Unless you've been under a rock for the past month or so, you already know that Congressman Mark Foley has resigned from office after it was made public that he had had inappropriate communication with congressional pages. Irrefutable evidence showed that he had propositioned them for sex, it seems, and the hits keep coming. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert has said, "The buck stops here" but hasn't resigned, although there is a call from Democrats and Republicans alike for him to do so because he failed to do anything about Foley earlier.
Have you noticed, however, that it seems as if the Republicans are being held to a different standard than the Democrats? Former President Clinton committed adultery in the White House, but the problem wasn't the president -- it was the vast right-wing conspiracy that pointed it out. Should the president resign? No, of course not! It's only sex. The Speaker of the House, on the other hand, ought to step down for ignorance. In the Chappaquiddick incident, Senator Ted Kennedy drove drunk with a woman not his wife and ended up killing her. He received criticism for drunk driving, failing to save MaryJo Kopechne, and for contacting his lawyer before getting help. Did Senator Kennedy resign? Of course not. But the Democrats are outraged because the Republicans knew that Foley was "gay and indiscreet". (I couldn't believe it when I heard that accusation on the news.)
Should Foley have resigned? I think so. I think prison is likely and rightly in his future. Should Hastert resign? It is purely my opinion here, but I think it would likely be a good idea. I'm not offering any defense here of the current events and players. My question is regarding this apparent higher standard to which Republicans are held.
It seems as if a hint of impropriety will result in a Republican scandal, while Democrats actually get the sex and no one cares. And maybe it's not unexpected. After all, many Republicans run and win on a moral ticket. Democrats don't. Remember, it was they who argued "Character doesn't count." Apparently it doesn't count for Democrats, but it's essential for Republicans.
Since I believe that character does count, I'm repeating this. I'm not defending the Republicans. I'm not suggesting that we should give Republicans a pass on immoral behavior because Democrats do it all the time. I'm simply pointing out that those of us who call for higher morality will be held to a higher moral standard. Be prepared. Avoid evil in all its forms. It's a good approach to take.
4 comments:
I heartily agree with you.
Truly, it doesn't matter the double standard. It's wrong, of course, but it doesn't matter. What matters is the moral standard, the ethical standard. I'm as outraged by the Ethics Committee not doing anything before Foley was found out as I am at Foley. After the scandal broke wide open, only then did the Committee do any investigation and now, I've forgotten how many different citations of bad conduct they uncovered but it was more than enough to raise my eyebrows. If that much hanky panky was going on... how can anyone trust our country's leaders?
There is a higher standard, no question about it.
However, as the party of the "Christian right" (whatever that is), Republicans in my view invite and deserve a little higher scrutiny.
I agree that Foley was right to have resigned, and he has earned some prison time. I reserve judgment on Hastert, because I don't believe we have a full understanding of how much he knew and when. I definitely do not believe Hastert should resign now, because the main purpose of the clamoring for his resignation is because Democrats wish to use that as leverage over the next 4 weeks. They would paint his resignation as further proof that "Republican scandal" goes all the way to the top - when in actuality nothing has been proven as of yet.
Another point, there are rumors that some Democrats may have known the entire truth about Foley's innapropriate dealings with these boys well in advance of the media bomb. If true, they are as or even more culpapble than Hastert. That may be why the Democratic leadership is actually shying away from a quick and complete investigation of the Page program - they just want an investigation into Foley and Hastert.
No matter the outcome, you're right about the higher standard - and it will always be that way as long as Republicans are viewed as the "values" party. Like Christians, they have a responsibility to "walk the walk". And as with Christianity, failure to do so makes it all the more difficult to bring others to your view.
Well...I guess I live under a rock!
Could it be because he was gay that the liberals did not want to make a stink? But when the Iraq card did not play well enough to ensure they can take over, they had to pull out this one to upset conservatives too.
Now I don't how many democrats have went after minors for sex, but Foley not only crossed the line for sexual harassment, prefernce for the same sex, but then he had to push the envelope by pursuing minors. I have more thoughts on that, but I won't stir the pot huge on your blog.
However, this comes as no surprise about the double standards from the liberals.
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