Instant messages came from a Republican, who was 17 going on 18...

[originalpckelly]

at the time of the IMs. So the particular IMs in question were not from someone 16, in other words they were dirty, but not from a minor minor. In addition they took place right before the teens 18th birthday. This is less disgusting than was made out by ABC News. They neglected to include the age of the page who received the 2003 IMs.

On the other hand, it came from someone deeply involved with managing a Republican campaign; all that BS about this being a Democrat enticing Foley is dispelled by this.

[mindfulNJ]

1. less disgusting?

Not to me it's not.

[originalpckelly]

4. If the person had been 18 would there be as much attention?(nt)

[October]

9. Yes...but without the pedophilia angle

Now we just have the hypocrisy and lying angle.

[originalpckelly]

12. Hypocrisy and lying are not illegal.(nt)

[uppityperson]

perjury, lying making you an accessory are illegal. nt

[havocmom]

39. Sexual harassment of federal employees IS illegal

It is about abuse of power. Taking that course makes it easy to expand it to all the GOP.

It's just one more case made that they abuse power... then they try to cover it up.

The fact that underage youths involved just makes it all the more hateful.

Like most sex crimes: more about power over others than actually about sex.

[NashVegas]

15. We NEVER NEEDED the Pedophile Angle

The scandal is enough in itself. The hypocrisy - Foley voted for the Defense of Marriage Act - is enough in itself.

[Iris]

29. Lewinsky was over 18

and there was PLENTY of discussion about that.

[SoCalDem]

2. Foley was a person of POWER

the IM recipient was in DC with a PARENTAL CONSENT FORM signed by his parent(s).. His "age" is not so important as the fact that the "child" was NOT an adult..and was no doubt feeling pressure from someone who had power over him..

[SteppingRazor]

3. They weren't from a "minor minor"?

What's the difference between 17 and 16? It's still a minor in the eyes of the law. I mean, neither one of them are a 10-year-old, obviously, but that's not the point.

[October]

11. I know, talk about parsing words. /nt

[kiahzero]

21. The difference between 16 and 17 matters in some jurisdictions

In some places the age of consent is 16. In some places it's 17. In some it's 18. I don't know the specific jurisdictions involved, so I don't know which ages apply.

The age disparity isn't really what makes this so immoral to me, though - it's the abuse of power.

[Ashamed_American]

5. Doesn't matter to me

if the kid was a minor or a "minor minor", he was still a minor and this was a Congressman who built a career by protecting children from the likes of himself. Sick man.


www.BlackEyedSundays.com

[Iris]

31. abuse of power, seduction, taking advantage of a person's youth and

inexperience

Sounds bad to me, especially coming from somoene whose party is so big on talking about how "moral" they all are.

[madmusic]

6. According Foley's own law that does not matter. n/t

EDIT: but the law may not apply to Foley because it was enacted AFTER the IMs.

[Spazito]

7. Less disgusting????

You are kidding, right? You haven't read the other IMs, right? You haven't read the IMs where he is planning his get-together with the underage former page that has to occur at his home BECAUSE "they don't want to get busted", right?

I could continue the questions but I suspect you get my "drift", right?

[proud2BlibKansan]

18. And then there is the one where his mom comes in

so he has to go.

[crim son]

8. So, Foley is, what, three times the lad's age?

Nothing wrong with that :eyes:

[originalpckelly]

10. You and I know what the Republicans will say if we head down that...

road. Do I even need to say it? She was 22, but in their minds they won't notice the whole four year difference. If that blog is right (which they might not be) this story is simply about taboo, not about the law.

[jsamuel]

16. if he was 17, it is still about the law

[crim son]

24. I agree. That, and integrity.

Because there isn't a hell of a lot of difference between a sixteen and an eighteen year old. And in some states, eighteen is the age of consent. Foley knows this.

[uppityperson]

13. "Going on" means squat.

Legally, if you are 17 351/352ths, you are 17.

[sabra]

14. Are you sourcing this info from "wild bill" ?

[originalpckelly]

20. No, I am using a blog that another DUer linked to...

moments ago. They may be lying, but their info appears to check out. It looks like ABC left the age of the page who received the IMs unknown. This in the minds of many lead to the speculation that the page who received the IM was 16 at the time he received the message. That is not at all true, again if that blog is right. He was almost eighteen, and in fact that is alluded to in the messages that were released. (You may remember the whole bit about the teen's birthday being soon in February.)

[blogslut]

23. link please

"No, I am using a blog that another DUer linked to...moments ago." Doesn't help me find the story.

[myrna minx]

26. I'd like a link to this, otherwise it is just a rumor...n/t

[uppityperson]

36. Link please.

please provide link. You have posted since you wrote the above, so we know you are here and can please give us the link.Thank you.

[maddezmom]

37. could you please provide a link to the DU post?

thanks:hi:

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

17. So there's only a 35 year age difference instead of 37 years?

Well, that changes everything. :eyes:

17 is still a minor, regardless of what the "age of consent" happens to be in DC.

Sending sexually suggestive IMs to someone of any age who is subservient to you is still sexual harassment.

I haven't heard anything yet to suggest that Foley and anyone protecting him wouldn't be immediately fired if they worked for a company instead of the government.

[Javaman]

19. Oh I see how it works, because he wasn't a minor minor...

the law doesn't apply to foley. Ahhhh, it's all clear now. the plebes have to follow a different set of laws than the congress fucks do. Okay now that I know that, I will be sure to run for office before I rob a bank.

What a colossal bunch of fucking halfwits.

The law is the law and all are equal under it.

[WinkyDink]

22. Too effing bad. The Republicans made 22-year-old Monica out to be a

toddler, practically.

[Subdivisions]

25. If Foley knew he wasn't doing anything illegal, then he wouldn't

have been so quick to resign his career away.

[Nickster]

27. No kidding. Why did he run away so quickly and start making up all of his

stories about alcohol and sexual abuse if what he did was all hunky-dory?

[Lone_Star_Dem]

28. This is the youth Foley met up with in California?

The age of consent is still 18 there, not 17 getting close to 18.

[htuttle]

30. This is a transparent -- and pathetic -- attempt to minimize this scandal

One can only wonder at your motivation for doing so...

[LeftCoast]

32. My understanding is that the IM's come from 3 different pages

Though IM's from more pages may still be out there...

[originalpckelly]

34. You are right, absolutely right...

I believe Foley engaged in multiple aggressive sexual encounters, and it is still possible they were with people really young. So there is still a scandal here. But on the other hand I don't want my fellow Democrats persecuting someone because they had a gay sexual relationship with someone much younger. The scandal is far more powerful with there being someone under age by more than a couple of months (and it seems like about 1 month.)

[blogslut]

35. There was a pattern

More.Than.One.Page - all under 18. Now, anyone that tells you there's noting wrong with that, you look at them like I'm looking right now.

[uppityperson]

38. The problem is NOT gay sexual encounter, we aren't saying that

problem is sexual predation of a young person under their power. It doesn't matter legally if you are less than 1 day from being a major, if you are a minor, you are a minor.

Who of us is saying the problem is a gay sexual encounter? Even with someone much younger?

[The_Casual_Observer]

33. He must have felt that it was important enough to resign over.

[DrDan]

40. isn't this exactly why Denny should have investigated

instead of covering up????

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

42. I agree - the cover-up is the major issue now, not Foley

[myrna minx]

43. There is no link provided in this thread to prove the assertion that

these kids were "almost 18." Nothing. Even though numerous people have asked, the OP never provided one.

[myrna minx]

41. Why isn't there a link!!!!!!!

This is just a rumor that is being tossed around.

Is this the blog? It'd been debunked.

Blogger pulls post that 'outed' boy in Foley scandal, claimed he's of age

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2310798