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Gary Bauer makes a similar argument in an interview with the American Family Association's Agape Press:

"Both parties are full of sinners. Our faith teaches us that it's a fallen world," [he said.]

But Bauer says when it comes to voting, the GOP platform supports the sanctity of life and traditional marriage, while liberal Democrats support same-sex "marriage" and abortion on demand. "Those differences remain the same," he points out, "and in view of that, I would hope that the obvious disgusting behavior by this one Republican congressman would not affect turnout on election day."

Bauer alleges that the timing of the revelations is "an attempt to discourage Christian conservative voters and to get some percentage of them to stay home so that the Left can retake the United States Senate and the United States House."

Whether it's Hastert or a politically motivated media, "at this stage, all we know is that it appears that someone knew something and kept quiet temporarily for reasons of their own," Gina Dalfonzo writes on The Point, the new blog of Charles Colson's Breakpoint. She continues:

Until everything comes out—and in this politically charged climate, maybe it never will—should we say anything at all? Maybe not much, but I think there's at least one thing we can and should say with certainty. It used to go without saying among grown-ups that the exploitation of children and teenagers for any reason—including wanting to retain power or wanting to overthrow those in power—is a complete and utter disgrace. Apparently, it no longer does go without saying. Because whoever knew and withheld this information for their own purposes is morally just as guilty as Mark Foley.

Meanwhile, several religious conservative groups are less interested in the Hastert angle than in the gay angle.

"We are all shocked by this spectacle of aberrant sexual behavior, but we shouldn't be," Perkins said in a press release. "This is the end result of a society that rejects sexual restraints in the name of diversity."

"Okay, so let me get this straight," responds conservative columnist Rod Dreher in his Crunchy Con blog "The fact that the Republican Party leadership in the House was rather less than aggressive in looking into a matter of a scumbag gay Congressman chasing a teenage boy is … society's fault? Is the fault of gay people asking for tolerance? … If NOW had blamed society for Bill Clinton's dalliance with Monica Lewinsky, we'd have all hooted them out of the room, and deservedly so."

Elsewhere, Perkins says that "the real issue" in the Foley case "is the link between homosexuality and child sexual abuse."

Link? Apparently there's an equivalence in the mind of Concerned Women for America, which says that "Congressman Foley's sexual orientation was no secret in Washington, D.C. [Peter] LaBarbera uncovered this news for CWA in 2003." LaBarbera's 2003 article outing Foley as gay made no mention of a predilection for teens, which might make one wonder if CWA understands what the scandal here is.

Actually, a statement from CWA president Wendy Wright does repeatedly note that the problem is that Foley tried "to take sexual advantage of minors." "Americans know that some lifestyles, such as aberrant sexual behavior, are just too damaging and dangerous to individuals, and that society and children especially should be protected from them," Wright says.

Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery doesn't mention homosexuality. He calls the case "yet another sad example of our society's oversexualization, especially as it affects the Internet, and the damage it does to all who get caught in its grasp." He adds, "This is not a time to be talking about politics, but about the well-being of those boys who appear to have been victimized by Rep. Foley."

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October (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50