You can't make this stuff up! Talk about being hoisted on your own petard: According to Glenn Greenwald:
Despite all the irritatingly righteous (and overheated) "pedophile" language being tossed around, in the overwhelming majority of states, and in Washington DC, the legal age of consent for sex is 16 years old. That means that actual, in-person sex between Foley and a 16-year-old page in D.C. would not be criminal at all (though it likely could have other legal implications).
But under the so-called "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006" (of which Foley was a co-sponsor), along with 18 U.S.C. 2251, discussion or solicitation of sexual acts between Foley and any "minor" under the age of 18 would appear to be a criminal offense (see Adam Walsh Act, Sec. 111(14) ("MINOR.--The term 'minor' means an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years") and 18 U.S.C. Sec. 2256 (1) ("'minor' means any person under the age of eighteen years").
http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/...
More ....
So, in other words, had the Republicans not insisted on the passage of this Internet Predator Bill (which many believe is an attempt to build up support for an eventual takeover of the Internet) while this would still be a scandal, it would NOT be a felony!
What was he THINKING when he was working on this bill? And worse, what was the Repbublican leadership thinking, since it seems from the latest reports, when Foley stood next to Bush as he signed the bill, Talking Points Memo ~ Pic of Bush and Foley at the Signing of the Bill they already knew that Foley himself was the prototype of the predator the bill was aimed at. Unbelievable!!
So, to summarize. Republican Congressman Foley was known to the Republican leadership as an Internet Predator while they were presenting a bill to Congress, which he, Foley, co-sponsored, the intention of which was to protect children from people like Foley himself!
Not only did this place him in legal jeopardy (aside from the obvious political fallout if his behavior became public) but, it also place them, the Republican leadership, in legal jeopardy for not taking appropriate action.
What I'm not clear about is, before the signing of the bill, were they required to report him to the authorities, or at least to the Ethics Committee (which would have alerted Democrats to the problem) or were they required to do so only after the Bill became law? There seems to be some question about that.
And as if all this wasn't bizarre enough, it seeems, if you read Greenwald's article, that the story actually broke on September 5th on a small blog which you can see here link. It's worth clicking into. I wondered where this story originally came from.
On that same day, a commenter in a thread on Daily Kos referred to the, as yet, unreported story. Here is the post the commenter left on DKos:
The Real Problem With Foley (0 / 0)
It's not that he's gay. It's that he constantly hits on underage interns on The Hill. You guys talk about an "open secret" well Foley's eye for the young boys in the White House and around the Capitol is what has the Republican bosses scared to death. It's just wrong that this guy can hit on young boys and still be in the leadership.
by WHInternNow on Tue Sep 05, 2006 at 05:48:09 PM PDT
Open Thread
The poster received no recs and no responses to his comment. But he returned on September 24th and made another comment, again receiving no recs and no comments, and left a link to the small blog which broke the story. His comment can be found here: FL-16 A Democrat gay-baiting?
I haven't checked the John Walsh site, which earlier had a statement basically commending Rep. Foley for the work he had done for the organization, and expressing regret at his decision to retire from Congress.
Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican!
P.S. Since this is only my second diary, I hope I haven't made too many mistakes ... if I have, I will be happy to try to edit the diary.