Dixie - In Memoriam
New member
If Congressman Mark Foley had been a Democrat, he would not have resigned, he would have left Washington D.C. without comment on the matter, and the liberal spin machine would have immediately gone into 'damage control' mode. Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi would have given press conferences, stating that it's important we reserve our judgement until all the facts are in. Conspiracy theorists in the left-wing blogosphere, would have begun circulating the rumor that Karl Rove had planted the story, which was completely bogus... the kid with the alleged email, has an uncle who used to work for Pappy Bush, and was a huge Republican contributor.
Foley would gain enormous publicity as the subject of a vast right-wing conspiracy, and the "scandal" would be, who made up this lie about such a fine upstanding Democrat, like Foley. Of course, they would point to his record on child predator legislation, and insist that this proves the allegations must be false. They would point out, that instant messages are not illegal, Foley never has been accused of having sex, just sending messages. It would be pointed out, the page was 16, the legal age of consent in D.C., so it was not a child Foley exploited, but a "consenting" adult. Then we would hear about how this was all a Republican dirty trick to overturn the will of the people in Foley's district. That card would be played liberally.
Republicans would attempt to have it fully investigated, and the Democrats would accuse us of witch-hunting, and drag their feet until the middle of Foley's next term. When an investigation is finally ordered, the Democrats would immediately attack it as a moral right-wing crusade, modern day McCarthyism, gay bashing neocons out to delve into Foley's personal sex life. When the evidence finally resulted in a conviction, or a plea bargain, the Democrats would give Foley a standing ovation, and a pardon. After all, he endured so much from the mean old Republicans.
In another couple of election cycles, Foley's name would be widely circulated as a possible nominee for President. Any mention of the 2006 sex scandal, would be met with indignant outrage and contempt. How dare we use this mans personal tragedy against him! This is what Democrats would say, and how they would defend Foley, if he were one of them.
I don't make this claim out of speculation, I make it out of the Democrats past history, with just this sort of thing. Studds, Reynolds, Frank, Hart, Clinton... The Democrats have a long and storied history of sex scandals, and their position was made abundantly clear a long time ago, they don't believe sex scandals have anything to do with how a representative performs their job, and as long as there isn't a charge and conviction, which can't be pardoned, they will support the "will of the people" who elected the representative.
Besides, it's a Democrat seat, they can't just give that up!
Foley would gain enormous publicity as the subject of a vast right-wing conspiracy, and the "scandal" would be, who made up this lie about such a fine upstanding Democrat, like Foley. Of course, they would point to his record on child predator legislation, and insist that this proves the allegations must be false. They would point out, that instant messages are not illegal, Foley never has been accused of having sex, just sending messages. It would be pointed out, the page was 16, the legal age of consent in D.C., so it was not a child Foley exploited, but a "consenting" adult. Then we would hear about how this was all a Republican dirty trick to overturn the will of the people in Foley's district. That card would be played liberally.
Republicans would attempt to have it fully investigated, and the Democrats would accuse us of witch-hunting, and drag their feet until the middle of Foley's next term. When an investigation is finally ordered, the Democrats would immediately attack it as a moral right-wing crusade, modern day McCarthyism, gay bashing neocons out to delve into Foley's personal sex life. When the evidence finally resulted in a conviction, or a plea bargain, the Democrats would give Foley a standing ovation, and a pardon. After all, he endured so much from the mean old Republicans.
In another couple of election cycles, Foley's name would be widely circulated as a possible nominee for President. Any mention of the 2006 sex scandal, would be met with indignant outrage and contempt. How dare we use this mans personal tragedy against him! This is what Democrats would say, and how they would defend Foley, if he were one of them.
I don't make this claim out of speculation, I make it out of the Democrats past history, with just this sort of thing. Studds, Reynolds, Frank, Hart, Clinton... The Democrats have a long and storied history of sex scandals, and their position was made abundantly clear a long time ago, they don't believe sex scandals have anything to do with how a representative performs their job, and as long as there isn't a charge and conviction, which can't be pardoned, they will support the "will of the people" who elected the representative.
Besides, it's a Democrat seat, they can't just give that up!
Yeah, I'm sure you'll get that, right before Watermark gets his $10,000.