Foley says he was abused by a clergyman

[flamingyouth]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Former Rep. Mark Foley's attorney said Tuesday that his client was molested between the ages 13 and 15 by a clergyman.

Foley had represented the West Palm Beach district for 12 years and was seeking re-election until his sudden resignation last week after the disclosure of lurid online communications with teenage congressional pages.

"This is part of his recovery," Roth said, declining to identify the clergyman or the church.

Roth also announced for the first time that Foley is gay.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061003/ap_on_go_co/congressman_e_mails

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. This is LAME! I'll bet it's somebody who's conveniently dead. -nt

[IndianaGreen]

29. This is beyond lame. it is downright pathetic!

Here is the bottom line: Foley will blame anything other than himself for his troubles. Rather than take responsibility for his actions, he is blaming Satan for his behaviour.

I expect Foley to claim he was abducted by aliens and subjected to horrible sexual experiments. Being abducted by a UFO is more credible than the lame ass excuses he has given so far.

What a moron!

Can you imagine Faux News coverage if Foley had been a Democrat?

[semillama]

109. What do you expect form a republican? responsibility?

So far, he's behaving exactly like a republican: find excuses for his behavior that paint him as a victim and sympathetic.

Anyhow, it's sorta fun watching the slow-motion self destruction set in motion here. This could be the tipping point.

:popcorn:

[dave502d]

56. Commie Pinko Dirtbag you hit the nail on the head. n/t

[JoFerret]

58. Lame

but probably true.

[Richard Steele]

101. And a classic-meme, easily-digested CLICHÉ to boot.

How CONVEEEEEENIENT!

[No Exit]

115. But I thought it was LIB'RULS who say "bad childhood" to excuse criminals!

Gosh. Let's let him off the hook. He had a very bad experience in his childhood!

Those wussy lib'ruls! They want to let every criminal go if he "had a bad childhood".:sarcasm:

[It was not a pretzel]

2. so he IS a kiddy fiddler!

[MADem]

3. The holy man made me do it!!!!! Oh, PLEASE!!! nt

[Dudemachine]

4. You're still a scumbag Foley! n/t

[Teaser]

5. The Party of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY speaks!

nt

[keta11]

6. WTF, if he didn't like being molested as a child, why would he

as an adult molest children

[MichiganVote]

26. Because of a thing called disassociation...acts out the story

in place of telling the story. Means to psychologically hold oneself at arms length from reality, as opposed to confronting reality. Ranges from mild disbelief to the repression of events or suppression of emotions.

[TrogL]

95. That's not dissociation

Acting out the story has nothing to do with dissociation.

[CoffeeCat]

96. I agree with you...

...that disassociation plays a hand in victims turning into molesters. You described it well, when you said, "acts out the story, in place of telling the story". They can't come to terms with it, and deal with the full scope of emotions surrounding their own trauma, but they need an outlet. So they "act out" on others. It's a release that circumvents the pain of processing their own trauma.

I wanted to add---that I think pedophiles completely detest children. So much is said about pedophiles being "attracted" to children. Pedophiles certainly claim to care for and love children--as repulsive as that is to say. However, I believe that most pedophiles are motivated by an insatiable desire to squash the innocence, peace, joy and carefree nature out of children--until they are hollow husks.

If a victim becomes a pedophile--he's simply failed to process his own pain. He's full of rage, sadness, loss and confusion about his own childhood and innocence being shredded. So, he's "attracted" to children--because he's driven to obliterate the childhood qualities that his own perpetrator destroyed.

I'm not making excuses for pedophiles. I hope it doesn't sound that way. I think it's important to understand the deep rage and destruction by which these predators are motivated. It's really not about being "attracted" to children. It's not about sex either. Sex is just a weapon, used to degrade, control, shame and destroy.

Thanks for your thoughts and for your understanding of the topic.

[MichiganVote]

125. You're on track Two, the process of replacing the 'hatred' of the weak,

or the innocent is a complex interplay of psychic responses usually accompanied by a process call sublimation. Another term, another explanation for another day.

No, like you, I don't make excuses for these people. The terms are merely descriptive. There are anti-social individuals who also abuse/molest children. Unlike pedophiles who have at least a shred of remorse, anti-social's have none. They will attempt to create the appearance of remorse but they are usually easily unmasked. Plus, their victims are usually serverly damaged or left for dead.

It's a very pathological condition-attraction to or molestation of children.

[kestrel91316]

7. Whatever happened to: "TWO WRONGS DON'T MAKE A

RIGHT"?????

Foley is still a criminal in my book.

Damned attorneys, excusing their clients' crimes, waaahhhhhh the bad priest-man made me do it, Mommaaaaaaa, WAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

[slackmaster]

30. True, but THREE do.

:crazy:

[Fenris]

8. "My client takes full responsibility for his actions."

"...But he was molested by a clergyman."

Hmmm.

[dolo amber]

49. "Oh, and he's also an alcoholic."

"And also gay. And his momma didn't breastfeed him long enough. And wearing purple gives him intestinal cramps. He's mentioned cheese sometimes talks to him and tells him to gross out the entire nation.

Aside from all that, he takes full responsibility for his actions."


:crazy:

[llmart]

55. That's hilarious!

What a pantload! What will it be tomorrow? His father never played ball with him?

Give me a break. I smell desperation.

[Fenris]

98. LOL.

:D

[heliarc]

102. HAHAHAHA nt

[dethl]

9. That doesn't excuse the shit Foley pulled

The real bombshell was the cybersex in the middle of a house vote. That right there nullifies any excuse he could ever dream of.

[Hepburn]

80. What a total crock...

...the cyber-sex is really off the freaking scale. Guess his attorney might want to explain if Foley was drunk during that vote and so that excuses the cyber-sex while he was on the floor of the US Congress and voting.

Unbelievable! Frankly, the excuse of "my dog ate my homework" is more believable than the shit Foley is putting out.

:eyes:

[damntexdem]

10. OK, now we know where the blame lies: religion!

Or is it with Clinton? It's so hard to keep up. ;-)

[Contrary1]

11. Does he also blame his homosexuality on the clergyman? n/t

[sunonmars]

12. Oh its the someone else made me do it excuse - how petty

Hang on didnt we try that one in school....regardless of whatever happened its no excuse and any thing that happened sure as hell didnt show him as messed up in congress until now, how convennnnnnnnnnnnient. There is such a thing as sexual therapy. The I was molested thing doesnt sway in court,so why should it here.

Whats even worse then that a messed up alcoholic,with a young boy fetish was actually repeatedly voted into office and the party in power did nothing to investigate it. Wait i guess Bush fits in here somewhere too........

[Peace Patriot]

25. Foley's from FLA. He wasn't voted into office. He was Diebolded into

office, with help also from Jeb on purges of black, poor and other Democratic voters, Repuke dirty tricks, Repuke money, and the whole filthy Repuke fascist machine. And it is because of that--because of a guaranteed "thumb on the scales" for Repukes, warmongers and corporatists, from Repuke electronic voting corporations, and if that's not enough, supplemental Repukism--that they think they can get away with anything, from the top criminal on down.

-------------------

Throw Diebold, ES&S and all election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

Bust the Machines--Vote by Absentee Ballot this November!

If everyone who despises the Bush Junta--60% to 70% of the American people (and after this, maybe 90%)--the reign of these diabolical machines will be OVER!

[Raine]

13. So F'ing what!!!

Many people have been molested by clergymen and others but they haven't all become predators because of it...THAT'S NO EXCUSE!

[brentspeak]

14. Has any reporter asked Foley why he felt this deserved a press conf?

"Excuse me, Mr.Foley, but...why did you waste our time like this?"

[NashVegas]

15. So Was I - And I Don't Hit On Teenagers

Or anyone else it would be inappropriate to, for that matter. Next excuse?

[Az_lefty]

16. Oh bullshit!!!!! This is his excuse? Blame the Church...

Pedophiles are mentally ill, his actions have nothing to do with the clergy.

[lostnfound]

17. Folks, please consider the possbility that it's true.

Victims OFTEN become abusers.
It doesn't excuse anything. But it's good for the public to recognize the vicious cycle.

All too often, the tragic victims become the reviled perpetrators.

It may hurt to leave room in your heart for the range of human suffering that you see out there, but it's the room in your heart that makes you human.

On edit: This is just my 2 cents as a person, not as a mod. I read an article about how a terribly high percentage (like 75%) of prostitutes were sexually abused as children, and I then overheard some coworkers making fun of hookers, and I thought what a terribly tragedy it is that compassion for victims of such crimes stops the minute they turn 18, or sooner.

I don't excuse what he did, I still think prosecution is appropiate, but please remember not to harden your hearts to yesterday's victims.

[sunonmars]

19. next he'll be on bloody Oprah crying

I'm waiting for the gullible to swallow it all up.

[stillcool]

23. it's mob mentality...

I think, or whatever, but it's pretty ugly. Human beings, and human nature...what are you gonna do?

[lostnfound]

93. Stand back when people pile on ? ;)

Love your sig line, by the way. Blum is quite an education (or de-programming, perhaps).

[KitSileya]

37. If this is true, I hope he gets the help he needs.

However, as someone with incredibly large responsibilities (He was a member of Congress!) he should have recognized he needed help and sought it when he started behaving inappropriately. This was a man who was head of the missing and exploited children's caucus - he must have been knee-deep in information about the possible consequences of abuse, as well as what is necessery for recovery. If he can have his lawyer speak about it now, he could have sought help earlier.


Not that that absolves those pr!cks Hastert and Boehner (sp?) - they should at least have forced him to get help, limited his access to the pages, and told him to resign (for alcoholism, if nothing else) if they didn't report it to FBI as they should have.

[lostnfound]

92. You've got a point

especially about "knee-deep in information about the possible consequences of abuse".

I think it comes down to the seductiveness of power and success and the feeling of getting away with it, which is all pretty disgusting.

As a matter of fact, I saw a clip on TV this morning talking about how Foley got attracted to politics when he was 6 years old and saw some politician talking and being the center of attention...How disgusted I felt when I heard that..what a shallow reason for getting into politics.

[KitSileya]

100. Absolutely agree with you on the disgusting.

While we cannot expect all our politicians to be copies of Mr. Smith as they go to Washington, they should at least become politicians because they believe in either changing or perpetuating the way the country is governed. A lot of the politicians in high positions today are clearly there because they want the power - we can see them on both sides of the aisle, but predominantly on the GOP side, I believe. To become a politician because you like the limelight - well, a career in Hollywood, or even on the stage as the best drag queen in town, would have accomplished that - and it wouldn't have jeapordized the nation while doing so.

[Zhade]

129. Well, you know the old saying...

"Politics is Hollywood for ugly people."

[Pacifist Patriot]

106. That bothered me too.

There are some MAJOR issues with that man.

[kestrel91316]

130. OMFG. Shallow doesn't begin to describe it.

I got a real creepy feeling years ago when my cousin's kid, at age 9, announced he wanted to be a politician. What, you WANT to spend your life scamming and lying and manipulating? Why not say I want a life of public service? Or I want to be a civil rights attorney? It's like he already was attracted to the POWER thing.

Needless to say, I was a little relieved when he didn't go to college, and instead entered a trade.

[Peace Patriot]

43. Thanks, lostnfound, but it's not the crime, it's the bloody HYPOCRISY!

This guy not only held a powerful position, he benefited from the whole Repuke pious 'christian' right Diebolded bullshit fascist coup that has slaughtered tens of thousands of innocent people without a thought, and just passed a goddamned Diebold Congress torture bill, and has nearly destroyed our Constitution, our democracy and our country, spouting "family values" the whole goddamned time.

I DO have compassion for criminals (as long as they are no longer a threat to anyone). Anyone can err. We have to realize that. We are all capable of crime. And, more than anything else, I believe in redemption--that people can make recompense and can change, no matter what they've done.

This is different. This is the filthy corruption of our political system--based on the horrifying belief that "might makes right." If you are a big congressman, you can exploit the people on the bottom rung--the young pages. If you are a big, mighty president, you can kill and torture, and spy on everybody, and rip up the Constitution. If you are a big dick vice president, you can rob the federal treasury blind to pad your retirement fund. If you are top dog in the Pentagon, you can "out" all our CIA counter-proliferation agents/contacts around the world, and get away with it, and you can be AWOL on 9/11, during a NORAD stand-down, and no one questions why you took NORAD decision-making powers into your own hands three months before.

It starts at the top and affects EVERYONE. No accountability. No restraint. No decency. Guaranteed election.

These children will likely bear the burden of this molestation their whole lives. It leaves lasting scars. It is particularly disgusting to sully the young. I hope that their revealing what happened will help them heal the wounds. And I hope that Foley can rehabilitate himself and make recompense.

But a political party that would cover this up, and not protect these young people, deserves to be pummeled from one end of the land to the other. And, in view of what else they have done--the far worse crimes of mass murder and torture--and their fostering of a culture of secrecy, massive theft, bribery, unlawfulness, bullying, blackmail and treason--they deserve to be deconstructed as a political party, and their assets seized for the public good. The Republican Party should be evicted from American political life. They have become unamerican.

[lostnfound]

90. I agree on all counts, basically

Well put, and I feel your frustration.

[progressivebydesign]

51. Only repents WHEN CAUGHT... that's the problem.

That's the issue for me. I feel for him if he HONESTLY was molested (but gosh, the molester is dead so no one can confirm that).

[leQ]

68. BINGO. you hit the nail on the head. he's only repentent because he got

busted. if he wouldn't have been busted and came clean like this, i'd feel sorry for the bastard. as it is, i dont feel one ounce of pity for that son of a bitch.

[Blasphemer]

57. I am just very skeptical

I do know that the abused often become abusers BUT it is way too convenient when a politician reveals this kind of thing only when it serves their purposes. At any rate, you are right - it might provide an explanation (if true) but certainly no justification.

[lostnfound]

89. I'm skeptical too..

May well be just another convenient lie, just damage control for the sake of the party. Most likely a lie, in fact, as those who are elected GOP these days all seem pathological.

Makes sense to be skeptical; I was just a little uncomfortable seeing so many responses mocking such a statement as if it were meaningless. I can't imagine DUers reacting in such a mocking manner, in any other context, to a statement by someone that they were sexually abused as a child.

[rhiannon55]

81. I agree with you, lostnfound

Not everyone who was molested as a child becomes a pedophile. But most pedophiles were molested as children. This is not an excuse, it is an explanation. And a person may become emotionally "stuck" at the age at which he is molested. That's why pedophiles focus on children of a certain age--they are still that age themselves, emotionally. I'll bet Mark Foley has an emotional age of about 15.

Again, this is not an excuse for horrible behavior. But it helps all of us, IMHO, to understand the WHY of things a little more, not for Mark Foley, but for the kids. Dysfunctional cycles CAN be stopped. IMHO.

[lostnfound]

94. Your words

are well put, and actually you just connected some dots for me that I needed in an unrelated situation (not of an abuser, but of a friend who was victimized).

What can you do to help someone recover from being slightly stuck at age 5? :(

[rhiannon55]

113. That's a tough one

especially when it happened that young. But helping the person realize that that long ago trauma may be causing problems now is a big part of it. A lot of times, they don't realize, they think they've put it behind them. Sometimes, just understanding the phenomenon can help a person put their own life into a bit of perspective. The damage never goes away, but it can be worked with.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

107. I recognize the possibility and don't give a shit

It doesn't excuse anything.

[Freddie Stubbs]

120. And many victims are NOT abusers

[Adamocrat]

18. Foley Got Fingered?

Just because Foley got fingered, he thinks that makes it OK to prey on teenage boys? I'm sorry, but blaming others for your behavior is classic Republiconman strategy.

[0007]

62. Foley is just trying to fuck himself even.

[Greylyn58]

20. This is just flat out LAME!!!!

If this jerk had never been caught, he would have just kept on with what he was doing.

This is just pathetic!!!!!:nopity: Just blame someone else for his mistakes!!

[jseankil]

21. Announces he's Gay. /nm

nm

[OhioChick]

22. The excuses for

Foley's behavior are a bunch of bullshit.

[54anickel]

24. A link (though I know nothing of this site)

http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2006/10/foley_says_he_w.html

Former Rep. Mark Foley says he was abused by a member of the clergy at age 13, though he does not blame his current troubles on "the trauma he sustained as a young adolescent," his lawyer, David Roth, told the press today.

"As is so often the case with victims of abuse, Mark advises that he kept his shame to himself," Roth said.

"Mark explicitly reaffirms his acceptance of responsibility and remorse. He reiterates unequivocally that he has never had sexual conduct with a minor."

Roth: "Any suggestion that Mark Foley is a pedophile is false. Categorically false."

snip>

At the end of his statement, Roth said that Foley "wants you to know that he is a gay man."



There he goes with that gay/pedophile BS again.....

[kestrel91316]

131. Yeah. He's not a pedophile, he's just a NORMAL GAY GUY doing

what normal gay guys do: soliciting sex with minors.

:eyes:

[demo dutch]

27. It's a bunch of BS, they're doing damage control!!!

[truthisfreedom]

28. the lawyer must not have been aware of the cyber sex IMs... that's sexual

contact with a minor (according to the laws he helped write!)

[annarbor]

31. What an ....

incredible disservice to all of the gay and lesbians in this country. I wonder how this bastard voted on the Defense of Marriage Act?

To hell with him and his excuses.

Ann Arbor

[Malva Zebrina]

32. So perhaps we can conclude that Foley has been practicing this

behaviour since his twenties? He never thought it wrong? He thought it right maybe? Now he is in his fifties and he never thought it wrong--uh huh--like he knew the law and the rules and tried to avoid any accusations of wrong doing. He never thought he was in any way abnormal and never did seek any kind of therapy for his abnormal desires? That is why he was so clever about it, so secretively manipulative. Yeah it is all the fault of someone else--some clergy member--let's just get the name of that clergy member. Let's hear it from Foley and let's just see a little bit of humility and remorse. None yet in evidence--just blame it on someone else.

[Megahurtz]

33. What The Fuck does THAT have to do with anything?

What a fucking Idiot Argument.:freak:

[slackmaster]

34. OK, so how many openly gay members is that now?

Oh yeah, Foley resigned.

[Eurobabe]

35. Probably by a priest YES, just on ABC NEWS!

I am so sick of people using this as an excuse to commit their heinous acts.

[JuniperLea]

36. And we should believe his lies because.... ?

I don't believe a word. And he needs to go to jail. They rehab addicts in jail.


Edited to say I've known dozens of gay men in my lifetime and I've never known one who was a pedophile. I really resent the gay "excuse". Being gay has nothing to do with his being a child molester!

[Delphinus]

38. The lurid sex-mails

are part of his recovery? :shrug:

[deadparrot]

39. As someone whose close friend's brother was molested by a priest,

if it's true, then I truly do feel bad for him in a sense.

However, that doesn't excuse his own behavior in the matter. It was a disgusting act and he needs to be punished and/or treated accordingly.

[Canuckistanian]

40. Who molested him, Father O'Clinton?

What a joke. The minute one of them gets caught, their pointing fingers fly everywhere at once.

Except at themselves.

[regularguy]

124. "Father O'Clinton" LOL!

Thats rich!

[sendero]

41. I was molested, I'm an alcoholic..

.... wwwwwaaaaaaaahahhhhhhhhhhhh !

Fucking Republicans are all the same. They whine about the "victim class" and then turn into uber-victims when they get caught.

They are so damn pathetic.

[Johnyawl]

42. Lawyer announces: Foley is really a DEMOCRAT!

He was only pretending to be a republican, so that makes this a DEMOCRATIC SEX SCANDAL!


I fully expect Faux news to try this.

[Rocknrule]

118. O'Reilly already did

As a convient "type-o"

[truthisfreedom]

44. having cybersex with teens is part of his recovery?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/new_foley_insta.html

[zonkers]

67. Yeah, the timing of all this is sad. He just needed a few more cybersex

sessions and he would have been cured. Oh well.

[lanlady]

45. first he blamed alcohol

now he blames the Church. All he needs next is to blame the Clenis and he'll have hit the trifecta.

[TheCowsCameHome]

46. So he was returning the favor to other boys? WTF......

Lame. Very lame.

[Anakin Skywalker]

47. Aww. That Explains Everything.

NOT!

[Anakin Skywalker]

48. Aww. Are We Supposed to Feel Sorry

for Foley now? NOT! "I was molested by uh....uh...I FORGOT his name".

[progressivebydesign]

50. What next? Multiple Personalities? Typical, repents WHEN CAUGHT!

Sorry... first he blamed alcohol. Now it's that he was molested as a teen. How convenient that only AFTER HE WAS CAUGHT, is he dealing with this.

[Placebo]

53. Multiple Personality Disorder has got to be the next "bombshell"...

it would just fit so well in this crazy scramble to find any sort of "excuse" that might fit.

[ShortnFiery]

103. No, he'll find JESUS ... and make a big announcement about it. n/t

[GoddessOfGuinness]

52. I don't doubt it. This excuses neither the crime

nor the complacency of his colleagues.

[KamaAina]

54. One, two, three... AWWWWWWW!!!

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

Yeah, yeah, cycle of abuse, blah blah. Earth to Foley: There is help available out there. Why the fsck didn't you get some before you put that poor kid in a situation where he's getting death threats from your repuke buddies? :grr: :banghead:

[olddad56]

59. It isn't that lame. Most pedophiles were...

But that doesn't get any of the others off the hook, so why should he be any different. Oh, he is a republican. Yeah, he'll walk and they'll bust his victims.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

60. He needs to take personal responsibility for his actions

Not to in any way diminish Foley's pain about what happened to him as teenager but he needs to take responsibility for his actions NOW. I thought that he was supposed to belong to a party that demands accountability and responsibility for one's own actions. Oh, wait a minute.:eyes:

[janx]

61. This could easily be true--or else he was beaten for masturbating.

Such things happen due to ignorant parents. Yet it still does not give the man an excuse to represent people in this country who care about children. It most certainly does not.

[uppityperson]

63. If he was abused, I feel sorry for him.Doesn't let him off the hook though

I am sorry for anyone abused as a child or young person or of any age. Many abusers were abused, doesn't absolve them of their actions though.

[Algorem]

64. Need scalp of a Republican Senator by election day.What Wayne Mad-

sen was saying on Randi Rhodes about this extending to many more Republicans,including in Senate,sure made this seem like it could be done.

[NastyRiffraff]

65. Oh, please

Listen I KNOW someone who is very close to me, who HAD been abused by a priest as a child. Y'know what? I also know, personally this person doesn't hit on children. You know why? BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHAT IT'S LIKE.

Yes, I realize that whap happens to a child can have profound effects on them as an adult...even to the extent of their repeating the same sort of abuse they suffered.

However.

I don't believe this of Mark Foley. Why? Because I know the effects this can have on someone, I also know that when someone assumes a position of responsibility, as Foley most certainly did, the LAST thing you do is that. If you have a problem because of past abuse, you do it privatelly, in your personal life. And you feel the shame, if uou're a human being, because you do it. There is NO WAY you jeopardize your position in the world, if you've achieved it, because you KNOW it's sordid, you KNOW it's wrong.

Between the alcoholism, and now this...neither of which we know is true...sounds like a bit much, doesn't it?

Here, folks, is the Party Of Responsibility. Remember? The adults were supposed to be in charge, to counter a man with an EX-intern, who, by the way, was very much a consenting adult.

I am SO sick of the hypocracy.

[PurityOfEssence]

66. fucked everything, including the kitchen sink

This guy's flameout is getting to be one of the greatest frenzies ever seen.

He should have shut up after he quit the house, rather than going on some narcissistic bender to rehabilitate himself by slinging mud and blaming addiction and everyone else he could think of.

Why blame the clergy now? Those of the right are the only ones remotely inclined to give him a break; to slag men of the cloth he's only going to find some sympathy from lefties, non-believers and others who've been molested. No help will come from these groups.

Much as I've detested the guy since he first crossed my radar and much as I was nauseated by his standup routine at the Capitol Hill Follies, I don't like to see such a total flailing humiliation.

I wonder what Junior has to say about "Foleyman" now.

[rodeodance]

69. Foley says he was abused by a clergyman (AP)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061004/ap_on_go_co/congressman_e_mails;_ylt=Agy_Qaop8C590qeVnCvxLPqs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ--

Foley says he was abused by a clergyman

By BRIAN SKOLOFF, Associated Press Writer 3 minutes ago

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Disgraced former Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record) said through his lawyer Tuesday that he was sexually abused by a clergyman as a teenager, but accepts full responsibility for sending salacious computer messages to teenage male pages.



Attorney David Roth said Foley was molested between ages 13 and 15. He declined to identify the clergyman or the church, but Foley is Roman Catholic.

He also acknowledged for the first time that the former congressman is gay, saying the disclosure was part of his client's "recovery."

"Mark Foley wants you to know he is a gay man," Roth told reporters as Republicans struggled with fallout from Foley's resignation.

Foley "does not blame the trauma he sustained as a young adolescent for his totally inappropriate e-mails" and instant messages, Roth said. "He continues to offer no excuse whatsoever for his conduct."

[Wickerman]

70. does not blame the trauma he sustained as a young adolescent...

:rofl: Then why the fuck did he bring it up? Ah, the party of responsibility.

[Erika]

74. He's trying to stay out of jail

The GOP don't do self-accountability. It's got to be someone else's problem. They are ....always the victim...

[Erika]

71. Won't these trashy GOP people just slither under the rocks?

They are getting a touch much. Let them take their right wing fundies with them. EEEEw.

[Aviation Pro]

72. Two words, pedophile....

Bull and shit.

[kenny blankenship]

73. He continues to offer no excuse whatsoever for his conduct. Except

alcohol. And excepting also that he was molested. So to recap: Congressman Foley is making NO excuses, except that he was drunk and has a drinking problem and that as a teen he was molested and is therefore a victim deserving of your pity.
No excuses for him, no Sir! Mark Foley takes "full responsibility." Good man!

[whistle]

75. Is this attorney really making things better or worse for Marc Foley?

...Sounds like Foley needs to be put away for life as a criminally insane habitual sex offender who has a long standing sexual preference for under-aged boys.

[cyr330]

76. Tough Shit

[rhiannon55]

77. Of COURSE he was molested as a child

That's how pedophiles are made.

[ShortnFiery]

104. No, it was The ALCOHOL - he only did his nasties when he was

"under the influence" of Demon Liquor! Soon he will find Jesus, just like Dear Leader ... then he will be cured. :eyes:

[Kagemusha]

78. "I accept full responsibility for that which I blame on my childhood."

Sure you do. Sure.

[cnlst8]

79. isn't it odd.

Isn't it odd that both of the lead stories of the day(Foley case and the unfortunate incident w/ the Amish students) had suspects involved with them doing or wanting to perform sexual acts to minors, as well as both men "claiming" that were sexually abused or have done sexually abusive acts 20+ yrs ago.

I'm waiting for George Bush to say he was abused as a child, for his accuse to invade Iraq.

[olddad56]

82. Probably turned him into a republican. Poor fella

[eauclaireliberal]

83. Wonder where the bullshit meter is now?

[Nevernose]

84. So? ... n/t

n/t

[eauclaireliberal]

85. waaaaahhh!

[Canuckistanian]

86. So, we should be expecting a future explosion of pedophiles in Boston?

Good to know.

[The Count]

87. The Church made him do it? God? All rightey, then.

Also, dunny comment on Al Franken show: if he goes to betty Ford, he now has to come clean as part of the treatment.
First confession: "not really an alcoholic"

[tblue]

88. Cry me a river

:nopity:

You're still a .

[HuffleClaw]

91. wow

translation: being abused made me gay! (and all gays are pedophiles)

he hit every talking point.

[Neshanic]

97. Who is this lawyer? Next Foley will be channeling Judy Garland.

[zonkers]

99. Actually he was abused by CLeRgYman_3004. I read the chat.

[Endangered Specie]

105. OH my aching heart...

:sarcasm: :eyes: :nopity:

[Supersedeas]

108. wonder how hard that pill is to swallow for fundies

[Vidar]

110. Way to alienate your base, asshole.

[mom cat]

111. I was molested too BUT I did not pass it on! No sympathy from me!

[Riverman]

133. Me Too and I made a conscious choice as most people who were

molested (maybe 25% of girls and 33% of boys -s ome form of sexual and/or physical abuse) do not pass on that abuse to children. Foley made choices and was protected by Republican power-hungary bruts who allowed teh abuse of children to persists. They should be hung by the balls in a public place on primetime TV.

[mom cat]

136. As long as they provide powerful magnifying glasses so we can see

the itsy bitsy things!

[kurth]

112. NEXT: Foley Sues Catholic Church for $500M

There will be a lawsuit for damages. It's a given.

[AngryOldDem]

114. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit

I screamed at the TV when I heard this.

The excuse that he is a drunk did not fly, so now they trot out the second verse of the "poor, poor, pitiful me" song. What's next? His dog died last week?

Why can't he just be a man, step up to what he did, and take his lumps for it? Isn't that what a GOOD, VALUES-BASED CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN would do?

ON EDIT: This cynical ploy, in my opinion, is once again exploiting the pain and suffering of those who really WERE molested by clergy. That is indefensible.

[allisonthegreat]

116. So that happened to a a lot of people

I guess we need to feel empathy for him now...horse *&^%!

[Acadia Blue]

117. I doubt he is telling the truth, but if so, its no excuse to abuse others

[David__77]

119. Who the fuck cares what he says?

I mean, he has had decades to deal with whatever may or may not have happened. This does not excuse anything. And he failure to identify the culprit makes this not just wrong but also ineffective.

[Vinca]

121. And all fat people need to blame Sara Lee.

Give me a break. First it's the booze made me do it, then the church made me do it. What next? The kid kept begging me??

[mvd]

122. If true, and he did have issues from this, like another poster said..

he had the personal responsibility to get things worked out before being a congressperson.

[RobinA]

123. Reading This Thread

I feel like I've stumbled into freeperland. So moralistic, so righteous. What's the theory here? Foley decided that when he grew up he wanted to be an alcoholic pedophile? The devil visited him when he was 10 and tempted Foley to join him on the dark side? Where do the you moralists think pedophiles come from? Why, given his apparent preferences, would anybody think he HADN'T been abused.

Of course some victims do not become abusers. Many do. Some people exposed to the plague don't get sick. That doesn't mean the plague doesn't make anybody sick. Yeah, he should have recognized a problem and gotten help. Assuming he didn't try to get help, which we don't know. Pedophilia is not exactly known for its responsiveness to change.

The lynch mob mentality - a truly wonderful sight. :sarcasm:

[AngryOldDem]

127. For many of us here....

...I think Foley's excuses ring just a tad hollow. First it was alcohol, now that's been widened to include childhood sex abuse. The timing stinks to some of us, I guess. And I still see it as an insult to those who were truly sexually abused as children. If it's true, he has my condolences, of course, but I get the impression that he is fishing for anything that will somehow stick and (he hopes) exonerate him, and I don't think I'm alone here. Just my 2 cents.

[pinniped]

126. For the repukes, it's always blame someone else.

This asshole has a new excuse every couple days.

[MODemocrat]

128. Then why did it take 50 yearsfor him to tell this?

I think Foley is a liar. Typical republican, blaming everyone else for their problems. Always the victim. This is so sick.:puke: :spray:

[minnesota_liberal]

132. I think his lawyer said that Foley refuses to make excuses...

and then rattled off at least three, um, excuses.

[uncertainty1999]

134. Are they exploiting anti-Catholic bias as a strategy?

Regardless of the truth of the clergy abuse allegation, I wonder if the announcement is part of the damage control rationale that goes beyond the obvious 'he was a victim too' ploy, and into playing upon old-time anti-Catholic sentiment (Republicans seem so fond of similar old-time sentiments as demonstrated by George Allen). If the Republicans had a hand in that press statement about Foley having been molested, it seems like it would be a 'wink-wink' to their Southern base -- i.e, Foley is not _really_ in the club. This is the Bob Jones University party, after all...

[NuttyFluffers]

135. how conveeenient!