It's the United States Congress, not the Super Adventure Club

Ahh, nothing like a sex scandal during election season. Especially one involving a Republican congressman and teenage boys. If you feel a little voyeuristic, ABC News has transcripts of some of the instant messages that Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) sent to congressional pages. Disturbing stuff - don't follow that link if you're going to come back and complain that it made you sick.

Not wanting to dwell on the sordid details, I'll dwell on the sweet, sweet irony. Foley was the chairman of the House caucus on missing and exploited children. Hey, it's a rare example of the Republicans giving a position to someone who actually has some experience! Foley was credited with writing the sexual-predator provisions of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, which Bush signed in July.

Some folks on Daily Kos dug up an interesting quote from the Clinton-Lewinsky witch hunt:

"It's vile," said Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach. "It's more sad than anything else, to see someone with such potential throw it all down the drain because of a sexual addiction."

Quick, what's the difference between Clinton and Mark Foley? Clinton's activities involved another consenting adult.

Not only is Mark Foley a pederast, he's also a fucking hypocrite. Despite his own feelings toward adolescent boys, Foley voted YES on the Homophobia Gets Us Reelected Act (also known as the Defense of Marriage Act).

And for the coup de grace, it's becoming increasingly clear that Republican reps all the way up to Majority Leader Boehner (heh heh) and Speaker Hastert knew about Foley and engaged in a cover-up. I'm not sure how they thought they could get away with it when an organization as powerful as the Catholic Church couldn't.

UPDATE: How ironic (in the Alanis Morissette way) that I would make a comment about the Catholic Church, and then Foley would claim to have been molested by a clergyman. If it's true, he has my sympathy, but it doesn't excuse his actions.

Most importantly... the following Congressmen knew about Foley's activities and did or said nothing. If you live in their districts, please go to the polls in November and make sure they are no longer stinking up the hallowed halls of our Capitol next year.

• House Majority Leader Boehner, John (R-OH-8th)


• Speaker of the House Hastert, J. Dennis (R-IL-14th)


• Rep. Shimkus, John (R-IL-19th)


• Rep. Alexander, Rodney (R-LA-5th)


• Rep. Reynolds, Thomas (R-NY-26th)