The Foley guy...

IminWonderland · 09-30-2006, 12:46 PM

Just wondering...but didn't want to throw the thread off track in the main forum.

There is alot of disgust over him talking with a 16 year old boy.

Would we still think this was disgusting if it was with a 16 or 17 year old girl?

motivez · 09-30-2006, 01:05 PM

For me, it's more about his position as a Congressman, a position of power relative to what this boy was in Washington for.

JaJae · 09-30-2006, 01:47 PM

I don't think the sex of the kid matters. It's the fact that a Congressmen stooped this low.

It doesn't rank up there as high as what McGreevey did, which is another popular scandal right now. But McGreevey also wasn't on the Federal level.

By resigning Foley is essentially admitting some guilt. By not denying it, he opens himself up for a lot of attacks. And he deserves them all. I hope there is a full investigation in this and he doesn't get special treatment for being a congressmen. We need to set examples with people in position of power like this, not let them off easy.

I personally don't care about things like how good of a politician some think he is or whether he has been able to compromise on issues in Congress in the past. If he did the crime, he better do some fucking time. None of this defending assholes for partisan reasons and letting our congressmen get away with stuff like this.

IminWonderland · 09-30-2006, 03:18 PM

Yeah, there is a definate power structure issue here...

I just wondered how the story would play different if this was a 16 year old teenage girl...

I wonder if it would still be gross?

I guess we'll never know.

Stylerod · 09-30-2006, 07:46 PM

Originally Posted by IminWonderland

Yeah, there is a definate power structure issue here...

I just wondered how the story would play different if this was a 16 year old teenage girl...

I wonder if it would still be gross?

I guess we'll never know.

Do you think he's being treated unfairly because he's gay?

IminWonderland · 09-30-2006, 11:24 PM

Originally Posted by Stylerod

Do you think he's being treated unfairly because he's gay?

Do I think he's being treated unfairly....well, under the law...No.

The person was under 18, and by law a minor, and sexually explicit Im's or Em's to a minor is a crime.

However....
I don't think that what he did, is exactly the worse thing that he could do in the world. Part of me believes, that had this been a 17 year old girl, then it would still make him look bad, but it wouldn't look THAT bad.

There have been other threads I can remember where there was talk about the sex crime laws, and how black and white they are, and how a girl at 11 is a different kind of minor than a girl at 17, and how both ages can carry the same penalty, or severity of penalty, although individually we can judge whether or not the female was capable of making whatever decision.

But, in reality, take the fact that he's a congressman out of it. What did he do? He had a sexual conversation with what really is a "near" legal adult, who was of the same sex. The Young Man (I don't say kid, because I don't consider a 16 year old a kid) felt uncomfortable with the conversation. In the real world, where there is no House Ethics committee, what would have happened? The teen would MAYBE have told his parents, and they would have told him to block him, or cease contact with him. Just like any other creepy person you talk to online, you can block them. And that would have been that. But, because he's in congress, it got put onto another level.

Now granted, Foley was warned to cease the behavior, and understandibly so. And quitting his job is his choice. And I think that it's inappropriate behavior for him to make another guy uncomfortable like that....but that makes me wonder, seeing the transcripts of ABC (some of them) these conversations happened for quite sometime. If this kid was disgusted, he sure did have a funny way of showing it....by engaging in it more? What's that all about?

I don't believe this makes him "gay", but I think the fact that it was with another male, does say something to the outrage by others on Foley's level. I believe if this was a girl, it either would have been taken seriously from the get go, or it would have never been mentioned as a big deal to anyone.

But, like I said, we'll never know...the what if's...

There is a power issue here. And I'm sure that's what the Hub-Bub is about...