The White House referred to Republican Representative Mark Foley’s sexual contact with underage congressional pages as “simply naughty emails.”
SNOW: Yes, look, I hate to tell you, but it’s not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill. And there have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty e-mails.
Does this seem like “simply naughty emails” to you (of course, it’s a chat, not an email)?
Maf54: I miss you lots since san diego.
Teen: ya I cant wait til dc
Maf54: 🙂
Teen: did you pick a night for dinner
Maf54: not yet…but likely Friday
Teen: ok…ill plan for Friday then
Maf54: that will be fun
And another message:
Maf54: I want to see you
Teen: Like I said not til feb…then we will go to dinner
Maf54: and then what happens
Teen: we eat…we drink…who knows…hang out…late into the night
Maf54: and
Teen: I dunno
Maf54: dunno what
Teen: hmmm I have the feeling that you are fishing here…im not sure what I would be comfortable with…well see
Looks to me like he met the kid, at least once. And the other chats he asked them to describe their masturbation techniques, measure their penises, etc.
The coverup is really entertaining — House Speaker Dennis Hastert is currently pulling press releases from his website about his efforts to “Keep Kids Safe in Cyberspace” from his website, because he knew about the scandal, possibly as early as 2001, and didn’t do anything.
Check out Think Progress’ timeline about which Republicans knew about Foley’s predatory behavior, and when they knew it. It’s like a Who’s Who of GOP Leadership — aside from Hastert, NRCC chairman Tom Reynolds, Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), Chairman of the House Page Board, House Majority Leader John A. Boehner, Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA).
Other Republican spin on the Foley scandal:
1) “It’s just like Clinton!” — except that she was an adult, not a 16 year old kid.
2) “It’s a GAY thing! Let’s ban gay marriage to keep this from happening!” — No, it’s a child predator thing. It doesn’t (and shouldn’t) matter what the sex of the kids were… they were teenagers, and he was a 50 year old guy.
You know that ain’t right. And Foley has nothing to do with my loving relationship with another consenting adult.