Do you think that when there’s a scandal, particularly a sex scandal involving politicians, that Republicans get slammed harder when they’re at the center than Democrats?
Or is it just that the heat gets intense when scandal hits the party in power?
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In the days since the Mark Foley sex scandal broke, as we’ve been waiting to learn what House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) knew and whether he responded appropriately, I’ve heard a lot of people saying that scandal is tougher on Republicans.
I’m not sure that’s the case, but if so it’s pretty clear why. Republicans have been winning big elections by setting themselves aloft, placing themselves on such high moral perches that when they lose their footing, the thud reverberates much louder than when their counterparts get in trouble.
Hastert has led a House that has seen its share of thuds from his fellow Republicans in the last year. Consider the fall of U.S. Rep Tom DeLay, who resigned after being indicted in his home state of Texas in relation to campaign finance problems. He created quite a thud. Consider the fall of California Rep. Randy Cunningham, who was convicted of taking more than $2 million in bribes. Thud. Then there was the fall of Ohio Rep. Bob Ney, who resigned after his lucrative relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff became public. Another thud.
Most Americans understand that conservatives are human beings and susceptible to making stupid mistakes. (Democrats aren’t immune. Think of Rep. William Jefferson, accused of having $90,000 in bribe money chillin’ in the freezer of his Louisiana home.)
It’s just that the more moralistic conservatives have shown so little empathy for the fallibility of others that it feels like they’re getting what they deserve and more when they thud.
It’s always a fascinating exercise to watch them explain how they got tripped up. Last week, Hastert attempted to link the Foley scandal to a conspiracy by the Democrats and the news media. What?
Foley’s attorney gave us a list of puzzling reasons that we were supposed to piece together to understand why the 52-year-old ex-Congressman sent explicit e-mail messages to teenage male pages. First we learned that Foley checked himself into a drug rehab resort, ostensibly for an addiction no one knew he had. Then we learned he was gay and later that he had been molested as a child.
To be clear, I don’t think there’s a difference when conservatives or liberals commit a crime or run afoul of their ethics. It’s shameful all around.
It was as shameful in the 1980s when former U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds (D-Mass.) got caught up in a page sex scandal as it was when former U.S. Rep. Dan Crane (R-Ill.) found himself in a similar predicament.
Neither party has a corner on criminal behavior or “ethical challenges,” as U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) calls them. Ultimately, since people are often fallible and boneheaded, this has to be about fixing systems. For example, after the Studds and Crane messes, a bipartisan panel overseeing the program was established in part to ensure pages’ safety. But clearly that was not enough.
A dormitory was built to house the pages, and a 24-hour monitoring system, with curfews, was instituted. That wasn’t a total deterrent either. (According to reports, Foley had been turned away from the dorm at least once.)
Hastert has announced the creation of a toll-free hotline that pages, former pages and family members can call to report grievances or make suggestions. If that’s a tweaking of the locks, then it’s only a beginning. Deft lock pickers abound, and the Internet serves as an able accessory.
One last thing. Let’s say the Foley scandal does have the legs to drop-kick the Republicans.
Here’s what I find most curious about the furor surrounding all of this: How amazing if this scandal becomes the tipping point, instead of the avalanche of all the other things that have gone wrong, not the least of which are the bungles in Iraq and Afghanistan. The death toll among civilians and soldiers continues to mount.
OK, maybe the Foley fallout won’t be so amazing after all. Particularly since it was God, gays, abortion and other moral issues that vaulted conservatives to power in the first place. What is it that they say about what goes around?
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