated in the workplace, we ought not tolerate it in Congress.