Let me begin by saying that I disapprove of outing people based on their sexual orientation. Once it's reported, there's no point in ignoring it, but I'm not going to be the one to do it.

David Corn today (who also disapproves of the practice) writes that a list of Gay Republican aides is making the rounds. He has the list but is not publishing it.

by TChris

The latest right wing conspiracy theory, floated by Rush "Gasbag" Limbaugh, holds that Rep. Foley was set up by the teenage boy with whom he chatted via IM, presumably at the behest of evil Democrats. Rush's proof: nobody saves IM transcripts unless they want to use them to bring down Republicans.

Entrapment is a difficult argument to make, given the content of the IM's. It's plainly Foley, not the kid, who persists in turning the conversation toward underage drinking and post-dinner activities. Rush's assertion is silly, but that's what we've come to expect.

More to the point, a free Wall Street Journal article explains that IM transcripts are easy to save. Keep that in mind if you decide to chat up teenagers via the internet.

Update: Another conspiracy debunked.

(Guest Post from Big Tent Democrat)

Kevin Drum writes:

Walter Benn Michaels thinks that liberals have become too obsessed with "diversity." Why? Because, he says, "celebrating diversity" is easy and makes us feel good -- we're fighting racism! and sexism! and homophobia! -- while doing what we should be doing is hard and makes us feel tired. And what is it that we should be doing? Reducing income inequality and helping the poor

. . . I have a certain amount of sympathy for this point of view.

I don't. Heck, why are we concerned about Iraq? Education? The environment? Why pick the fight for racial, gender and sexual orientation justice as the thing that is distracting us? It is the paranoid style, a la Jesse Helms. It is, in a word, disgusting -- deserving of censure, not sympathy.

by TChris

Mark Foley is walking a tightrope. The emails and IM's are out there; he can't pretend they don't exist. Through his counsel, Foley apologized for "inappropriate" communications. A more specific apology - the kind that could be introduced as evidence against him during a sexual assault trial - isn't likely to be forthcoming, as Foley's lawyer denied that Foley had sexual contact with a minor.

As TalkLeft noted here, Foley followed the standard Washington practice of entering an alcohol treatment program. "I did it because I was drinking" hasn't impressed a judge since the days of Wyatt Earp. Today, while carefully offering no excuses, Foley's lawyer alluded to Foley's history of abuse by a clergy member when he was a child. "I did it because I was abused as a child" sounds strained coming from a stalwart of the Party of Personal Responsibility. And these sound suspiciously like excuses from a man who, according to his lawyer, wants to offer no excuses.

Because conservatives have populated courts with judges who don't much care why you did what you did, Foley can't expect sympathy from the judiciary because of his childhood victimization. If Foley wants to soften a potential punishment, he would be wiser to enter a reputable and very private sex offender treatment program.

According to this new article in U.S. News & World Report, senior GOP House and party officials say House Speaker Denny Hastert has 24 to 48 hours to redirect the Mark Foley story or at least quiet it down -- or else he may have to step aside.

"The next 24 to 48 hours will be critical for Hastert and the House leadership," said a Republican political strategist. He said that if the leadership can contain the issue fast, Hastert would not be in trouble. But there are indications that the affair will continue to expand as Democrats take advantage of the situation, possibly leading conservative Republican members to go public with their dissatisfaction with Hastert and demand his resignation.

The Note now reports Foley interrupted a House vote to engage in internet s*x with a teen.

Former Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL) interrupted a vote on the floor of the House in 2003 to engage in Internet sex with a high school student who had served as a congressional page, according to new Internet instant messages provided to ABC News by former pages.

ABC News now has obtained 52 separate instant message exchanges, which former pages say were sent by Foley, using the screen name Maf54, to two different boys under the age of 18. This message was dated April 2003, at approximately 7 p.m., according to the message time stamp.

[Hat tip Patriot Daily.]

by TChris

In the red corner, wearing the rebel yell trunks, John Boehner:

Majority Leader John Boehner said the speaker had assured him months ago the matter had been taken care of. ''It's in his corner, it's his responsibility,'' Boehner, R-Ohio, said in an interview on radio station WLW in Cincinnati.

In the my-face-is-red corner, wearing the stars and stripes trunks, Dennis Hastert:

Speaker Dennis Hastert brushed aside any suggestion of resignation on Tuesday as House Republican leaders struggled to contain the fallout from an election-year scandal involving sexually explicit messages from a disgraced lawmaker to underage male pages.

Good. No resignation means additional rounds of Republican vs Republican pugilism. Pop open a brew and settle back for round two.

The conservative Washington Times is calling for House Speaker Denny Hastert's resignation.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once. Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away. He gave phony answers Friday to the old and ever-relevant questions of what did he know and when did he know it? Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance.

The Times wants Henry Hyde, who isn't running for re-election, to take his place.

Oh, the irony. On June 25, 2002, Rep. Mark Foley addressed the House on protecting the safety of "virtual" children from the liberal Supreme Court. The topic was the Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002. From the Congressional Record:

Mr. FOLEY . Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time to me, and I thank the chairman for his hard work on this issue, as well the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith).

I have heard terms described today that this has been rushed to the floor of the House. Maybe those who claim it has been rushed have not had a chance to see the virtual pornography that has been created since the Supreme Court's ruling, endangering our children, virtually created; horrible portrayals of our young and most fragile citizens on the Internet.

Today's passage of this legislation is a pedophile's worst nightmare. Congress is one step closer to helping the High Court side with children over pedophiles.

(Guest Post from Big Tent Democrat)

Just unbelievable, Drudge is sick:

Clip #1. And if anything, these kids are less innocent -- these 16 and 17 year-old beasts...and I've seen what they're doing on YouTube and I've seen what they're doing all over the internet -- oh yeah -- you just have to tune into any part of their pop culture. You're not going to tell me these are innocent babies. Have you read the transcripts that ABC posted going into the weekend of these instant messages, back and forth? The kids are egging the Congressman on! The kids are trying to get this out of him. We haven't got the whole story on this.

Clip #2: You could say "well Drudge, it's abuse of power, a congressman abusing these impressionable, young 17 year-old beasts, talking about their sex lives with a grown man, on the internet." Because you have to remember, those of us who have seen some of the transcripts of these nasty instant messages. This was two ways, ladies and gentlemen. These kids were playing Foley for everything he was worth. Oh yeah. Oh, I haven't...they were talking about how many times they'd masturbated, how many times they'd done it with their girlfriends this weekend...all these things and these "innocent children." And this "poor" congressman sitting there typing, "oh am I going to get any," you know?

Words fail me. But not Atrios, who points to the sick Media. C&L has the tape.

Update from Last Night in Little Rock, 8:48 pm CT

More doo-doo for Hastert:

Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., says she was not told about suggestive e-mails that a Florida congressman sent to a 16-year-old former Capitol page, even though she is one of three representatives who oversee the page program....

Several high-ranking House Republicans have known about the e-mails for months, including Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the House Page Board.

Late last year, Shimkus met with Foley about the e-mails. But Shimkus never told Capito or the board's other member, Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., about them until Friday, according to all three.

"There's only three of us on the page board. I feel that we should have been informed," Capito said. "I'm absolutely disgusted by what I'm hearing. I was caught totally unaware."

[Charleston Gazette]

by TChris

Tony Snow's attempt to spin Mark Foley's conduct as involving "simply naughty e-mails" (reported by TalkLeft here) is silly on its face, but will be even harder to sell if, as ABC reports today, "Mark Foley's Internet messages also include repeated efforts to get the underage recipient to rendezvous with him at night." Snow's remarks reflect, as John Nichols reports, the GOP's state of denial concerning the Republican cover-up of Foley's transgressions.