Holy Moley, Foley
Nah. Actually it's too easy. And shooting fish in a barrel is just not the style over here at "Here's the Thing".
Except. Point one, The Spouse would like me to make it clear that a pedophile is one who is sexually attracted to young children. Which makes disgraced Rep. Foley technically not a pedophile. He is, however, a dirty old man.
Point B, the thing that keeps me from doing my happy dance of schadenfreude is twofold. First, delighting in the miserable failings of others isn't that much fun when you know you yourself are not perfect. (Although, I don't have a thing for younger men. Unless you count Colin Firth). Second, at the heart of it, this story is just sad. Here's a guy, in all likelihood (according to some sources, absolutely) gay, who has been in complete denial about who he is. He has abused his position of authority thus ruining his career, freaking out teenage pages and generally providing a serious "ick" factor to the election season.
And once again we face the irony of what has happened to the Republican party in this country. This is the party that used to be about small government, low taxes, fiscal responsibility and privacy. The Democrats have pretty much picked up those banners. In the last 20 years the GOP has made "values" the watchword of their platform. Appealing to a small but very vocal base, they have sought to legislate morality, defined very narrowly. People like Rep. Foley have been talking the talk without walking the walk. And the GOP has devolved into the party of fear, corruption, hypocrisy, war and greed. Oh, and they spend your tax dollars like a sailor on leave. (No disrespect to the troops intended). Dwight D. Eisenhower wouldn't recognize this bunch.
But that's what happens, isn't it? This isn't the first time that the party in power has completely lost sight of its vision. It probably won't be the last. The GOP has completely lost its moorings and they are taking the rest of us with them. We can stop that on November 7.
Except. Point one, The Spouse would like me to make it clear that a pedophile is one who is sexually attracted to young children. Which makes disgraced Rep. Foley technically not a pedophile. He is, however, a dirty old man.
Point B, the thing that keeps me from doing my happy dance of schadenfreude is twofold. First, delighting in the miserable failings of others isn't that much fun when you know you yourself are not perfect. (Although, I don't have a thing for younger men. Unless you count Colin Firth). Second, at the heart of it, this story is just sad. Here's a guy, in all likelihood (according to some sources, absolutely) gay, who has been in complete denial about who he is. He has abused his position of authority thus ruining his career, freaking out teenage pages and generally providing a serious "ick" factor to the election season.
And once again we face the irony of what has happened to the Republican party in this country. This is the party that used to be about small government, low taxes, fiscal responsibility and privacy. The Democrats have pretty much picked up those banners. In the last 20 years the GOP has made "values" the watchword of their platform. Appealing to a small but very vocal base, they have sought to legislate morality, defined very narrowly. People like Rep. Foley have been talking the talk without walking the walk. And the GOP has devolved into the party of fear, corruption, hypocrisy, war and greed. Oh, and they spend your tax dollars like a sailor on leave. (No disrespect to the troops intended). Dwight D. Eisenhower wouldn't recognize this bunch.
But that's what happens, isn't it? This isn't the first time that the party in power has completely lost sight of its vision. It probably won't be the last. The GOP has completely lost its moorings and they are taking the rest of us with them. We can stop that on November 7.
cobbled together by Moi at 9:44 AM
4 Comments:
I fundamentally agree, Charlie. The difference between the Dems and the Republicans, though, is that the Dems, for all their faults, never try to tell the rest of us how to live our lives. You gotta like that about them.
I'm a wonk; whatcha gonna do? Go Manchester United. (Or something like that).
But now he wants the people to believe that his "daliances" were caused by alcohol and can be cured with rehab. That's like taking cough syrup for a yeast infection.
You know your party is right on track when 35 days before the election, people are trying to determine if you are technically a pedophile, or just a regular sexual predator of teenage boys.
JP, LOL!
Iwanski, Well, at least they have standards.
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