No doubt it's tempting to hold up Rep. Foley and say "this man is the face of the Republican party". It's a quick jab that may bring us a minute of satisfaction but it undermines what we stand for. This is not a blanket indictment, but an observation of what I see a few have been saying.
I work at a large company where I often feel chained to my desk. To help the time pass, coworkers and I send E-mails political in nature. We have a truly balanced mix of Libs and Cons that debate in a mostly friendly manner. Yesterday, a few of my fellow Dems took the opportunity to beat the Repubs over the head with the "Foley is the face of the face of the Republican party" barb. This ended our civil discussion for the day as both sides resorted to cheap shots, often bringing up dirty laundry from both sides of the aisle.
After our ugly exchange I hopped on some of the conservative blogs I frequent to see what the conservative talking points are on the Foley issue. Again I saw folks from our side posting comments as an act of revenge, using this as a chance just to piss off the wingnuts. This is completely unnecessary, what Foley has done speaks for itself. As unsavory (and hypocritical) as I find the Republicans, they condemn child predators just like us. We know we're the party of values. Let's lead by example and not throw stones at a target cemented to the ground.
Plus, lets save our ammunition. If the House Majority Leader John Boehner/House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert coverup story has legs then we'll be able to rightly hammer the Republicans for aiding a child predator.