Why does this not surprise me?

[chaotic_nipple]

Hastert in a letter sent Sunday to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asked the Justice Department to "conduct an investigation of Mr. Foley's conduct with current and former House pages," including "any sexually explicit communications between Mr. Foley and any former or current House pages and what actions such individuals took, if any, to provide them to law enforcement." In other words, it's them boy-whores' fault fer not callin' the police. They musta bin leadin' that poor man on. In a way, this is very refreshing, and a positive sign of increased gender equality. :-P

On another note, boy am I getting fricking annoyed with people referring to him as a "pedophile". A pedophile, BY M0 #*$~(%ING DEFINITION, lusts after preadolescents. Foley's "little studs" were all almost-mature late-teenagers, which makes him a would-be statutory rapist. Legally, socially, and psychologically, there's a big difference. Hell, if this sordid affair took place in a state where the age of consent was 16 across the board, and didn't involve the internet, he wouldn't even be that. IMO, this underscores the need for us to have one flat Age of Majority throughout the entire country, after which it's legal to drink, smoke, enter into legal contracts, and engage in nauseating may-december romances over the internet. Coincidentally, I would set that age at sixteen, because I firmly believe that most 16-year olds could function as adults, if we didn't coddle them. Alas, our culture insists on treating teenagers like overgrown children, so naturally they act like overgrown children, so we have to give them legal protections as if they really were children. Maybe someday, we'll stop deliberately retarding our adolescents' intellectual and emotional development, and aged lechers will be able to hook up with 16 year-old trophy-brides/studs instead of 18 year old ones. (What's a good emoticon that connotes universal scorn? :-P doesn't seem strong enough.)

Which isn't to say I don't think Foley should be punished, he _did_ violate the law he helped write, after all. And he is a creepy chicken-hawk/sexual predator. But he's not a pedophile.

Also, while we're on the subject of jailbait, I think I'm going to start a petition to require mandatory burqas for all Dragon-Con (Or any other con, really) attendees who are under the age of 18. OK, maybe not burgas, but at least distinctive badges and a restrictive dress code, because 12 year-olds SHOULD NOT WEAR CHAIN MAIL BIKINIS. It seriously detracts from my con-going enjoyment if I have to worry that the cosplayer I want to leer at might be too young to drive. In the past, you could assume that tattoos and body piercings were reliable indicators of non-jailbaitness, but parents are too damned permissive these days. Which is the problem, what with them letting their kids dress up like strippers. Bah... (Shakes cane at the state of the world)

Comments

[qp4.livejournal.com]

How do you think Karl Rove is liking this October suprise?

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

Depends. Maybe it's really a distraction to divert us away from the _real_ scandals. Either way, he'll find some way to spin this so that the Republican Base blames it all on the Godless DemonCrats. Even if this doesn't manage to convince 50.1% of the voters, the votes are still counted on machines that have now been proven to be easily hackable. Why is it that now, when all the Paranoid Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories from the nineties are COMING TRUE, the Paranoid Right-Wingers are the ones who are cheering loudest?

who will investigate

[shadoutcarver.livejournal.com]

what the leadership did when they first found out about the emails?

[dracphelan.livejournal.com]

Also, while we're on the subject of jailbait, I think I'm going to start a petition to require mandatory burqas for all Dragon-Con (Or any other con, really) attendees who are under the age of 18. OK, maybe not burgas, but at least distinctive badges and a restrictive dress code, because 12 year-olds SHOULD NOT WEAR CHAIN MAIL BIKINIS.

At several camping events I have gone to, teenagers have been given glowing bands that can be worn as braclets or necklaces to identify them.

BTW, do you know what is worse than a 14 year-old wearing a chainmail bikini. One who is lieing about her age (saying she is 18) to adults, and her father doesn't have a problem with this. (This is one of the reasons I stopped playing Amtgard. The game started attracting to much trash.)

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

Hear, hear. When I was 18, I didn't mind it so much, but now that I'm actually old enough to theoretically be father to jailbait (In a freakish alternate universe where I got laid in high school), I think they should WEAR SOME DAMN CLOTHES!

[madlycool.livejournal.com]

A more proper term would be hebephile.

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

Thing is, that term doesn't really have a hard-and-fast clinical meaning, like pedophilia does. Grownups who lust after jailbait don't have an underlying pathology, they just haven't internalized society's arbitrary "18 good, 17 bad!" dichotomy. They're not "sick" in the way that pedophiles are. One could argue that they're the ones who are more "normal" than those of us who respect that convention.

I can't help but wonder how this sideshow would be different if he was harassing female interns?

[madlycool.livejournal.com]

It's true the line is artificial, at least in the physical sense.

[blue-chicory.livejournal.com]

They would be claiming that said female interns were asking for it when they wore chain-mail bikinis to work...:)

[chaotic-nipple.livejournal.com]

Hmm, considering how fat some of those legislators are, there could be some Jabba/Leia action going on...