Textbook Definition of Homophobia - Mark Foley The Real Story

[Guest manrent1]

The following is from a blog and I think it sums up what a lot of us are thinking about the real news behind the Mark Foley text message saga -

 

 

Textbook Definition of Homophobia

 

A quick search on the Internet gives us this definition: "Homophobia is the fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality." Perhaps as a footnote, someday they'll reference America's response to the Mark Foley sex scandal. I'm driving up north this week and had all day to listen to the rantings coming into the car thanks to my Sirius radio. There is no other way to describe what I heard better than to say this is textbook homophobia. Sure, you might not like what this guy in a position of power may have done, but the reaction we're seeing and hearing is beyond over the top.

 

Example: Paul Begala and Bay Buchanan speaking almost in unison on CNN this afternoon, announce their aversion as parents to the notion of a 16 year-old boy being sent instant messages by an older man. For the Democrat/liberal Begala he said his response to anyone who might proposition his son would come by way of Smith and Wesson. Republican/conservative Buchanan indicated she'd rather beat him to a pulp. The first image that flashed in my mind was Matthew Shepard, his dead body dangling on a fence in Wyoming, killed by some young men because he apparently flirted with them. Begala and Buchanan apparently have such aversion of homosexuality they'd kill over something as seemingly harmless as a proposition to their teenage sons.

 

Words like "disgusting," "vile," and "sickening" are being bandied about by liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats. I'll be the first to say that I somewhat relish the sight of seeing Republicans, especially a specific previously closeted Republican who stood so publicly to "protect the children" and to stop porn from flourishing on the Internet, being shown for what he and they have been all along: hypocrites. But that was true when those same lawmakers voted to "protect" marriage from gay people even when many of them were on their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th wives. My pleasure at the spectacle is greatly reduced by the realization that this may very well be the key to getting Congress back in the hands of the Democrats. What brings America to vote out the party in power will not be voting against a Congress that openly votes for torture, or one that supports programs to spy on all of us. Not because we care so much about protecting our children that we hold Congress accountable for getting us involved in an illegal war, built on lies that is costing young people their lives just about daily. It is a sad day for America if we get all bent out of shape not because of these concerns, but because some kid receives an instant message and rather than asking Foley to stop or blocking the sender, he not only continues the provocative messaging with Foley, but saves them for several years until he decides to turn them over to a reporter just weeks before an election. [i can't be the only one thinking maybe this page is actually not real. How likely is it that this page saves his instant messages years after they occur?]

 

As we all stand on our soap boxes being all concerned about the children let us remind ourselves that no one has come forward to say actual sex occurred. Furthermore, even if someone comes forward to say that Foley had sex with one of these 16 year-old boys, sex between a 16 year-old and this former Congressman would not be a crime in the majority of states and the District of Columbia where 16 is the age of consent.

 

I was thinking today of another case of a sexual predator and how we have reacted to that person in an entirely different way. For several years there has been a running storyline on one of America's favorite TV shows about the sexy, often shirtless 16 year-old male gardener being seduced by a desperate Latina housewife. We've embraced this predator. We've rooted for the boy she seduced, hardly viewing their actions as worthy of a crime or a trip to alcohol rehab. Gay people know that all this talk of "disgust" is not about the actual ages of those involved or their respective roles in society. Rather it is one thing pure and simple: homophobia. It is about the fact that both persons are men.

[Rick Munroe]

>The following is from a blog

 

Whose blog is it from? When you post someone else's thoughts, you should give them credit or at least include a link to the original source. I agreed with it, and I'd like to know with whom I'm agreeing. Thanks!

[Guest alanm]

I agree that the reaction to Foleygate is over the top.

 

But why would anyone be surprised by the uproar? Didn't we go through a similar, although heterosexual, situation with Clinton and Monica?

Monica was of age and an employee of Clinton's only in the widest sense of the term, yet the country spent nine months flogging the male 'sinner.'

[Guest manrent1]

The blog is from http://www.cruisingforsex.com - from the Cruise Master himself Keith.

[Guest Merlin]

No, Alanm, Monica told Tripp that Clinton had asked her to perjure herself. It was about perjury, subornation of perjury, and obstruction of justice, not sex.

[trilingual]

> It was about perjury, subornation of perjury, and obstruction of justice, not sex.

 

Uh-huh. Sure. You bet. Nothing to do with sex at all! x(

[pierrot]

While much of this posting is true, it must be admitted that Mark Foley was a man in a highly responsible position who acted highly irresponsibly. Even if he broke no laws, he knew he was walking a fine line, and to what end?

I don't doubt that the extra vehemence of the national response may be due to ingrained homophobia, but I don't agree that the reaction would have been much different had the page been female.

Mark Foley, like so many powerful people, was afflicted with enormous hubris, and thought he wouldn't get caught.

Sure the kid was leading him on. Was he doing it for fun, or because the idea of sex with an older man excited him? Who knows? It doesn't matter. Foley was playing with fire and knew it. The fact that he was a big hypocrite about political issues that involve gay people, just eliminates any hope of sympathy from me.

[+ glutes]

Textbook Definition of Hyprocrisy

 

Hypocrisy is the act of pretending or claiming to have beliefs, feelings, morals or virtues that one does not truly possess or practice. The word derives from the late Latin hypocrisis and Greek hupokrisis both meaning play-acting or pretense. The word is arguably derived from hypo- meaning under, + krinein meaning to decide/to dispute[1]