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Foley appears to be gay. Why didn't he hit on men his own age

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MoonRiver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:17 PM
Original message
Foley appears to be gay. Why didn't he hit on men his own age
rather than teenagers? In addition, those he was sexually stalking were in subordinate positions, a classic definition of sexual harassment.

Sexually stalking/harassing underage kids in subordinate positions = criminal activity. He, and all those who covered up for this scumbag, should be prosecuted.
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originalpckelly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:19 PM
Response to Original message
1. That's an angle I never saw if from...
because if there was not actual contact between the boy and Foley, then no law appears to have been broken. But I didn't look for sexual harassment, and this does qualify, especially when someone says they were "freaked out by it."
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MoonRiver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:21 PM
Response to Reply #1
5. I think it will hinge on whether the kids want to file charges.
We'll have to wait and see.
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mzteris Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:23 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. Doesn't matter if the kid does or not
I think there's an implied "work place" issue here.

The kid was "working" for the House as a Page. Foley was a Representative - therefore a "manager" type.

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MoonRiver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:25 PM
Response to Reply #8
13. That's good to know. I'm unfamiliar with these laws,
except in a general manner.
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longship Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 01:13 PM
Response to Reply #5
46. If it's a crime, no complaint needed.
The child's family does not have to file charges. Most communities have laws structured that such things do *not* require charges to be filed by the victim. If there is a preponderance of evidence that a crime has happened, a DA or a grand jury can indict, even if the victim is uncooperative. It's often that way in cases of domestic violence as well as child predation.

In this case, this knucklehead needs to be taken off the street and registered in the federal sex criminal database.
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valerief Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:44 PM
Response to Reply #1
33. Foley sure did feed the kid some porn in his msgs, didn' t he? Is
that a GOP family value now?
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TahitiNut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:53 PM
Response to Reply #33
41. There's a big difference between pornography and eroticism.
While it's in the eye of the beholder, I wouldn't call it "porn."
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valerief Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 09:36 PM
Response to Reply #41
49. I think when it's fed to kids, it's considered porn. n/t
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brook Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:20 PM
Response to Original message
2. Humbert Humbert? n/t
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proud2BlibKansan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:21 PM
Response to Original message
3. Because he is a pedophile
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Digit Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 01:07 PM
Response to Reply #3
45. I agree
...and those who cover up for pedophiles need to be held accountable.
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libnnc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:21 PM
Response to Original message
4. there are plenty of 20 and 30-somethings out there
If he likes younger guys, there's no need in breaking the law.

He's a sick old man. There are highschool teachers who are serving jail time now who fit his MO.

Book 'em Danno.
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MoonRiver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:23 PM
Response to Reply #4
9. Clearly he likes them young.
We don't know if he's actually had sex with any kid. He was obviously soliciting sex from several kids. Is this a crime? If not it should be.
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kestrel91316 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 01:24 PM
Response to Reply #4
47. Hell, he doesn't even need 20-somethings. Over 18 is legal,
though I would consider 52-yr-old Congressman w/ 18-yr-old man rather, ahem, TASTELESS. But it's legal.

WTF is wrong with some people??? How come people like this are rich and "successful" and never lack for food or clean clothes or a roof over their heads? There is something very wrong with our country (god, now I sound like a Repuke!).
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Drops_not_Dope Donating Member (362 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:22 PM
Response to Original message
6. BECAUSE
he's a PEDOPHILE
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joequinn Donating Member (3 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:29 PM
Response to Reply #6
16. hmmm
I guess being a pedophile who only wants boys would make him a gay pedophile. Just a thought. He should be hung at noon in the town square.
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MoonRiver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:30 PM
Response to Reply #16
18. He should be prosecuted according to the law.
You got a problem with that?
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joequinn Donating Member (3 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:44 PM
Response to Reply #18
34. Why?
Why would you think I have a problem with that?
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joequinn Donating Member (3 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:52 PM
Response to Reply #34
40. come to terms
Edited on Sun Oct-01-06 12:53 PM by joequinn
I try to come to terms with my terrors by climbing within them and expressing them to their fullest and showing, secondarily to others but primarily to myself, their homocidal absurdity. But sometimes, the terrors get me and I don't get them. At that point the irony breaks down into despair and the result is chaos.

That's what my conscious mind tells me, but I know better. You do too. The monster is at the door now, and he is starting to scratch at the lock. God help us all!
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leftyladyfrommo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:37 PM
Response to Reply #6
24. That would be my guess.
And if they get to looking into his past there is no telling what they will find. Probably a whole lot more than e-mail.
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NOLADEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:22 PM
Response to Original message
7. Obvious answer here
He was offended upon as a child. I used to work with kids that were sexually abused and in turn sexually abused another child and ended up a ward of the state.

He learned his grooming behavior from someone, likely someone who offended on him. He didn't invent this behavior on his own.

When you are sexually abused as a child, when you go through puberty, you sexually offend on children the same age as when he was abused.

I would bet all of my worldly possessions on his past being one of sexual abuse. Someone just doesn't choose to molest kids. They are programmed to.
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MoonRiver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:26 PM
Response to Reply #7
14. NOT AN EXCUSE.
You do the crime. You do the time. (He could have gotten help long ago.)
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NOLADEM Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:37 PM
Response to Reply #14
23. Didn't say it was an excuse
Just said it was how it happened.

Our social services system does not treat most victims and doesn't identify them at all systematically. This is the cost to us. Our children continue to be molested.

A child molester doesn't seek treatment himself. It would be like you seeking treatment for being straight or gay. That is how integral they see it. Our kids at the treatment facility that were being treated for sexual abuse would cry about not wanting to change because they saw it as part of themselves.

To stop future Foley's, we must do a better job of treating victims and identifying perps.
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MoonRiver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:40 PM
Response to Reply #23
26. I agree with you in general.
However, children, including teenagers, must be protected against sexual predators.
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BlooInBloo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 01:01 PM
Response to Reply #26
42. No one said or even suggested otherwise.
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madrchsod Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:30 PM
Response to Reply #7
17.  what i have observed over the years
is that these guys never stop. a man where i live was returned to prison after being released because he molested again- he was 85 at that time. we always knew there was something"funny about him" but no one came forward until several years ago.
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CountAllVotes Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:24 PM
Response to Original message
10. You might want to listen to what Karel had to say about it last night
Here is the link:

http://rope.kgoam810.com/archive/kgo20.asx

Karel contends that Foley is a closet case gay man and that he is a shame to the gay community, etc. etc.

Karel pretty much covered it (and read the entire "transcript" last night live) I thought.

Did anyone else listen to Karel on KGO last night? If so what do others think about what he had to say?

I think personally that Foley is not only a pervert and a pedophile, but I also think he is a closeted gay man that never "came out" as it seems that many in Wash., D.C. knew that he was gay (or strongly suspected it) for many years.

Why young boys? Convenient as hell for one thing, especially for a pedophile.

Your guess is as good as mine is but I really respect Karel and his opinions on such matters.

:dem: :kick:

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kestrel91316 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 01:27 PM
Response to Reply #10
48. Staying closeted is psychologically unhealthy.
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Name removed Donating Member (0 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:24 PM
Response to Original message
11. Deleted message
Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.
 
Rocknrule Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:25 PM
Response to Original message
12. Because the God hates fags party would excommunicate him
Of course to them, it's perfectly ok if one's object of lust is a minor
:puke:
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valerief Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:41 PM
Response to Reply #12
29. self delete.
Edited on Sun Oct-01-06 12:48 PM by valerief
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Drum Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:27 PM
Response to Original message
15. Same reason for most other much-younger/much-younger
predatory-type relationships.

a) Older party's inability to come to grips with their own aging...stuck in a past period of time in their own lives
b) Intellectual insecurity...discomfort having a lover/partner in the same demographic who may challenge or reject them
c) Power, of course...the insecurity that they cannot acquire or maintain a relationship on equal terms, and thus resorting to an asymmetric fantasy scenario.

In short, and ironically, my theory is that an older person's reasons for this behavior is squarely fixed on the issue of THEIR OWN IMMATURITY.

And note that I say "most" in header. Love can be blind, and I am implying no age-ism toward any couple in a relationship of equality, no matter their ages.
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thepurpose Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:30 PM
Response to Original message
19. Is he gay? Or is he just a sick person. Gay people I know don't prey on
children.
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MoonRiver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:34 PM
Response to Reply #19
22. Being gay is no more sick than being straight, imo.
But pursuing underage kids is criminal. Add to that the fact that these kids were in subordinate positions to Foley and you can add sexual harassment to the charges.
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valerief Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:42 PM
Response to Reply #22
32. And all the members of Congress who knew about this but did
nothing should be prosecuted, too.
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valerief Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:31 PM
Response to Original message
20. Gay is one thing. Hetero is another. Apart from either of these is
the child molester/child predator/pedophile/pederast. They are neither gay nor hetero. They are perverted.
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sweetheart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:31 PM
Response to Original message
21. Hmmm, who in the congress?
Do people sit in the congress planning to shag their coworkers? Of course its totally cool
if the republicans are all shagging each other, but it does make their stance on gay equality
a bit hipocritical.
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misternormal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:38 PM
Response to Original message
25. In my mind the issue here is...
... He was an older man, in a position of supervisory responsibility, who preyed on impressionable male minors for his own amusement, or sexual gratification.

Bottom line... Immoral and illegal behavior.

It doesn't matter if the minor was sexually active, or not.

It doesn't matter if the minor was a willing participant.

He is an adult, and the boy was a minor. This should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

I would have him hanged at noon... But that's just me.

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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:40 PM
Response to Original message
27. Why didn't the priests hit on
men their own age?
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EFerrari Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:40 PM
Response to Original message
28. None of my gay friends ever brought home a 16 year old kid.
Please.
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MoonRiver Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:42 PM
Response to Reply #28
30. Thank you!
That was my point. Something smells to high heavens.
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EFerrari Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:51 PM
Response to Reply #30
39. It really does. My heart goes out to the kids and their families
because this is going to be terrible for them. But hopefully, they will help get this guy off the street.
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Zynx Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:42 PM
Response to Original message
31. The guy's a pervert.
It's as simple as that.
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sweetheart Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:50 PM
Response to Reply #31
38. Its sexual harassment
Given his position and the former employment, there is a clear career/reference
issue forever looming for this page, and republican graces are important, why
so many of them hold their tongues. This same republican jesus decided they
were above the child molestation statutes, or any respectable standards in
the PEOPLE's CONGRESS!!
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muriel_volestrangler Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:45 PM
Response to Original message
35. I'd agree it certainly looks like harrassment
if one boy's reaction was "sick. Sick. Sick." etc. Whether or not it's illegal (as in punishable by law) as opposed to something you'd lose you job for is what the law enforcement agancies have to decide, but it seems clear he had to go. And those who covered this up should have their acts investigated too, and their judgement questioned even if they didn't do something illegal.

Why does he think teenagers are attractive? Human sexuality is very wide. But that doesn't mean what he did with subordinates is OK.
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AngryAmish Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:45 PM
Response to Original message
36. Because he is in the closet
He would never be elected in his party if he was honest and said he was gay. It seems like many members of the gay community in DC knew he was gay. If he sought out partners he could never really be sure if they would "out" him and ruin him. See Larry Flynt's activities - that is why he was scared and could not tell the truth.

So, look for an underage guy who also is either not gay or deeply in the closet. They would have a lot to lose from being associated with being gay - thus they have every incentive not to rat this turd out.

Also he is not a pedophile - he is an Ephebophilic (attracted to young but post-pubescent sex partners: most RC priests in the scandals were not pedophiles. It is an important distinction).
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Auntie Bush Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 12:47 PM
Response to Original message
37. Because he's a gay pedophile. ( Nothing wrong with being gay)
But being a pedophile is sinful. Some Pedophiles are straight and only molest young girls.
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BlooInBloo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 01:02 PM
Response to Reply #37
43. Then why say it in the first place?
To answer the OP's question, simply the word "pedophile" (pace grammarians) suffices.
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Ecumenist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 01:06 PM
Response to Original message
44. He may be gay,
but he's a perverted creep who stalks young boys who present easy opportunities. I believe it's no accident that he seemed to prefer hunting among the pages because they came from families that tend to be the party faithful and he probably felt that he could gamble that the families would try to keep this either quiet OR could be persuaded to keep quiet by a healthy infusion of hush money.
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Ediacara Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 09:39 PM
Response to Original message
50. My thoughts:
He's in the closet because his party's ideology forces him to be in the closet. If he were a Democrat, or if the GOP were progressive on gay rights, I don't think we'd be having this discussion right now. I think Foley predated on teenagers because he thought he could intimidate them into keeping quiet because he's an adult and a semi-powerful congressman.
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readmoreoften Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 09:42 PM
Response to Original message
51. John Mark Karr appears to be straight, why doesn't he hit on women
his own age?

Because he's a pedophile! Because he's a sick fuck! Why is the sky blue-- because it's blue.

This has nothing to do with being gay; it has to do with pedophilia and sexual harassment in the workplace.

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fujiyama Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 09:47 PM
Response to Original message
52. 'Cuz he's a sick fuck
And we're already starting to hear republicans try to associate homosexuals with pedophilia.

Nice way for the pedophile-protectors to bash gays again.

Sickening.


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savemefromdumbya Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Oct-01-06 09:49 PM
Response to Original message
53. and the hypocrisy of it (said he would protect children)
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