Representative Foley is paying for all our sins

The best strategy for Republicans in dealing with Representative Foley's indiscretion is to quietly condemn him and then shut the hell up. This is also probably the best strategy for Democrats, while also examining whether or not the House Leadership ignored or covered up for Foley.

Not all Republicans or Conservatives are going to follow this advice, though. Rush Limbaugh, for example, has found the real culprit in this tragedy - and it's Bill Clinton.

What I'm getting at is, it is not beyond the realm of possibility here at all that this was a setup from the get-go, because of what people have known about Mark Foley's sexual orientation as they're now saying, for many years. Here's a supposedly, ostensibly safe seat, here we are in the election campaign with a Clinton war room in full-speed operation, and all of a sudden things that people have known for a long time suddenly surface, once again thanks to our old buddy Brian Ross at ABC.

Yep, this is all a plot by the Clinton War Room. The real story isn't that Foley had illicit contact with a minor, it's that the Clintons will do anything to hurt Republicanoids. And any other scandals that pop between now and the midterms you should attribute to President Clinton, not to any Republicans involved.

Of course Cal Thomas, being more religious takes a more nuanced view in his article. In his opinion it's all Clintons fault.

Bill Clinton has recovered from sex with an intern in the White House and impeachment. He doesn't suffer for having practiced aberrant behavior. Few see him as having disgraced himself. Clinton takes in six figures on the lecture circuit and enjoys rock star status wherever he goes.

Thomas's larger point is that we live in a debased society in which aberrant and disgraceful behavior is applauded. It's hypocritical of Democrats to attack Foley, when if he were a Democrat we'd be applauding his behavior. That's not exactly true, as it turns out. I also suspect that if it were a Democrat, Cal Thomas wouldn't be writing essays about how a Democratic Wrongdoer is somehow indicative of how wicked our society is as a whole. In that case, I suspect he'd choose to focus his energies on attacking the guilty party.

Personally I think the story is sad from top to bottom (although I am amused at the current right wing strategy of jamming Clinton in any conversation at all costs).