First, let me say this may be a long blog. I am writing it as more of a train of thoughts than a definite final piece.
The talk of Mark Foley and the related sex scandals have brought back the talk of what Clinton did with a White House intern and what others have done in the the past with Congressional pages.
Names like former Congressmen Garry Studds, Dan Crane and Bob Bowman, all who faced their own sexual scandals related to either relations with pages or coming out of the closet as a homosexual after portraying himself as a proper right-wing Congressman (Bowman) are being tossed about.
The right-wing media wants to bring back the Clinton issues in an effort to take away from the scandals involving Mark Foley. The right wing types also are finding ways to blame Democrats for leaking the information about Foley at this time.
Lost in the fog and the flaunting of the topic is the basic issue of young people being sexually abused by those in authority.
I think it's time to simply say enough is enough on all sides. It is time to condemn Clinton for what he did with a woman young enough to be his daughter. Albeit, she was legally an adult, but she was in a position to be exploited by Clinton. Nobody was the adult in that relationship.
Studds, Crane and Foley abused children. They should all be held totally accountable. Their actions should be criticized by all. Bowman simply told a public lie about himself -- portraying himself as anti-gay while the entire time being hanging out in gay bars and picking up people for one-night stands.
The right-wing media needs to be criticized for trying to protect a man like Foley by enabling those in power to continue to coverup what happened. The right-wing media needs to be criticized for playing a political card at a time when they should be taking their own leaders to task for their actions and inactions.
We all, as a society, owe something better than abuse to the next generation of Congressional pages and other young people who go to Washington for a learning experience and the chance to participate in our government. They should not be going there to be objects of sex by politicians of either side.