Foley fallout

We certainly aren't going to turn this into an "all Foley, all the time" affair like some other Kentucky blogs have done, most notably because the Foley matter really has very little to do with Kentucky politics (despite some ham-handed efforts by Congress candidate Mike Weaver, more below), but there are a few things worth mentioning.

MISPLACED ANALOGY

The left has frequently compared the Foley situation to a principal being informed of a teacher's inappropriate action and failing to do something about it. That's a flawed comparison.

In a school, the principal is the teacher's boss. The principal can take action against the teacher -- or more likely refer to the superintendent and/or school board and/or school council with a recommendation for action -- because the principal is above the teacher in the chain of command.

That's not necessarily so in Congress. Denny Hastert wasn't Mark Foley's boss. Foley was employed by the voters in his Florida district. A more apt comparison would be if someone told a fellow teacher that something was amiss.

DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO

Liberals are also bent out of shape because Foley is a Republican, the party of morality, and also because he was instrumental in writing laws against precisely the type of behavior that he did not commit. (He only wrote sexually explicit messages; to this point there's no evidence that he actually had sexual contact with any minors). The left is screaming of this as example of Republican hypocrisy. Never mind the long rogue's gallery list of Democrats who have acted inappropriately in similar matters.

But let's consider this scenario: How many of you sat in class while in school, listening to the teacher talk about how smoking is harmful and that you shouldn't smoke? And then how many of you saw that very same teacher light up the minute he or she left the school grounds?

Or how many of you got the "don't smoke" lecture from your parents? (The Beastie Boys alluded to that in one of their hit songs, didn't they?)

The moral of the story is, right is right and wrong is wrong, no matter whether someone's human frailities catch them up in something they have opposed or not. Just because Foley did something wrong doesn't mean that his message was wrong. People are human. They make mistakes, and are not infallible.

WHO KNEW WHAT AND WHEN?

This seems to be the Democrats' pathetic attempt to nationalize Foley's disgrace and have it apply to the House leadership as well as all the competitive House races this fall.

Sorry, guys and gals, but when evidence suggests that many Democrats had knowledge of some of Foley's communications, and did nothing about it, you certainly can't claim any moral high ground by trying to paint Hastert and others as enablers or protectors of would-be pedophiles.

In fact, if Democrats really did sit on this information in order to spring it as a political season October surprise, that's about as disgusting as Foley's messages themselves.

WHAT WAS WEAVER SMOKING WHEN HE SAID THAT?

Kentucky Democrats have tried to paint military veteran and current state legislator Mike Weaver as the perfect candidate to unseat U.S. Rep. Ron Lewis. Any slim chance they had of pulling the upset and ousting Lewis went down the drain after Weaver made some oddball comments about "liberal Republicans" trying to cover up Foley's behavior. Now Weaver just looks as goofy as -- well, it's hard to find a comparison. Just say his comments make him look goofy.

To wrap it up, the Foley situation is about one man and his acts. When confronted with what he had written, Foley did the right thing and resigned. He has since owned up to his demons and is seeking treatment. As the economy continues to boom, gas prices go down and America realizes that their last Democrat president unleashed a ticking time bomb when he allowed North Korea to have nuclear technology, the electorate will see the Foley scandal as an unfortunate incident involving one person's problems, and not something to make political hay with.