Republicans: Facilitators of Pedophiles

Yeesh. John has posted an instant message conversation between Florida Rep. Mark Foley (MAF54) and YET ANOTHER underage boy, this one from 2003, that was originally posted at ABC News. Apparently House Republicans knew about Foley's predilections for underage boys for over a year -- and not only did nothing, but kept him on as chair of the caucus for the protection of missing and exploited children.

Let me repeat that: Dennis Hastert, the Speaker of the House, protected a pedophile for over a year. Foley has been pulling this shit with House pages for years, and Hastert and the Republican leadership knew about it all along -- and did nothing.

Especially when he had THIS to say in response to a Fox News question as to whether Democrats are coddling terrorists:

HASTERT: I think what they do is, they are so bent on protecting criminals and going through the process and not expediting these people who really want to take our lives, to murder us, and you know, we’ve seen it time and time again. We just saw it just now with the ms-13 gangs, trying to stop them from coming into the country and the liberal Democrats in the Senate blocked it.

ASMAN: But again “coddling terrorists.” You say democrats are doing that. That’s really tough language.

HASTERT: I’m saying what they’re doing is they’re not allowing us to prosecute these people. They’re not allowing us to — the 130 most treacherous people, probably in the world, and they want to put them and release them out in the public eventually.

The very same people who want control over YOUR sexual activities as a consenting adult think it's perfectly OK to make sexual overtures to teenagers -- IF you're a Republican. Don't you think that by any standard, that's taking the IOKIYAR rule just a bit too far?


Get this:

ABC News reported Friday that Foley also engaged in a series of sexually explicit instant messages with current and former teenage male pages. In one message, ABC said, Foley wrote to one page: "Do I make you a little horny?"

In another message, Foley wrote, "You in your boxers, too? ... Well, strip down and get naked."

Foley, as chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus, had introduced legislation in July to protect children from exploitation by adults over the Internet. He also sponsored other legislation designed to protect minors from abuse and neglect.

"We track library books better than we do sexual predators," Foley has said.

As I said in my last post about this -- listen to Republicans when they bleat about sex -- because they are telling you more about themselves than they are about anyone else.

Foley resigned today. And Hastert still hasn't updated his web site to take down the announcement about a community meeting he held on August 29 on "Keeping Kids Safe in Cyberspace."

Kind of makes you wonder with whom HE'S exchanging instant messages.