Foley is NOT mired in a sex scandal, he's mired in a sexual predator crime

[LostinVA]

I really wish the media, GOP, etc. would knock it off. The guy was a sexual predator in a position of power who went after minors. Clinton and Lewinsky were a "sex scandal... the Profuma Affair was a sex scandal. This is a crime against children by a sexual predator. And yes, I believe a sixteen-year-old is legally and emotionally a child.

Sex scandals are between two consenting adults.

[MadMaddie]

1. Agreed.....

[glitch]

2. THANK YOU. What's alarming is that so many republicans don't see the

difference.

[jean]

9. are you talking about this list of Republicans?

from dkosopedia:

Republican Sex Scandals
http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Republican_Sex_Scandals

[glitch]

13. Sure, them. But also their bots in media who talk about "overly friendly"

and other benign terms for abuse. :puke:

Thanks for posting that list. It should litter the Net like confetti on New Years Day.

edit: and also creepy everyday repukes you happen to run in to who equate THIS with a consensual sex between adults (Clinton-Monica). Again, I :puke:

[jean]

14. "naughty" is another one. Imagine how voters victimized in one way

or another by child exploitation react to this?

[glitch]

15. Like a kick in the stomach.

"Have I told you today how much I hate these people?" Mike Malloy

[Marnieworld]

3. Bush called the pages "children" yesterday

So that is what everyone else should as well.

[jean]

10. good call

[Marnieworld]

4. It's also not a gay sex scandal either

Genders are irrelevant here. It's all about age and the laws about sexual contact with minors. period.

[philosophie_en_rose]

6. Exactly! It's a sexual predator harassing & preying on minors/ employees!

[LostinVA]

7. Thank you!

[sandnsea]

5. I think that got conceded

Whenever people conceded pedophilia as desiring prepubescent boys, we lost the crime aspect of this scandal. Democrats should have started talking about the age of consent in Florida being 18, instead of conceding to the DC age. And shouldn't have shrunk away from the word pedophile. Once the "facts" are agreed to in a conventional wisdom sort of way, it's almost impossible to turn the herd. So once again, we lost this scandal ourselves.

[Stinky The Clown]

12. You're exactly right .... but naturally the Democrats .....

..... including many right here on DU, in their zeal for terminological precision, chided and scolded over the use of the word 'pedophilia'.

The REAL fact is, on Main Street, where this MATTERS, there's no fucking difference at all. Let the **other** side look like word parsers. We should be keeping this as SIMPLE as possible. 'Child Molester' is not an invalid term in this matter. Again, it might be impreise, but the message gets UNDERSTOOD - and that's what we're trying to do.

[Giant Robot]

16. As you obviously understand from reading your post

Language and phrasing IS very important. Take the debate away from it and call him a sexual predator. That has the same kind of reaction on "Main Street" as "child molester" thanks to all those Dateline specials. It works, It is shocking. And it keeps the debate to a minimum.

[deadparrot]

8. I agree.

When I think sex scandal, I think about two consenting adults. This was certainly not the case. He's a predator, period.

[Pacifist Patriot]

11. I agree with you.

I've been smacked around a little referring to 16 year old males as boys and children this week, but I'm sticking by my opinion.

The only similarity between Clinton/Lewinsky and Foley/Pages is the boundary violation and power differential.