What Matters About the Foley Matter

The issue is not whether Mark Foley is a good or a bad person. Everyone--everyone--is both good and bad. The issue is accountability for actions.

Mark Foley will most likely be held accountable for his actions. He has resigned his seat in Congress. He faces investigation and the possibility of charges, trials and convictions.

The Republican leaders of the House are also accountable for their actions, which in this case are multiple acts of negligence, at minimum. They have created the climate for the severity of that accountability by defining and emphasizing the seriousness of cyber crimes against children, and politically by demonizing the actions of Democrats, accurately or not, whenever they could be accused of leniency or "coddling" criminals and ignoring or minimizing criminal behavior.

They and their political allies on the religous right have insisted on the immorality of this type of behavior. They have insisted that people be held accountable for such behavior. But so far, the religious right has been silent on the Foley matter, which suggests they are more political and right wing than they are religious. With the exceptions so far noted below, the Republican political noise machine has defended the Republican leaders and to some extent, Mark Foley. According to Bush House spokesperson Tony Snow: "I hate to tell you, but it’s not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill. And there have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty e-mails.”

By their actions and inactions, the Republican leadership of the House has violated their public trust. Conservative talk show host Michael Reagan (son of Ronald Reagan) and David Bossie, president of the conservative Citizens United, have called on House Speaker Dennis Hastert to resign. Another prominent Republican conservative pundit, Bay Buchanan (sister of Pat Buchanan) lambasted the House leadership for failing to investigate further, based on the first email they saw, which she says ""had sexual predator written all over it."

At the very least, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and the rest of the Republican leadership involved, must resign their leadership positions immediately. Should they choose not to resign from the House, in the elections next month, voters in their districts should reject them as unfit to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.

There is further evidence that the Republican leadership considered this matter only in terms of how it would affect electoral politics. Leadership requires knowing when the priority is other than partisan power. But Republicans have shown scant interest in anything but their own political power, and how to exploit it for partisan and personal gain. For their arrogance, cynicism and complacency, they should all be rejected at the polls.

It should be noted that unlike many people in the world who come in contact with the U.S. government, Mark Foley will get his day in court. The law enforcement agencies who investigate him will be required to show probable cause for searches and seizures. If he is tried, Foley will be presumed innocent until proven guilty. He will know the charges against him, he will be represented by counsel, there will be rules of evidence in what can and can't be held against him, he will have the opportunity to confront his accusers, and he will be judged by a jury of his peers. He will not be tortured, held indefinitely without charges, or summarily imprisoned, regardless of how henious are the crimes of which he may be accused. This is the American way. Even if it is not the Bush-Cheney way.

Update Monday night: The ultra-conservative newspaper, the Washington Times, has called for Hastert's resignation as Speaker. The story hasn't died down, and the Beltway conventional wisdom is beginning to coalesce around the idea that Hastert must resign to save the political fortunes of the Republicans in November. So it now appears likely that he will. But what about the rest of the leadership? Will this story go away? We've seen one bombshell story after another these past few weeks, so it depends on what else is out there. But the basic story here will likely continue to resonate and send out shock waves in the rest of the country.