Plenty of finger-pointing going on...

But no one is taking responsibility.

Let's see....

So far the victimizer has blamed the following for his behavior, either directly or by implication:

Booze.

Priests.

The Republican Congressional leadership has blamed the following for their coverup, either directly or by implication:

Bill Clinton.

George Soros.

Nancy Pelosi.

Democrats in general.

Kirk Fordham.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Some have gone so far as to blame:

The victims.

Gays in general.

These lists are not complete, but you get the point.

Who have Foley and the Republican leadership *not* blamed?

Mark Foley and the Republican leadership.

You'd think that after spending years making Bill Clinton squirm because he wasn't willing tell the truth about his affair with Monica Lewinsky, they'd have learned the lesson of Clinton's folly.

Stand up.

Face up.

Shut up.

As in Stand up to scrutiny of what has happened.

As in Face up to what you have done, or should have done but didn't.

As in Shut up and take your medicine.


If I could speak to Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, respectively the House and Senate minority leaders, I would give them this advice -

On November 8th, probably one of you, and possibly both of you, is going to wake up as the leader of one of the houses of Congress.

Learn and apply the lessons that the Republicans have ignored. Do what is needed to regain the public trust that has been lost.

Give the Ethics Committee its teeth back.

Let it do its job.

And when a Democrat, inevitably, is involved in behavior that is unethical or even criminal, let him or her face the music.

There have been unethical Congressmen for as long as there has been a Congress; there always will be. That's just an unfortuate part of human nature.

However, so long as there is an honest, effective, and open system for dealing with them, public trust in Congress can be restored.

One other observation, as the big brother to two baby sisters (OK, so they aren't "babies" any more. Some instincts die hard. :) )

Does anyone believe that if the victims had been 16-year old girls that the uproar would be what it is today? Does any disbelieve that the furor has been primarily fueled by the fact that he was preying on boys?

If the victims were girls, the Reps and theo-cons, and even many Dems, would "tut-tut" about the whole affair, saying many of the same words they are saying now, but those words would be accompanied by winks and nudges.

And high fives once the TV cameras were off.

That pisses me off almost as much as the actual scandal.

Good night everyone.