As the Mark Foley scandal continues to unfold, it’s important to keep things in perspective. What Mr. Foley did was wrong–not because he is Gay, but because he used his powerful position to wield inappropriate influence over minors. No matter how intelligent these pages were, it’s still inexcusable for any adult to abuse a child in any way. Period.
And it is disingenuous of the Republican leadership to say that, had they tried to deal with this problem before it became a scandal, they would have been accused of gay bashing. No, their unmitigating support of anti-gay bills pretty much took care of that.
Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote an excellent editorial in today’s edition, titled “‘Values’ Choice for the GOP.” The next-to-last paragraph is particularly poignant–it’s an amazing, reasonable, proposal that will never see the light of day at the GOP headquarters.
That’s one more reason to throw our support behind candidates who represent our values. Today is the last day to register to vote in many jurisdictions. Are you registered?