GOP Condones Pedophiles Actions

[bigpoppapuff]

very nicely stated,DW....and on his best day,foley was never held in the same regard as barney frank.....

[bigpoppapuff]

By Alan Gomez, USA TODAY
WELLINGTON, Fla. — The mention of disgraced congressman Mark Foley throughout his former district put a grimace on people's faces.
Foley, a one-time rising Republican star, resigned Friday after it was revealed he exchanged sexually explicit e-mails with a teenage boy, a former congressional page.

"I do not want to talk about that" was a common answer from his former constituents Saturday.

IN WASHINGTON:Some colleagues knew of allegations

Those who did speak expressed disappointment, shock and disgust for a man they had elected six times to Congress and were poised to send back to Washington in November. Foley had made a name for himself on Capitol Hill championing legislation against sexual predators and was chairman of the House caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.

"I don't feel sorry for people who say that kind of thing is a disease. You have to be able to control yourself," said Wellington, Fla., elementary school teacher John Cesta, 50.

"It's horrible. He should face criminal charges," said Eric Wenderoth, 35, who owns a landscaping company in The Acreage. "And resigning that fast makes it look even worse. Not even a formal apology?s"

Foley said Friday he was "deeply sorry" in a three-sentence statement released by his office, and he apologized to his family and consitutents.

When news started spreading Friday about sexually explicit e-mails linked to Foley, Republicans here thought Democrats were trying to smear Foley ahead of the Nov. 7 election.

"We had confidence in him," Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County, said Saturday. Dinerstein said he and his wife are good friends of Foley.

But soon after Foley submitted his resignation to Gov. Jeb Bush and U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. Dinerstein called fellow Republicans and told them to distance themselves from Foley as soon as they could.

"I made it very clear that we would not defend the indefensible," he said. "The public comes before the party."

Now Dinerstein and the rest of the Florida GOP executive committee are scrambling to field a replacement for Foley. State election laws dictate that Foley's name must remain on the ballot, but the GOP can name a replacement and all votes cast for Foley will be counted for that person.

One of the front-runners to replace Foley is state Rep. Joe Negron, an attorney from Stuart who chaired the House appropriations committee in Tallahassee the past two years.

Negron has the support of many Republicans in the 16th District, which stretches from Florida's east coast near Stuart to the west coast near Port Charlotte. But he has little name recognition outside the Stuart area, forcing him to drop out of the race for state attorney general this year even though he raised over $1million.

Whoever the Republican candidate is, Negron and others say that person should not be tained by Foley.

"Voters believe in personal responsibility. And they understand that each of us is responsible for our conduct," Negron said. "I don't think they're going to penalize me for something someone else did."

On Saturday, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., campaigned for Democrat nominee Tim Mahoney.

Mahoney spokeswoman Jessica Santillo said Foley's resignation would not change her boss' strategy and Mahoney will not make Foley's problems an issue.

"Before, we were running a strong race, and we will continue to run a strong race," she said. "Mr. Mahoney, from the beginning, has run to restore American values to Washington."

Contributing: Jim Ash, Gannett News Service in Tallahassee