Everyone Else Has Blogged About It So Here's My Bullshit Opinion

So... I was talking to my page about riding my bike and working out the other day and he told me that it seemed he had this conversation before. I apologized for being unoriginal and gave him a back rub.

This Foley guy is exactly the kind of hypocrite that good old liberal folks like me love to watch take a fall. He was a closeted homosexual who pushed a conservative anti-gay rights agenda. What a pig. He hated himself for what he was and now everybody else hates him for what he did.

Can we stop asking if Hastert is going to step down? Denny Hastert isn't going to be the speaker much longer if the GOP keeps handling all this crap so badly. If he would just say, "I fucked up but we are going to fix it.", he'd be fine. All this finger pointing is a joy to watch as a left leaning "semi-independent" (let's face it, the only R I ever voted for was Denny when I lived in his district and only because he was the speaker) as it makes me feel good to know that the wheels aren't just coming off the bus but is screaching down the highway on it's hubs. Problem is, I think that we are losing focus on figuring out how to stop this kind of shit from happening.

I am not going to equate homosexuality with pedophilia. Please don't get that impression from what I am about to say. The vast majority of cases of molestation are homosexual in nature (80% according to one study). I think a big reason for this is that many homosexual men are forced to hide their sexual orientation because it is not accepted by the society they associate with. That includes religious groups and conservative politics. I believe that many priests are driven to the cloth because they are taught to be ashamed of themselves but are trying to be holy and the only way they feel they can escape the sin that is in their mind is to take a vow of chastity. Chastity does not make a person a sex offender. Temptation and lust does. Most cases of priests taking advantage of boys is generally not with small children but rather with sexually mature (although technically still children) boys that they work with every day. Backstage at the Catholic church is a boys club. Straight priests don't molest young girls because they are never alone with them to be tempted. There are lots of occasions of priests having consensual sexual relations with adult women. Straight Priests break their vows too.

What I am getting at is pretty simple. If you tell someone that their sexuality is wicked, they will hide it. In some cases, these same people will not be able to control their urges and will look to a young object of desire that they feel they can easily manipulate. I believe that if homosexuality were not so demonized in this country Mark Foley would have led an open life and wouldn't have had to turn to booze and inappropriate correspodence with young boys to fill whatever hole he has in his life.

We need to address sexuality in all it's forms and encourage people to be open about it. In some cases we may find a person who lives in shame for having feelings for a same sex partner. We could teach them to be OK with their consensual relationship. In other cases we may be able to treat someone with a deviant and criminal sexual problem and find ways to treat them. The only way to keep sex offenders from commiting crimes is to treat them.

Anyway, that's my two cents on all this. I am sick of all this and making the age of a page 18 is only going to make the next group of manipulated kids 2 years older.