The article that describes the death of Studds had some interesting quotes in it. In these quotes the people said that Studds was the one who gave other gays opportunity to do what they wanted. My Way News (AP) reported Dean Hara, Studds’ marriage partner, as saying that Studds gave courage to gay people by winning re-election after publicly acknowledging his homosexuality. “He gave people of his generation, of my generation, of future generations, the courage to do whatever they wanted to do." (My emphasis)
First of all, Studds gave gay people courage by winning reelection after publicly acknowledging his sexual relationship with a 17-year-old man along with his homosexuality. Secondly, if Studds gave people like Mark Foley the courage to "do whatever they wanted to do," then how can Foley or anyone else be to blame? Gerry Studds set a standard and his constituents approved of that standard by reelecting him. Mark Foley was only trying to reach the bar set by Studds and his electorate.
It is unfortunate that people did not allow Foley the chance to contact his pages and arrange a press conference where he could proclaim they were consenting individuals in the game of dirty IMs and then the matter, when compared with the "Studds Standard" could be put to bed, so to speak. We could then be writing about how Mark Foley gave gay people the courage to do what they want to do.
As previously stated, I place all the blame for Foley directly on Foley (I am writing that again for the folks who miss it the first time and then accuse me of condoning his acts) and not any other person. Mark Foley is a grown man and is responsible for his own actions.
For those who simply must find someone to blame, who must point a finger, I offer Studds and the Democratic electorate that reelected him after he had sexual relations with that page. This is also a reminder to those in Congress who tolerated Studds and were not blamed for his acts to exercise the same judgment when trying to figure out at whom you should point your fingers. Foley is responsible for his acts just as Studds was for his, courageous as they might have been.
Besides, neither of them could help it, they got sucked into it.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - TrueBlueBlog
This would be funny if its weren't so pathetic, but it's not altogether surprising in any case.
Republicans haven't had a firm footing in reality much less "the moral highground" since they started courting people who think murdering gynocologists to promote "the culture of life" is acceptable.
The fact is that a single 17 year old is A) a single person, not class-after-class of pages, and B) a consenting adult, not a shocked and digusted 15 year-old, as MOST of these pages were.
Consenting adults vs. unwilling children. Accountability vs. a cover-up. You don't have a leg to stand on, Big Dog, and that you apparently believe you do tells me just how out-of-touch the far right is these days.
2 - gonzo marx
ummm..the "Bottom Line" is to Ignore all the bullshit and Ask yourself a simple Question...
do you like the Status Quo in American politics?
if so, proudly go in and vote for the GOP
if not, vote for someone else, just as Proudly
but fucking VOTE!
nuff said....
Excelsior?
3 - Big Dog
Of course it would be helpful if we wait until all the evidence is in as to whom was approached. All the evidence points to Foley waiting until they were adults before he send dirty IMs so MOST were not 15 year olds. This could change as evidence comes out but as of now this is what we have been told. None of this excuses his behavior and I mentioned twice how I feel about him.
We only know of one page with Studds. Like I said, some people absolutely have to have someone other than Foley to blame so pick Studds. He is dead and can not defend himself.
4 - Silas Kain
Eternal rest to you, Gerry Studds. You served your country well. While Phelps and other right wing radical God fearing nutbags swear you are burning in Hell, we know different. Mark Foley is a Repuvblican problem. he was a winner for his district so the GOP shut their eyes to what he wasd doing. That's the way they operate. Had Foley been Democrat, he would have been whipped 40 times, nailed to a tree and burned atop a pyre on the Potomac. Gerry Studds was a courageous pioneer. Mark Foley is a spineless jellyfish. Hmmm. In the end, that pretty much sums up the difference between a Democrat and Republican, doesn't it?
5 - JustOneMan
Gerry Studds was a courageous pioneer...for homosexual predators & pedophiles. Your right he broke ground for people like
William Bonin - with several accomplices, claimed the lives of twenty boys in California (aka The Freeway Killer)
Westley Allan Dodd - child molester and killer of 3 young boys in Seattle, Washington; hanged on January 5, 1993
Albert Fish - sadist and pedophile who cannibalised a 12-year-old girl (aka The Canibal, The Moon Maniac, The Werewolf of Wisteria)
6 - Silas Kain
Oh come now. Certainly you can find better ways of reasoning your point of view. Studds a pioneer to Sadistic pedophile cannibals? Why dost thou have to bear false witness to the memory of the Congressman? There is a major difference between a pedophile and a homosexual. Failure to recognize that simple premise usually indicates that the person who is making the point is just as simple.
7 - JustOneMan
maybe your right but it does make a much more interesting post...
8 - Silas Kain
...for inciting riots
9 - JP
Typical right wing pass-the-buck. Awful.
10 - Silas Kain
But without the right wing, gay prostitutes would be off the streets.
11 - Baronius
This is a delightful article.
12 - Arch Conservative
"Republicans haven't had a firm footing in reality much less "the moral highground" since they started courting people who think murdering gynocologists to promote "the culture of life" is acceptable."
Nice one trublueidiot.
The only problem is that the number of abortion physicians killed by "republicans" in the last ten years can be counted on one hand while the number of babies murdered by liberals and democrats numbers in the thousands.
13 - Silas Kain
What Would Hillary Do?
14 - Dave Nalle
What Would Hillary Do?
A female page?
Dave
15 - Kelly
Eternal rest to you, Gerry Studds. You served your country well...
True, if you are a Representative you can do whatever you want -- unless you are a Republican!
What a hoot!
16 - Arch Conservative
That's right........ Dems get a free pass on everything........
Wanna hit a capital police officer........go ahead you're a Democrat
Wanna have sex with pages?....................go ahead you're a Democrat
Wanna store 90K in bribe money in your freezer?.............go ahead you're a Democrat
Wanna make racist remarks and not have the media say anything?...........go ahead you're a Democrat
Wanna have illegals and dead people vote for you?..........go ahead you're a Democrat
Wanna claim to support the troops while actually voting against military spending as often as you can?.........Go ahead you're a Democrat
17 - zingzing
wanna say the same thing you said earlier?........go ahead, you're archie the conservationista
18 - Silas Kain
Arch, come on now. Do you really belive all that about Dems getting free passes? I can't believe that even you ar ethat naive.
19 - zingzing
um, mr. kain? he's not that naive. he just totally functions on conservative instinct. there is no thought process. it is all training.
20 - Jet in Columbus
What would Terri Schiavo do?
what would Tom Delay do?
What would Diebold do?
What would Governor Bob Taft do?
what owuld Bob Ney do?
What would abrahamoff do?
In 2004 they turned out in their millions to vote for the President, George Bush, winning him Ohio and his second term. Had the Democrats' John Kerry won Ohio - and he was expected to - he would have been president.
For these people munching their roast pork sandwiches, 2004 was about as good as it gets. It has, they readily admit, been downhill ever since.
They are disillusioned by Mr Bush's failure to win the war in Iraq, they are outraged by the tawdry Mark Foley scandal, they are ashamed of the fact that Bob Taft, the Republican Governor, has been embroiled in a series of ethics violations, and that Bob Ney, one of their congressmen, has just pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption charges after a plea bargain that will send him to jail for 26 months.
Mike DeWine is here, the Republican Senator who is facing defeat on November 7 at the hands of Sherrod Brown, a pugnacious, charismatic Democrat and six-term member of the House of Representatives, whom many in southern Ohio consider to be the embodiment of liberal badness.
There have even been reports - which Mr Boehner has not denied - that the Republican Party has decided to pull funding out of Ohio altogether and direct it to states where it has a chance of winning.
For the rest of this article click anywhere in the colored section
21 - zingzing
[Edited]
nice to see you back jet.
22 - MCH
"Wanna claim to support the troops while actually voting against military spending as often as you can?.........Go ahead you're a Democrat"
- ArchBing
Well, unless you're writing this from Iraq Archie, your "support of the troops" is pure bullshit and rhetoric.
23 - zingzing
wait, wait. bing claims he has actually voted for military spending? BING! when did you get your seat in congress? which state do you represent? connecticut? is that it? wait, wait... north hampshire? can't be massachusetts, because you want them all dead... and you're a republican, right?
hrm. what's bing's real name? christopher shays? cute smile. rob simmons? not so cute. connecticut, right?
24 - Jet in Columbus
Thanks Zing
25 - Silas Kain
I love Drama Quuens. They usually start out as conservative christian white ring Republicans.