Mark Foley

Not much needs to be said on this topic, but I decided to address it anyway. Michelle Malkin has the right message: “Deal with it.”

So here’s how I see the players in a nutshell …

1. Mark Foley – sick, depraved, abusive, only beginning to face the consequences of his sin, unable to make right what he did to his victims, greatly in need of redemption and God’s mercy

2. The victims – should be left alone and out of the spotlight to allow them and their families to seek the healing they need

3. Republican Congressional leadership – culpable for every day they knew this vile behavior had occurred (as exhibited in the infamous IMs) … there is honest disagreement concerning whether Speaker Hastert and others knew about this before last Friday – the burden of proof is on their accusers, and the matter can be resolved through the fair and open procedures that are in place … if they knew and withheld the information, they are guilty of abetting this crime and should be treated accordingly

4. Democrat leadership and their willing accomplices in the MSM – base, shameless, and offensive … if Republican leaders are absolved of advance knowledge, they are guilty of slander and should be treated accordingly

5. Conservatives in the media and blogosphere trying to downplay Foley’s behavior and/or point fingers at prior Democrat scandals on the subject – foolish, misguided, hypocritical, too absorbed in politics to see what is more important in this situation

Justice and morality come first. Why does everything have to be about political ramifications? I don’t need politics to live and breathe – that’s why I consider myself a conservative and why I align myself with the Republican Party and its small-government wing. Inordinately large government – like any institution with concentrated power – feeds the natural human tendency toward corruption in many ways: Foley is just the latest sordid example.

Clearly repudiating what he has done is just a start.