An article in the Orlando Sentinel begins:
At the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, a young Republican congressman from Florida did something that seemed ordinary at the time: He condemned President Clinton on moral grounds for having a relationship with the White House intern.
“It’s vile,” Mark Foley, R-Jupiter, told the St. Petersburg Times. “It’s more sad than anything else, to see someone with such potential throw it all down the drain because of a sexual addiction.”
Mark Foley is known to naturists for having drawn “nationwide press when he urged Florida officials to investigate a Tampa nudist camp for 11- to 18-year-olds, run by the American Association for Nude Recreation. Foley expressed concern that the children could be exposed to pedophiles.”
Now we see what Mark Foley himself has been up to:
Florida Republicans and Foley allies recoiled in anger and disgust Saturday, a day after the six-term congressman known for crusading against sexual predators and Internet pornography resigned because of reports that he exchanged sex-laced e-mails and instant messages with teenagers who had served as congressional pages.
But only liberals will notice that it is the very people who are most repressive about sex who keep getting caught up in these torrid scandals.
And only a (must have been liberal) radio talk show commentator would notice that the Foley story was serving as a distraction from a warning reported in the New York Times “that George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, did brief Condoleezza Rice and other top officials on July 10, 2001, about the looming threat from Al Qaeda,” prior to the 9/11 attacks. “Ms. Rice, the secretary of state, told reporters aboard her airplane that she did not recall the specific meeting on July 10, noting that she had met repeatedly with Mr. Tenet that summer about terrorist threats.” At the time Rice was National Security Advisor. “Officials now agree that on July 10, 2001, Mr. Tenet and his counterterrorism deputy, J. Cofer Black, were so alarmed about intelligence pointing to an impending attack by Al Qaeda that they demanded an emergency meeting at the White House with Ms. Rice and her National Security Council staff.” As the talk show host asked, “Did they want 9/11?” But we focus on Foley instead.