Help me out with the Foley "ick" factor, please

[TechBear_Seattle]

The kid was 16. In Washington, that is the age of consent (unless the older person is at least five years older and is the younger person's teacher, doctor or has some other "significant relationship" with the minor as defined by law; then the AoC is 18.) While I realize that age of consent varies from state to state, one would think that Foley was sex-talking an eight year old.

I definitely agree that Foley is a hypocrite of the worst sort, and I'm delighted that he has stepped down, particularly this late in the race, when the matter will be fresh in voters' minds. What I am having trouble with is the "ick" factor being expressed on these boards. Is it the sex talk in an internet chat room? Is it that the sex chat was with someone who is "legal" in only some states and not all? Is it that it was between two males? Help understand the apparent revulsion, please. :hi:

[Bunny]

1. He's 52 fucking years old.

Anyone who is 52 has no business talking sex with a 16 year old. *There's* your "ick" factor.

[Cha]

16. Yeah, mark foley is 52 fucking republican

years old. If that's not an "ick factor" then we've lowered the bar too much.

[smirkymonkey]

2. He's a Republican.

:puke:

[Mist]

Well, there's the big old fat hypocricy factor. nt

[BurgherHoldtheLies]

3. Are you kidding?

Seriously, a 50+ yo man pursuing via explicit sex talk a 16 yo....C'mon, that's just :puke:

The holier-than-thou hypocrite factor is just gravy.

[undeterred]

4. He has homework to do and his mom is in the next room

Do you think she'd be thrilled to know her teenager was masturbating online with a Congressman?

[democrat in Tallahassee]

5. a 52 year old man propositioning a 16 year old kid is ok? It is

child abuse; the 16 year old has no idea what he's doing; it is exploitation.

[TechBear_Seattle]

13. I never said it was ok.

And in Washington, at least, a 16 year old is presumed to have some inkling, which is why the age of consent is 16. (Ok, technically, Washington does not have an age of consent law. But sexual contact with someone younger than 16 is a criminal act; sexual contact with someone 16 or 17 is not except when the older person is the younger's teacher, doctor or one of a very short list of other similar people.)

I think that is where I am having trouble: while Foley was irresponsible and extremely hypocritical, and while I would not want that to occur with any kids I know, I don't see that he was doing anything illegal or even very immoral. Certainly not immoral enough to merit the kind of response the story is getting.

[JI7]

6. the thought of anyone being intimate with Foley is disgusting

including if it was a man or woman his age and consensual.

[TechBear_Seattle]

15. That, I comprehend

:hi:

[KingFlorez]

7. He's too old to be doing something like that

Regardless of what the age of consent is, it's sick to take in interest in someone that is 16 when you are middle aged.

[Rose Siding]

9. He's also in a position of authority over them

It's "icky" in that sense too.

[wtmusic]

8. He would have stopped immediately if the kid said he was 15

I have no doubt in my mind.

[Virginia Dare]

10. Imagine for just a moment that you have a 16 year old..

kid. A 52 year old man sends those messages to him. How would that make you feel? It would make me feel "icky" I do believe.

Besides the fact that it read like a bad porno script.

[TechBear_Seattle]

18. If I had a 16 year old...

S/He would have been lectured from the moment s/he put hand to keyboard about on-line predators and how to deal with them. Nowadays, such lectures MUST be treated like the "don't talk to strangers, don't get into a stranger's car, don't take candy from people you don't know" lectures. If the kid felt intimidated, or that he was getting attention he did not want, he should have told "Maf54" to bugger off and leave him alone, exactly as if Foley had driven up to him at the park and said, "Want some candy? I have a bag in the back seat, help yourself."

[Virginia Dare]

21. Yes, but there is still an "ick" factor there...

I would be freaking out, whether it was a boy or a girl involved, which was the point of your OP. I would feel that way personally, perhaps others wouldn't.

[boston bean]

11. I think you are missing the point. The guy is a pedophile, plain and

simple.

That is the ick factor, throw the fucker in jail.

[karlrschneider]

12. How do we 'know' he is a pedophile? Have any prepubescent kids

accused him?

I'm not defending him but we ought at least to get the terminology right in a matter this serious.

[TechBear_Seattle]

20. Pedophilia involves prepubescent kids, not 16 year olds

What part of, "In many states, 16 is the age of consent" is not sinking through?

[asthmaticeog]

22. No, he isn't.

A pedophile is one who is sexually attracted to prepubescent children, which a 16 year old is not. I'm not saying Foley isn't a hypocrite and a reprehensible creep. He is plainly both. But he's not a pedophile.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

14. He helped steal the election for Bush

.

[Cha]

17. Didn't he just! I remember

his slimey face down there in Florida and on tv for eons after that..spewing that repuke family value shit.

[newsguyatl]

19. good post, and i agree

with your sentiment.

this feigned outrage here is startin' to get on my nerves.

i mean, the guy bein 54 and being public shoulda known better, but as far as him being a sicko or whatever, i mean c'mon.