The stupidest scandal of the year just got even stupider

#1
T

therealUT

Rational Thought Allowed?
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#1
That was the headline this evening on Little Green Footballs...I could not agree more.
 
#2
#2
Just to throw something out here:

How many congressional members have for years been violating rules of conduct that others have heard rumors about?

My guess is a lot. Should they all be investigated? Which are the violations that merit investigation and which do not? Whose responsibility is it to look into these violations?

Will there be any congressional members left? :blink:
 
#3
#3
It's pretty funny reading everyone's views on this certain situation..
 
#5
#5
volinbham said:
Just to throw something out here:

Which are the violations that merit investigation and which do not? Whose responsibility is it to look into these violations?
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Well trying to bone little boys who are employed by the congress would probably come under the jurisdiction of the page oversight chairman? yes? :crazy:
 
#6
#6
volinbham said:
How many congressional members have for years been violating rules of conduct that others have heard rumors about?

My guess is a lot. Should they all be investigated? Which are the violations that merit investigation and which do not? Whose responsibility is it to look into these violations?

Will there be any congressional members left? :blink:
Click to expand...

I like the way you think. Let's throw them all out and start from scratch! We could hardly do any worse!
 
#7
#7
Well when one of the biggest advocates for online child predator legislation is caught doing just that, it all becomes ironic and disturbing. The same with seeing multiple time cheats like Gingrich and Barr speaking about the sanctity of marriage.
 
#8
#8
CSpindizzy said:
Well when one of the biggest advocates for online child predator legislation is caught doing just that, it all becomes ironic and disturbing. The same with seeing multiple time cheats like Gingrich and Barr speaking about the sanctity of marriage.
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He was not caught doing just that. He was talking with persons that were of the age of consent. If you have a problem with the Age of Consent in the District of Columbia, then move there and lobby for change. Other than that, he is not being at all hypocritical.
 
#9
#9
Age of consent and actually consenting are two different concepts. Read that legislation he helped pass. I guess you find nothing wrong with someone over 50 soliciting sex from a minor who happens to be unpaid staff. Obviously this wasn't too consensual when the emails make it clear the kid was creeped out and he turned this over to his Congressman.
 
#10
#10
CSpindizzy said:
Age of consent and actually consenting are two different concepts. Read that legislation he helped pass. I guess you find nothing wrong with someone over 50 soliciting sex from a minor who happens to be unpaid staff. Obviously this wasn't too consensual when the emails make it clear the kid was creeped out and he turned this over to his Congressman.
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The emails that the kid is claiming were a prank? The ones that his parents turned over to the congressman? Also, I do not agree with his behavior, but it is far from criminal.

If I, as a 16 year old, were having a consentual, sexual online relationship with Eva Longoria, and my parents found out, I am sure they would be very upset and most likely would take those to ABC to try to get it to stop. That does not make it non consentual on my part, and it certainly would not make it criminal on Eva's part. This is a case of poor judgment, something that is not criminal in itself.
 
#11
#11
You're confused. The emails were not a prank. SOME of the IM's are alleged to have been a prank. There is a difference.

When the kid himself was the one who turned over the emails, I'd say that is a rejection of this being consensual.

If there is nothing criminal why is the FBI looking into whether Foley broke the law in his sex chats over the internet with these minors?
 
#12
#12
As much as I think this "scandal" is being used as a political tool, at the same time it's a little tough to use the word consentual when referring to these relationships.

Put yourself in the position of a page receiving personal correspondence from a member of congress. I would think that any kid in that position would initially think it was cool and that the relationship could help them down the line. Then when it got weird, it would be difficult to know what to do since being seen as a whistleblower or jeopardizing the relationship could be detrimental to your future.
 
#13
#13
Here is something from the FBI's website. I guess these online predator laws just toss age of consent out the window:

[SIZE=-1]Should any of the following situations arise in your household, via the Internet or on-line service, you should immediately contact your local or state law enforcement agency, the FBI, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:[/SIZE]
  1. [SIZE=-1]Your child or anyone in the household has received child pornography;[/SIZE]
  2. [SIZE=-1]Your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows that your child is under 18 years of age;[/SIZE]
  3. [SIZE=-1]Your child has received sexually explicit images from someone that knows your child is under the age of 18.[/SIZE]
 
#15
#15
So you're saying if you were an investigator and you had these laws to abide by and you saw this that you would NOT investigate further?
 
#16
#16
CSpindizzy said:
So you're saying if you were an investigator and you had these laws to abide by and you saw this that you would NOT investigate further?
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Investigate a man asking when someone's birthday is, if they got through the hurricane alright, and asking for a picture, not really too much that I would investigate. Especially considering the 'victim' brought these to me and had nothing else, except he says its a little creepy, then I would tell him to tell the congressman to put an end to it. I would tell the congressman to put an end to it. And then, without any further evidence or complaint from the kid, shelf it.
 
#17
#17
So even with the laws that are on the books, the knowledge that Foley has a history of strange behavior around pages, and these questionable emails you would not look into this?
 
#18
#18
The problem with all of this is that people are operating with hindsight. In light of the IM's, the e-mails look worse than when viewed on their own.
 
#19
#19
Again, Foley's reputation in DC was not a big secret. People knew he was overly friendly to pages. People were aware that in some drunken stupor he attempted to get into the pages' dorm. He's a 50+ year old single male making frequent contacts with underage male pages. If Hastert wasn't so astute to pick up on this then surely the FBI would have done more than take a passing glance at it. Just as the pages were afraid to rock the boat, I wonder if some FBI investigator was just too timid to pursue for fear of his own career trying to probe (insert laughter here) into a Congressman's personal life.

Keep in mind that Foley was seen by many outside the Beltway as the best candidate the GOP had for the Senate seat there. But he abruptly backed out in 2003 because the media was digging into his personal life. What would cause a man moving up in the ranks to suddenly just decline a frontrunner position to move up the ladder?
 
#21
#21
I don't think I've heard a single person actually defend Foley.
 
#22
#22
In an effort to reduce the Congressional budget, House and Senate leadership have decided to stop buying bookmarks for Congressional members.

Instead, they've been advised to bend over a page.


Ah thankyou, I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip the waitresses.
 
#23
#23
Well we have one person saying this was within the age of consent laws and therefore not a big deal.

And we have quite a few on the Right making a bigger issue with some vast Left Wing Soros/ABCNews/DNC/Clinton/media/CREW conspiracy than with Foley's behavior. If I wasn't mistaken I'd say after reading a few conservative sites you'd think George Soros himself was the one "chatting online with babes all day".
 
#25
#25
CSpindizzy said:
Refer to name of topic for further examples...
Click to expand...


It is a stupid scandal. What the guy did was disgusting and immoral. He should have resigned, which he did and that should have been the end of it. But, instead, when surfing my tv channels at night I get to see over and over more news about a non news story.
 
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