By Barbaraq Peck Venice, CA
Why did Republicans do nothing and let a child suffer? Mark Foley’s press secretary said it was only a partisan attack. Foley claimed the e-mail was innocent. Then, ABC News confronted Foley with explicit sexual messages he sent to House pages. A few hours later, Foley resigned from Congress in disgrace.
America then learned the page who got the disgusting e-mail from Foley reported it to the Republican Leadership months before — but they did absolutely nothing about it. All of which means the Republican leadership of Congress helped put other pages at risk.
So you’ve just got to ask: If Republicans are willing to sacrifice children for the sake of political gain, how can we as Americans ever trust them?
But even more importantly, if the Republican leadership is unwilling to do anything about this ugly situation — how can I, as a citizen, make damned sure it never happens again?
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 6, 2006. Read the original PDF.