The Politics of Hypocrisy
By Keith Boykin, in politics
Monday, October 2 2006, 12:57PM
A few weeks ago I found myself on "The O'Reilly Factor" debating with Bill O'Reilly and Fox News commentator Tammy Bruce about Jim McGreevey's tell-all confessional memoir. Bruce said that McGreevey's story was the creepiest thing she had ever seen, and O'Reilly chimed in his agreement. Fast forward to Friday, when U.S. Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) abruptly resigned from Congress in the midst of an email scandal. Foley allegedly sent sexually suggestive emails to teenage boys in the congressional page system. And to make matters worse, Foley was the chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus. Now that's hypocrisy.
But before the Republicans try to sweep it under the rug and claim that he was one bad apple, let's not forget that Republican officials, as high up as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, knew about Foley's misconduct months ago. Some knew even a year ago, but they did virtually nothing to reprimand him or remove him from his position. No, this is not a story about one sick individual, as the GOP would like to frame it. This is a story about a sick political party so corrupted by the allure of political power and blinded by its own moral hypocrisy that it cannot see past an election cycle long enough to do the right thing.
Quite frankly, I'm tired of the politics of holier-than-thou morality practiced by the Republicans for the past few decades. Ever since the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition teamed up with the GOP, the Republicans have felt they have some monopoly on what is right and their opponents somehow represented what is wrong. That simplistic reductionist view leads to a punitive, blame-based politics that is not interested in doing good but more interested in using the morality issue as a political weapon.
Republicans will respond that the left is politicizing the Mark Foley issue for its own gain. That too is the height of hypocrisy coming from the party that has politicized sex and morality to win elections for more than two decades. I have no doubt that most Republicans want to protect our children, just as most Democrats want the same thing. Certain basic truths like that should not be politicized. But it is the Republicans who have consistently tried to politicize every issue into a colossal us-versus-them struggle in the ongoing culture wars.
The problem is not that Republicans don't care about protecting kids. Of course they do. But the real problem is that GOP leaders have become so corrupted by their own power that they believe their own people can be held to a different standard. If they really put their own so-called morality ahead of their politics then they would not have allowed a known child predator to remain in a leadership position as chairman of the Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus.
Republican Sex Scandals
When I appeared on The O'Reilly Factor, I tried to mention several Republican political figures who had been involved in sex scandals, but O'Reilly wouldn't let me say that on the air. Maybe it's because the conservatives know that the sexual morality issue hits close to home for them.
Two of the leading GOP candidates for president in 2008 have both been involved in their own sex scandals. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has been married three times, was alleged to have been involved in an adulterous affair while he was married to his first wife. And Gingrich informed one of his wives that he was divorcing her while she was lying in the hospital recovering from cancer treatments.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani also had an adulterous affair of his own. He was even forced to move out of Gracie Mansion because of the public scandal involving him and his wife.
And that's to say nothing of Bob Barr, the Republican Congressman from Georgia who sponsored the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, but who failed to pay child support to the children of his first two wives and cheated on his third wife. Or about right-wing radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who has been divorced three times and charged with drug abuse. Or about Ed Schrock, the Republican Congressman who co-sponsored the anti-gay Federal Marriage Amendment, who left Congress after he was caught soliciting men for sex.
And let's not even mention Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Republican governor of California, who had sex with a 16 year old when he was 28, and has been accused of sexual harassment by several different women. Republicans are very forgiving about their own political stars. For God's sake, they even forgave segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond, who raped and impregnated a 15-year old African American maid.
But they can never seem to forgive Democrats or liberals. To them, the left is all evil and the right is filled with good. The truth is not that simple.
So here's a proposal to the GOP. Cut out all the phony moral hypocrisy and righteous indignation you selectively employ on everything from abortion to gay rights to the war in Iraq. Stop all the divisive rhetoric that liberals are weak, gays are evil, and war opponents are unpatriotic. If you don't, it won't be long before the destructive slash-and-burn politics of the right-wing will come back to haunt you.
Comments conceal
KC
October 2 2006, 1:21PM
When I heard about the incident over the weekend. I said to myself, I bet that KB is going to have a field day with this one, and lo and behold. I remember quite well listening to the discussion on O'Factor, where he skirted the question that you posed to him about Rebuplicans and sex scandals -but, I guess O'reilly cant say much about sex scandals either.
The late comedian Bill Hicks once observed that anybody who made a huge public stink about their own public morals, or about somebody's lack of them, was almost inevitably hiding something in their own past or present. Hicks died in '94, thus missing the theory, already affirmed by the falls of the many holy-than-thou people we see today in politics and elsewhere.
kc
October 2 2006, 1:52PM
Although, Bill Hicks pretty much forecasted Rush Limbaugh's embarassment, Hicks missed Bill Oreilly's. The moralizing, upstanding wanna-bes are killing me. Not been from this country but has always been an avid watcher and reader of international news, I was shocked at the listing of the many sex scandals individuals named on the site that was aptly name Republican Sex Scandal, horrific, frightening, and an eyeopener to say the least.
People like Mark Foley and others need to be responsible for their actions - like the average Joe. Responsible people do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions based on feelings.
There is some saying from my culture: " the higher monkey climb the more he gets exposed."
"Everyday yuh carry de buckit go a well wan day de battam mus drap out"
Troy
October 2 2006, 1:53PM
I think I'll sit back and wait for the Barbara Walters tell all interview with Foley's poor poor wife, sure to come...can you say movie/book deal?
-G-
October 2 2006, 2:03PM
I agree with everything you said Keith..RIGHT ON!..But, but, but....DEMOCRATS ARE WEAK! And they need some balls. The only one's that have a back bone are Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Maxine Waters...they aint on their own agendas. The rest of them need a reality check. Dems and Reps are the same to me, and I am the most liberal person on earth. Thats probaly why I ascribe to neither party.
Kc
October 2 2006, 2:23PM
I will leave with these few lines, hoping and praying that it is understood.
Luke 18:9 "And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." One has to be careful to be self with been self righteous- the fall from grace can be a hell of a thing.
"Mi throw mi corn, but me no call no fowl".*
*refers to the conversational technique of throwing out a provocative statement (throw corn) in an indirect manner, thus forestalling any accusations of personal insult.
saint james
October 2 2006, 2:44PM
Since we are recalling cultural phrases; "If you shoot the monkey with a bebe (gun) enough times you'll hit him in the eye after 'while." Does this Foley man understand to dend emails of a sexually explicit nature repeatedly to an underage boy would eventually be revealed? Let the monkey say OUCH!
chris-leo
October 2 2006, 3:02PM
maybe it's a condition of being beaten down for so many years, but at the moment i heard about this scandal, i didn't think about kids or molestation or anything humanistic.
all i could think of was, "YAAHOOO!!! okay, how many seats can the democrats get out of this??"
strange.
kc
October 2 2006, 3:15PM
Chris-leo and saint james you guys have me cracking up!
cmoney
October 2 2006, 8:45PM
G.O.P.= Grand Old Pedophiles! This closet queen's antics have been known for years by other congressmen and the staff in charge of the Congressional Pages. They even warned them about him informally during their orientation. Foley has never admitted his sexuality despite the fact that he was outed 10 years ago in The Advocate magazine. He called the reports "disgusting". This didn't stop the Human Rights Campaign from endorsing him and supporting his re-election this year. I can't understand why a gay rights organization would endorse a closeted politician who repeatedly votes with the right wing homophobes in his party. They have egg on their face just like the GOP leadership. I will keep this in mind the next time this front organization for the Log Cabin Republicans comes around begging for money again.
Jeff Winbush
October 2 2006, 8:51PM
Keith, you hit the nail on the head. The GOP has appointed themselves America's moral guardians, but the chickenhawks are coming home to roost. Foley is the worst kind of hypocrite, but the Republicans seem to think throwing him to the wolves solves their problem. Only if voters allow themselves to be duped by the slick ads and spin from the professional truth distorters. God, I wish the election were tomorrow!
chris-leo
October 2 2006, 9:59PM
as a matter of strategy, this is pretty much perfect.
FINALLY the republicans have a real problem with their base. the super right-wing, christian evangelical base can't seem to relate to lies, destroying countries, torturing people, and stealing money as sinful or evil, but give them a good ole' sex scandal with a high ranking cover-up, then throw in a dash of gayness, and there's NOW something they can relate to as "SIN."
what makes the scandal perfect is that, unlike the past republican atrocities, there's no way the G.O.P. can bring their "christian" base on board with this one.
GAME OVER...(i hope.)
pc
October 2 2006, 10:26PM
chris-leo, i hope so too. it's about time their reign of terror comes to an end. off topic..did anyone catch oprah today? she totally soft pedaled the "down low" married lesbians, and never once called them down low.
Steve
October 3 2006, 7:39AM
Well, as much as I would like to express glee that the Republicans are on the run on the same divisive sex issues they've used against their opponents, I'm not so sure the democrats are any better. My real reaction to this is "big deal." Read my friend Susie's blog for a little different take on this issue:
http://susiebright.blogs.com/susie_brights_journal_/2006/10/i_am_having_an_.html#comments
Chris
October 3 2006, 9:16AM
As I read the morning paper, I see that Foley has chacked himself into a rehab clinic for treatment for alcoholism and "related behavioral problems." I am a little unclear what that vague phrase means. However, I fear that it will be read as combining both his pedophilia with his closeted homosexuality. Say what you want about McGreevy, but when caught he didn't hide behind a smoke screen -- bahvioral problems my left foot.
Regan DuCasse
October 3 2006, 11:23AM
I recall a similar reaction when Michael Jackson was first accused over ten years ago.
He left town, and not long after, said he was in a rehab clinic.
In Europe, I think.
Mel Gibson did as much too, after his anti Semitic rant.
How the mighty fall.
But one thing is extremely clear. From a recent school shooting to the reveal of Foley, THE CLOSET is no place for anyone.
It's LONG past time that our society accept gay and lesbian children.
Commit to educating young people and adults on reality instead of fear mongering myth.
And self destructive behavior, as well as behavior destructive to society won't manifest itself in school violence or closet cases like Foley and McGreevey.
Politically powerful and connected gay men who abuse gay people in turn.
Already print media like WSJ and the like are saying "Aha! Ban gay men from interaction with boys!"
That's no solution.
IT NEVER WAS.
qtmia
October 3 2006, 4:33PM
I wonder what his wife is feeling ... Foley and the republicans are full of it ... Foley is the wolf watching the baby chickens...I think most people in politics are corrupt and I put them on the same level with murderers, rapist and robbers. Foley is just the tip of the iceberg.
ChicagoChild
October 3 2006, 6:18PM
@STEVE:Since when are 16-year-olds not children? Because some cuss and drink or smoke? Because some are sexually active? Because some have ADULT bodies and make YOU hot? I have been a 16-year-old child and would have agreed with you wholeheartedly back then, that I was no kid, was sophisticated and smart as heck! Sure I had an outer cool and fantastic fashion sense and street smarts. I was from a big city, afterall. But being a teenager myself, watching family members go from youngins' into teens and raising teens myself, THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING SIXTEEN YEARS OLD AND A MATURE ADULT. A sixteen year old may be sexy as hell, may hold down a job, drive, make good grades, have better drugs than you, know more sexual positions than you at that same age, have a criminal record longer than your arm----but that in no way makes them worldly wise or easy pickens for those in their 20's, 30's, 40's, or 50's.
cmoney
October 3 2006, 7:03PM
Foley has finally "come out"--through his LAWYER! What a piece of crap he is! Now he wants to come out, seeking sympathy probably from the gay community. Too late, bub. You are not gay, you are a gay pedophile and there is a difference. Somehow, I don't think this will stop the HRC from honoring him with an award next year at one of its overpriced benefit dinners. Look for the cover shot on The Advocate soon too. Like Gov. McGreevey, Foley is no hero.
Derrick
October 3 2006, 8:59PM
Cmoney, thank you very much! You are on it! Foley is (now) a sexually abused, alcoholic, gay pedophiliac. It is so important that we do not allow ourselves to be scapegoated into sympathy. Foley is an individual who is interested in power and when it turned into corruption, which is always does, he wants to McClurkinirize his sexuality.
I am beyond tired of the pathologizing of gay male sexuality. We have to let these people know that we will continue to differentiate ourselves from the Foley’s of the world.
However, cmoney, I think you are so right- The Advocate will come to his rescue. Wrap their hypocritical arms around him and say- “welcome home, brother.”
theeunuch
October 3 2006, 10:46PM
Keith, you hit the nail on the damn head when you wrote "This is a story about a sick political party so corrupted by the allure of political power and blinded by its own moral hypocrisy that it cannot see past an election cycle long enough to do the right thing."
Rush Limbaugh is saying this whole thing with Foley is ploy by the Democrats to overthrow next month's elections. He really is a big fat idiot.
I thank God, the Republicans are being seen for what they truly are. Now it's up to us to vote them out.
Steve
October 4 2006, 6:20AM
These moral morons, Never fail to show how fake
much of the political process really is.Lies and
more lies & deciet are the hypocrital way !
This is only the tip of the iceberg.
Denis
October 4 2006, 9:43AM
I am angry as hell! America is now painting a broad brush about being gay. Pedophile, sickening and abominable are being thrown around at the water coolers and where people congregate to talk. These are the questions I am hearing. What does another man see in another man sexually when there are women around to meet his sexual needs? Why does the gay culture worship youth, the perfect body and getting your freak on without much personal responsibility or common sense? Why when a gay person turns 30, he is considered old when he is trying to date, do a profile on the web or go to social places where gay folks congregate? Why can't we see progressive, positive and uplifting gay couples holding down their own instead of seeing men who jump from bed to bed at the drop of a hat without wanting to invest in a long term relationship? Why gay men do not have healthy self esteems or a healthy love for their well-being?
qtmia
October 5 2006, 6:30PM
FOLEY IS A PIECE OF CRAP...HE WILL PROBABLY BE HONORED BY THE HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISION, SINCE HE ADMITTED THROUGH HIS LAWYER THAT HE IS GAY!!!