Arlington Group Rips House Leadership for Inaction re: Foley
by Ed Thomas and Jody Brown
October 4, 2006
(AgapePress) - - In strong terms, a written statement from a conservative pro-family coalition questions the integrity of House congressional leaders in their behavior regarding the stunning recent allegations against former Florida Representative Mark Foley. The Arlington Group thinks leadership ignored warning signs and rumors about Foley for political expediency.
The Arlington Group has more than 70 pro-family member organizations dedicated to traditional values. Its statement calls for investigation and prosecution of any laws possibly broken by Foley during his alleged electronic contact with underage male pages -- and by anyone who knew of any questionable activities and did not report it. The statement accuses congressional leaders of ignoring warnings of Foley's "odd behavior" toward young male pages for fear of "backlash from the radical gay rights movement."
"It appears that the integrity of the conservative majority has given way to political correctness," says the statement, "trading the virtues of decency and respect for that of tolerance and diversity."
It also calls for anyone -- congressional member, congressional staffer, page, or citizen -- who knows of any sexual contact between a member of Congress and a minor to report it immediately to the House or Senate leadership, or run the risk of legal prosecution for not doing so. The group cites rumors circulating that reports of similar sexual activity will be released between now and Election Day.
Paul Weyrich, whose Free Congress Foundation is among the members of the Arlington Group, echoes the statement's sentiments, saying the GOP leadership's unwillingness to reign in Foley before the scandal broke leaves a perception of fear of political correctness at best, and failure to live up to the public trust at worst.
"The leadership of the Congress should have acted immediately," says Weyrich, "but instead they turned a blind eye toward this, hoping that it would go away, hoping that nothing would come out before the election."
Weyrich says Foley has been a well-known homosexual in Washington for at least two years, yet none of the congressional leaders in the House has admitted that during statements surrounding the current controversy. The conservative spokesman contends the accusation of Foley's behavior toward pages -- and the discovered e-mails -- should have been taken seriously.
"The fact that you had this conduct known for months, even years before, and nobody wanted to do anything about it is where the problem is," he exclaims. "And why didn't they want to do anything about it? Well, they didn't want to be labeled 'homophobes.' That's the root of the problem."
The Arlington Group statement concludes with the comment that the scandal surrounding Foley is "just one more example that America desperately needs to return to the Judeo-Christian values that have served as a foundation of our nation from its inception."
Americans' Reaction 'Justified' -- and Revealing
Two other members of the Arlington Group -- Focus on the Family Action and Concerned Women for America -- have released separate statements commenting on the general reaction across America. Both believe the reaction indicates that so-called "diversity" and "tolerance" are not as commonly held in society as liberals portray.
Speaking for Focus Action, Tom Minnery says public outrage over Foley's actions are justified, and that if the former congressman is found guilty of any crimes against children, he should be prosecuted. Minnery then shares that he sees something positive in the public's reaction to the Foley scandal.
Wendy Wright | |
"The fact that so many Americans are outraged and sickened by his alleged actions indicates that as a society we do understand there are limits to 'tolerance' of our culture's anything-goes view of sexuality," says Minnery. "If any lasting cultural good could come out of this awful incident, it would be Americans discarding the politically correct notion fed to us by those on the left that obscenity is just another form of free speech."Likewise, the president of Concerned Women for America notes that Americans do, in fact, know that in the real world there is a right and a wrong. Wendy Wright says the fact that society finds Foley's alleged conduct "reprehensible" shows Americans have not "bought into the false ideology that 'all sex should be celebrated,'" that not all "diversity" should be accepted, and that not all conduct or beliefs should be "tolerated."
"Americans know that it is wrong for adults to take sexual advantage of minors," says Wright. "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."
Hypocrisy?
American Values president Gary Bauer, meanwhile, is going on the offensive against what he calls the "faux outrage" being demonstrated by the mainstream media and many liberals to the Foley matter. Those groups, he notes, regularly voice cries of "intolerance" when conservatives stand up against the homosexual-rights movement -- yet now are acting like Foley's electronic correspondence is the worst scandal ever on Capitol Hill.
"[T]his 'outrage' is coming from the party that is in 'in bed' with homosexual activists and Hollywood," says Bauer, whose group is also among members of the Arlington Group. "Liberal candidates are running ads touting 'values,' while left-wing websites are crowing over the 'outing' of Mark Foley ...."
The conservative spokesman urges conservatives and other not to be fooled by that response. "The notion that liberal Democrats, who support same-sex 'marriage,' somehow have more credibility on values issues is ludicrous," Bauer states. "Their agenda is obvious -- to depress conservative turnout on Election Day." Bauer is hopeful that agenda is not successful. (See Bauer's earlier comments on the Foley scandal)
In the latest development, Foley -- who was admitted to an alcoholic rehabilitation center earlier this week -- has now announced through his lawyer that he was molested by a member of the clergy when he was a young adolescent. Attorney David Roth says Foley, a Roman Catholic, was molested between ages 13 and 15 by a clergyman. He declined to identify the clergyman or the church.
Roth also acknowledged for the first time that the former congressman is homosexual, but insisted that Foley never had any inappropriate sexual contact with a minor.
