The Shoe is Now on the Other Foot

I suppose everyone has now heard about the former Republican Representative Mark Foley, who resigned on Friday after being accused of sending sexually explicit instant messages and emails to teenage male Congressional pages in the last ten years.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich reacted by commenting that Democratic sex scandals have been far worse than what Mark Foley allegedly did.

I'm guessing this is a thinly veiled allusion to the Clinton/Lewinsky brouhaha. But I beg to differ with the erstwhile speaker. Both Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky were consenting adults, unlike the pages Foley allegedly sexually harassed, who were all minors.

Vice-President Dick Cheney said, "I don't think we fear investigations. I don't think they would get much done, if that's all they've got. And I don't think there's great enthusiasm on the part of the country for that," Cheney added.

This didn't apparently bother the Republicans when they went after Clinton for the Lewinsky affair, and were more than willing to go the distance with this issue, despite a similar lack of public enthusiasm then.

Some Republicans question the timing of this story going public, fearing it will adversely affect their chances in the midterm elections, especially if evidence develops to verify allegations that some Republican leaders knew about Foley's activities for months or years, but had suppressed the information, failing to act.

Ah, well. What goes around, comes around. The shoe is now on the other foot and we can only hope that the shit will hit the fan for the Republicans next month.

Thoughts?