You know, I'm a guy who thinks the Republicans shouldn't be in charge of Congress or much of anything above the local level. But this frappe is going a bit too far. It's bilge.

You're playing with a man's reputation here for partisan political advantage. Do you have any clue how much damage that can do to this man and his family? Or, in your self-righteous high dudgeon, don't you care?

If the email was part of a thank you exchange then there's nothing "creepy" or "sick" about it. Period. Am I the ONLY one who sees these words as directly from the Newt Gingrich playbook? They made me ill then and they make me ill now.

I don't like the mindset of absolutists of any persuasion, and I'm tired of having to lower my standards until the biggest prig in the room is (finally) happy. If you want to be a sniffing bluenose, go ahead. But leave me and the rest of the adult population out of it.

Jeez Louise. Give me a break. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

You admit yourselves that there's nothing more than speculation to go on here. I'm getting awfully tired of the War Room's posts that essentially say "other people have suggested... but we don't want to jump to conclusions"... that's not a caveat, that's base smearing.

Yeah, there's nothing unusual about a middle-aged congressman writing repeatedly to a minor who, as a congressional page, did NOT work in his office.

There's nothing odd about wanting a photograph of a minor who did not work in Foley's office.

There's nothing odd about Foley sending the email from his PERSONAL account, since this was "business," right?

There's nothing disturbing about a middle-aged man wanting to know what a boy who is not family likes and dislikes.

Yeah, that Mark Foley is just like a Boy Scout Troopleader or even a priest.

By the way, what does Mark Foley's wife and kids think about all this? Hard to say if he has a wife or kids. His bio on his Web page says, "The son of Edward and Fran Foley, Congressman Foley was born September 8, 1954, in Newton, Massachusetts. He moved to Florida at the age of three and has lived in the West Palm Beach area ever since. Southern Florida's sixteenth congressional district includes residents of Charlotte, Glades, Hendry, Highlands, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie Counties."

No, I'm guessing that mark just likes kids. A lot.

Glad I don't live in his district.

From the article:

The e-mails were sent from Foley's personal AOL account, and the exchange began within weeks after the page finished his program on Capitol Hill. In one, Foley writes, "did you have fun at your conference…what do you want for your birthday coming up…what stuff do you like to do."

In another Foley writes, "how are you weathering the hurricane…are you safe…send me an email pic of you as well…"

--

That's it? And your options of "just creepy" or "sick" remind of Colbert asking, "President Bush: great president, or the GREATEST president?"

if your kid was getting such emails from an adult not know to your family, you might be a little less sanguine.

That's all I'll say. If there is proof of wrong doing or something inappropriate that's one thing. This just seems toxic to me.

I agree with the other letter writer. The Republicans should be sent packing for very legitimate sins against the nation. The opposition should not cover themselves in this sort of right-wing inspired muck.

I have to take issue with the assumption that an adult treating a teenager as a peer is inappropriate.

One of the things that I've appreciated about my life is that when I was a teenager, starting when I was 13, I had adult peers. This was because I started running seriously at that age, and would often find myself running with, and competing against, the same folks in races.

In the fall of my sophomore year in high school I spent my Sundays going on long runs with a group of adults in training for a marathon.

As rare as that experience was for me then, I think it's become much more difficult for someone to have that same experience.

I understand that it's important to be watchful of potential abusers, but we're also losing a lot in the process. Ask any teacher when was the last time they hugged a student.

you represent everything that is wrong with politics and the media.

You pick up and promote any piece of salacious gossip just so you can stick it to the republicans. You should be working for the Enquirer.

Actually, you should be working with Ann Coulter because this is just her style.

Good job.

he was very uncomfortable with such attention,

and I would be too if almost perfect stranger suddenly was pursuing an email relationship with me.

Bottom Line: A 16 year old boy felt uncomfortable enough about the messages he was receiving from his 52 year old boss that he told someone about it. I repeat: a 16 year old boy was made uncomfortable by these messages and did the right thing in telling someone. This is Sesame Street 101.

Have you read any reporting on this other than War Room? 'Cause guess what? It's creepy. 52 year old man, writing 16 year old boy. Here's a snippet of a Foley email remarking on the page's friend "Will"

"I just emailed will...hes such a nice guy...acts much older than his age...and hes in really great shape..."

Want to read more and decide for yourself whether the emails were inappropriate?

http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/09/gop-congressman-admits-to-says-nothing.html

I'm sorry, but folks in public office are held to a higher standard, AS IT SHOULD BE.

Yep... Read the pdf emails at the ABC link... He's a sick perv, alright... Trust me, I should know... It's the overuse of ellipses that gives it away every time....

Let's remember who it was who set the standard for dragging private concerns into the public arena. Hint: it was neither Democrats nor Salon.

Let's remember that that case involved two ADULTS, not a MINOR CHILD and an adult more than three times his age.

Let's remember that that case involved a male and a female, not two males.

And let's remember most of all that if Rep. Foley were a Democrat, Joe, Ann Coulter and all their friends at Faux News would be tarring and feathering him as we speak.