While I was bogged down in quarter-close fun and games, I missed the news breaking that Mark Foley, chair of the Missing and Exploited Children’s Caucus, was resigning over risqué emails exchanged with an underaged Congressional Page.
In Sunday’s New York Times, there is a story claiming that House GOP leadership was familiar with and silent about the congressman’s alleged extracurricular activities for quite some time.
Among those who earlier this year became aware of the fall 2005 communications between Mr. Foley and the 16-year-old page, who worked for Representative Rodney Alexander, Republican of Louisiana, were Representative John A. Boehner, the majority leader, and Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of New York, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Mr. Reynolds said in a statement Saturday that he had also personally raised the issue with Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.
If it’s really true that the house leadership knew that Foley was dancing up and down Statuary Hall singing, “thank heavens for little boys” then some heads do need to roll.
However, as tempting as it may seem to paint either party in a hypocritical light, I do have to wonder if they sincerely believed that the matter was exaggerated, and not quite as egregious as it seems to have actually been.
Given various scandals over the past few years, one would think that political leaders would have adopted an “avoid appearance of impropriety”…or even a “shoot first, ask questions later” stance when it comes to allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor.