He was the chief child protector in Congress, so I'm a bit worried that the children won't be adequately protected during the period when someone is selected and trained to take over his responsibilities.
Cue porn film:
"Hello, little boy - a fine looking young fellow you are indeed! But you look like you need a dose of my turbocharged .....protection!
Isn't the age of consent 16 in some states? Just sayin.
His name stay on the ballot, but any votes for him count for whoever replaces him. In some more wingnutty places I'd expect that to be enough since people just pull the R lever regardless (Republican Ficus for Congress!), but this district is close enough and the Dems have a real candidate, so it's looking pretty good.
I have no idea what he actually did -- the only conduct I'm aware of were the flirty emails. The age of consent isn't really relevant to those, because (a) emails, not sex and (b) even if the kid were over the age of consent, still (given that the resignation appears to have confirmed that the emails were a come-on, not just weird chattiness) mega-sleazy.
On this note, I ask: What's the Congressional Record?
Ten pages a night.
Apparently he had some IM indiscretions as well.
ABC had obtained "excerpts of instant messages provided by former pages who said the congressman, under the AOL Instant Messenger screen name Maf54, made repeated references to sexual organs and acts."
made repeated references to sexual organs and acts
Shit. There goes that hope of a political career.
Republican Ficus for Congress!
That would be so, so much better than the current lot.
I don't feel pity for him; it's not about him being gay, it's about him being a sleaze.
6: Only for districts and parties full of uptight people.
Wow, for some reason I assumed that it was a female page when I first heard the story. Interesting.
it wouldn't have depended on his being in the closet if he weren't a Republican!
I'm not sure about this. Democrat or Republican, I have to think that being gay is a pretty significant political hurdle to overcome regardless
(though obviously more so for a "values conservative").
still (given that the resignation appears to have confirmed that the emails were a come-on, not just weird chattiness) mega-sleazy.
Agreed.
Zero pity. I hope there's a reporter hiding in his garbage can, because a resignation that fast over something as relatively minor (zing!, though I note the age of consent in DC is 16 if I remember correctly) must surely indicate that he's going to be spending his last night in town trying desperately to hide the bodies in his back yard.
You know, I don't really care if he's a poor repressed gay man who's only hitting on pages because it's so hard being in the closet, or if he's raping kittens. Today, the one thing I care about is that he's got an R after his name, and he's going down.
The Democrats should now run ads smearing the Republicans as "the party of pederasty."
2: Per comments somewhere (TAPped, maybe?), age of consent is 16 in Florida if you're under 25, 18 otherwise. The emails were just a touch creepy, but if he was sending explicit IMs to other pages, no wonder alarms started going off for the kid.
Latest Senate polls in Missouri and Tennessee bad, NJ good.
And the guy picks HIS OWN INITIALS to be a perv with? Stu-pid.
Bout 'like my posting about Emma "Hermione" Watson under my middle name ... no, not exactly like that.
Zero pity.
Well, even I would hate if he committed suicide over this. That would be awfully harsh, and far from unprecedented. Just quit chasing the jailbait, Foley!
I once quit a job very abruptly, as a teenager, after being hit on by my manager and his lackey (bonus: they were father and son). Nothing they said was outright inappropriate in that I was certain I could ever convince another human being that they were for really reals hitting on me, but I knew what they were doing and it was ultra-creepy and I would have loved to have seen them both tossed in the street for it. The manager's opening line: "What do you like to do on Friday nights?" I have no doubt that Foley was hitting on the kid, and I have no pity. I'll say it again: the speed with which he's hitting the exit door indicates that he might have been in the closet for the simple reason he couldn't find the door for all those skeletons everywhere.
Drudge has this snippet.
Maf54: Do I make you a little horny?
Teen: A little.
Maf54: Cool.
13 works.
On the way to pick up PK at school, it occurred to me that this, not the whole "but some legal immigrants aren't terrorists!" argument is what we should be focusing on--that is, the sleaze factor. Like so:
"I know that it's *meant* to protect us against terrorists, but since it's a *law*, it applies in other situations too. Under the new law, if we elect a president who is, say, a rapist or child molester, he could cover it up by having all his victims arrested and held as "enemy combatants" and they wouldn't be able to do anything about it!"
20: Man, that's just pathetic. What *doesn't* make a teenage boy a little horny?
19:
That story is heartwarming. Were they hitting on you together, like it was a family project for them?
Well, even I would hate if he committed suicide over this.
Why, what's his voting record look like?
So what you're saying, McManly, is that this is a gay thing that we straight people just can't understand?
(Don't hit me.)
19: Seriously, that must have sucked. Being a teenager and being pretty sure of what's going on, but not sure enough that you feel like you can stand up for yourself? Lousy.
Man, that's just pathetic. What *doesn't* make a teenage boy a little horny?
Republican Congressmen, apparently.
R. McManlyPants' story sounds like it could have been written by a teenage girl being harassed. Clearly, we need to inter all middle-aged men until they can prove they're not pervs of any kind.
"Man, that's just pathetic. What *doesn't* make a teenage boy a little horny?"
It's been a lot of decades now, but I'm pretty sure that my answer at the time would have been:
Republicans.
"Clearly, we need to inter all middle-aged men until they can prove they're not pervs of any kind"
There's a line a lot like this in the Merry Wives of Windsor--something like "I shall have a bill introduced into Parliament for the putting down of men." It's Mistress Ford, I think, after Falstaff has been hitting on her. In his inimitably sleazy way.
Indeed. Same as the argument that the best way to prevent rape is to not let men go out without a woman escort from their own family, not let them out after dark, etc.
It's been a lot of decades now, but I'm pretty sure that my answer at the time would have been:
Republicans.
I can attest that I actually lost an erection because the Oingo Boingo song "Capitalism" came on the stereo. I was a couple years past being a teenager, though.
Is that TMI?
#0- Bitch that sounds a little too Sharia (sp?).
TLL, I think that comment belongs on standpipe's blog.
No, they didn't hit on me together - they did individually, but on the same day. I'm pretty sure that neither of them realized the other was engaged in that behavior. And it sucked, but not like emotional-trauma-oh-noes sucked. The job was awful anyway, and I only had a few days left there, so it's not like I went hungry over it. Plenty of people have suffered worse. I just wish I'd had the smarts or wits or whatever to respond to the kid's later-that-afternoon come-on with, "I'm not into it, but have you asked your dad?" before I told him I wouldn't be back.
Teo, I just heard on the radio a song I think you'd like.
I do like the song, but I'm not actually in favor of killing pigeons. To me dead birds are just as bad as live ones.
But slightly different in their terror, no?
When you attend a funeral
It is sad to think that sooner or
Later those you love will do the same, for you.
And you may have thought it tragic
Not to mention other adjec-
Tives to think of all the weeping they will do.
But don't you worry....
Nothing they said was outright inappropriate in that I was certain I could ever convince another human being that they were for really reals hitting on me, but I knew what they were doing and it was ultra-creepy
Usually the problem, this pretty much describes sexual harrassment almost every single time.
Although I'd like the Democrats to come out of the November elections with a nice majority in the House, the very idea of the Democrats winning a one-seat majority in the House as a result of this has me grinning.
That would indeed be some sweet poetic justice.
The first time in my life that I ever really felt like I belonged in a group of my peers was when somebody sang a line or so from Tom Lehrer and half or more of the group joined in. Good stuff.
I can attest that I actually lost an erection because the Oingo Boingo song "Capitalism" came on the stereo.
I once ruined the erection of a buddy of mine who was having obnoxiously loud sex in the room next door by dropping a Dave Koz album in my stereo, cranking it, and leaving my room, locking the door behind me.
When the upstairs neighbors used to have very loud sex, my ex would just moan along, louder and hotter until they heard him.
Hey, anything short of death or dismemberment is now a-okay.
But only if you can be certain that the neighbor is not a citizen.
(Should make the international grad dorm a treat.)