Where the Boys are

Where the boys are, someone waits for me
Till he holds me I wait impatiently
--Where the Boys Are, Connie Francis

Sometimes there seems like times
that men ain't got no need for women
--Ado Annie, Oklahoma! (1955)
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Ranger Question of the Day:
Why hasn't Mark Foley been prosecuted? If he were a schoolteacher in Lake Worth, he'd surely be doing some time, both in the big house and on probation.
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Case you needed it, another reminder of the endemic hypocrisy amongst the party faithful.

On the year anniversary of Rep. Mark Foley's resignation, the press recounts it thusly:

"On Sept. 29, 2006, the veteran, well-liked congressman resigned in shame after illicit instant-message exchanges he had with teenage congressional pages came to light (GOP still struggling a year after ex-congressman Foley's fall)."

As always, the offense was not the offense of sexual predation, per se, but rather that it came to light. Foley's escapades with his pages had long been the stuff of speculation in his circle before the light was shone on the reality.

The article notes that many of his former constituents "still express admiration for the job the affable Lake Worth native did during six terms in Congress. " More affable to some, than to others.

One of those admirers was Betty Smith, 80, of Stuart, who "was such a fan of her former congressman, she started a club called Foley's Fillies." Bit of a misnomer there; "Foley's Colts" might've been more apropos.

The Ranger question says more about our society than it does about Foley's Folly.

Turn the Page

"It's vile," said now-fallen Florida Representative Mark Foley back in 1998, commenting on then-President Clinton's liaison with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. After reading that seemingly hypocritical disgust, a thought occurred to me in a flight of fancy: Rep. Foley is much misunderstood.

He is only carrying on a time-worn tradition in Western culture, namely, that of the mentor-boy relationship. In our heteronormative culture, he will never get the chance to voice his feelings, but here is how I envision the untold part of the story to go.

If you will permit a trifle on our generally serious site, what follows is the rest of the untold story:

Foley: "When I said it was vile...I meant it was not virile. Clinton was not representing the best of the warrior-king tradition when he busied himself with such fripparies as a Monica Lewinsky, which is why I also said it was more sad than anything else. He was positioned to serve as a leader in a productive liaision, but unfortunately, diverted his sexual energies onto a female.

"As a representative of the Republican party, I ally myself with the Hellenic warrior-statesman model. As such, I pursue the cross-generational paradigm. The young man, embodied by the page, is a potential leader, who must be steered correctly via the example of the best military heroes of Sparta, Thebes and Crete. What I am engaged here is nothing less than a project of pederastic pedagogy. "

Foley also argues that, in a "cultural immersion approach," He aimed to know his enemy, namely, the Persians, who also have a venerable history of men-boy unions.

Says Foley, "The bottom line is, I am honoring a long tradition of boy companions in the Western military tradition. Too often in the West we are behind the power curve, seen as bringing up the rear, as it were. By my mentoring actions, I aim to honor both our opponent's and our own venerated histories. Just spreading a bit of goodwill--bonhomie--as well as imparting some tutelage to a lucky chap."

I don't usually make low blows, but this story fairly screamed out for explication. It is giving the devil his due, and I know the Republicans will work hard to disappear Foley from our radar ASAP.

--Lisa