# "Do I make you a little horny? Well strip down and get naked!" **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 30, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687 "2006-09-30T01:54:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/121 "2006-10-01T16:32:27Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Why _should_ he have been censured? 😕 You DO understand the difference between fucking children and fucking adults do you not? Also, what’s wrong with a gay brothel? [/QUOTE] Well, to be fair, we have no evidence that Foley fucked children, just that he wanted to. And that the children in question were “technically” minors but legal to fuck in several states. Soliciting sex from minors and having a friend who is selling adult sex to other adults from your house are two different things (note that Frank did kick him out when he found out). For Stubbs, we are dragging up events that happened in 1973 and a censure that happend in 1983 - ten years after the event when the young man in question had no complaints or regrets. Some of “Foley’s Friends” seem far more ooked out than Stubb’s friend - the come ons weren’t welcome, which makes them sexual harrassment - on top of the whole minor thing, and the gay sex (not that its bad, but the “base” finds it icky) thing. The early 70’s were a very different time. I think we’ve changed significantly as a society in the past nearly 35 years. ---
**Author:** ![Caridwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Caridwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caridwen)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/122 "2006-10-01T16:41:24Z")
It’s a shame anyone has to hide what they are. Things like this wouldn’t happen. Although a republican probably wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting support from his party in the first place. Funny link I found at Fark showing Foley’s comments about Clinton. "Some of the strongest reaction Friday was in response to Starr’s account of Lewinsky performing oral sex on Clinton as he chatted with members of Congress on the telephone. That was “just sad,” Foley said. “It’s unbelievable that he could behave so carelessly in that setting.” [http://www.sptimes.com/Worldandnation/91298/Congress\_sees\_through.html](http://www.sptimes.com/Worldandnation/91298/Congress_sees_through.html) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/123 "2006-10-01T16:43:57Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] He was censured by the House of Representatives, so you’re incorrect. [/QUOTE] Are you sure? Every source I’ve found via Google states that the censure failed. For example: [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barney\_Frank](http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barney_Frank) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/124 "2006-10-01T16:52:23Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] Has trolling for underaged tail on the internet ever turned out well for ANY public figure? I’m always kind of amazed that any of them ever think they’ll get away with it. [/QUOTE] As mentioned, what they are counting on is precisely that their position of high public trust and authority will enable them to prevent any ill consequences (e.g. in this case, keep it under wraps for almost a year). Historically it has been the case that enough of them have been able to get away with bad behavior that there’s no disincentive. **ralph124** : as noted, Studds and Frank _were **investigated and disciplined** _ (Stubbs: Censure; Frank: Public Reprimand) even if you think it not enough, \*and then they went before the voters and \*_the voters \*\* validated their permanence in office_. Foley’s case was (a) not being acted upon and (b) involved and involves avoiding having to face the judgement of the voters. If your point is that \*_any \*\* type of scandalous behavior should merit immediate removal in every case, I actually disagree – IMO when a congressperson is linked to this sort of improper personal activities not involving his actual legislative work, or breaches of national security, and there is_ no actual conviction of the congressperson him/herself \* for a felony in office, the politician should be exposed by the media, censured by the colleagues, and made to choose if he/she dares or not to _go before the voters for **their** judgement_. (That’s right, Congressman JRDelirious would NOT have voted to expel Foley, _as things stand now_, but to censure or reprimand him.) Foley was trying to get away with sweeping it under the rug altogether, and his terse, “lightning” resignation is itself an attempt to make it blow away as quickly as possible (a very smart move, I must say: when you just got nailed to rights and you know it, you help nothing by trying to keep fighting…). ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/125 "2006-10-01T16:53:24Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] Are you sure? Every source I’ve found via Google states that the censure failed. For example: [http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barney\_Frank](http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barney_Frank) [/QUOTE] Studds was censured (as well as Crane); Frank was reprimanded. I blame the confusion on **ralph124c** ’s inability to write more than one consecutive semi-coherent sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/126 "2006-10-01T16:57:41Z")
Yes, I was referring to Gerry Studds, not Barney Frank. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/127 "2006-10-01T17:34:49Z")
> [@](#): > > On July 27, 2006, the NRCC, which Reynolds chairs, accepted an unusually large contribution of $100,000 from Foley. Hard to imagine something of that size just slipping past the chairman. [http://buffalopundit.wnymedia.net/archives/3977](http://buffalopundit.wnymedia.net/archives/3977) ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/128 "2006-10-01T17:42:59Z")
Man, I forgot all about Gerry Studds, Dan Crane, Donald Lukens, all such wonderful folks. The first’s transgressions may go a long way to explaining why the Dems haven’t seized on this quite as vigorously as one would naively expect. As **DtC** pointed out, the inevitable _tu coque_ seems to hit proportionally hard, and teh gay is a big multiplier. Hey, up to now, Republicans prefered to diddle little girls, right? That’s not so bad. I feel like an idiot for being surprised at the Barney Frank comparisons. I mean, he’s gay, after all. He even _admits_ it! Obviously relevant. Somehow. Not that it matters much, but it’s true that Frank (as he admitted) paid Gobie for sex when they first met, and later the two hooked up. So, there’s a misdemeanor, I suppose, though Frank was never charged. Frank kept him around as a kind of gofer (with, er, benefits), and Gobie was living the good life in Frank’s nice D.C .flat. Frank did appause his position to get some parking violations dismissed for Gobie, but beyond that, I’m not aware that he did anything else unethical, and even this transgression seems pretty minor league when you think of the banking scandals that were raging at the time. That does appear to be the extent of his career impropriety, for which he was punished accordingly, it seems, though I guess Gobie and Frank differ on some of the juicer details. When Frank learned Gobie was bringing johns to his apt., he dismissed him. Some time later, Gobie needed money so he tried to sell his story to the press, if memory serves, and hence the details became public. Sad story, but Frank was able to move on pretty well, and he’s really been an exemplary Representative, so far as I can tell. I give my fellow Massholes a lot of credit for being able to vote an admitted “gay, left-handed Jew” into office repeatedly. He’s an _extremely_ intelligent man, looks after his constituents well, and that’s enough. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/129 "2006-10-01T18:57:46Z")
[QUOTE=Loopydude] … the inevitable _tu coque_ … [/QUOTE] This is either the finest throwaway pun of the year, or the most hilarious unintentional double entendre. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/130 "2006-10-01T23:29:18Z")
[Over at TalkingPointsMemo](http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/010085.php), TPM reader DK had an interesting observation this morning: > [@](#): > > Now the broad version of events being put out by Hastert and Company is that this all came to their attention when Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA) brought the concerns of the page and his family to the leadership. No one can get their story straight about what happened after that, but that is the starting point for the story, or so we are told. > > But if Foley already had a “reputation” among congressional pages, you can bet his reputation extended to staffers and probably to congressmen themselves. One thing that seems to be missing from the GOP reaction is shock or surprise. Maybe I’ve simply overlooked them, but I haven’t seen any quotes along the lines of what you usually expect when something like this breaks: the befuddled reactions of those who knew the alleged perpetrator but had no idea he was even capable of what he is being accused of. I’m thinking of those standard quotes from serial killers’ neighbors: he was quiet, kept to himself, seemed completely normal. > > It’s a small world up there on the Hill, and you just don’t get the sense that this is a bolt from the blue. And it turns out that all sorts of stuff is coming out today in that regard: 1. [Glenn Greenwald](http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2006/09/gop-house-leadership-and-mark-foley.html), who’s on a roll today, somehow finds [this DailyKos post](http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2006/9/4/232813/9458/60#c60) by WHINternNow from September 5: > [@](#): > > The Real Problem With Foley > > It’s not that he’s gay. It’s that he constantly hits on underage interns on The Hill. You guys talk about an “open secret” well Foley’s eye for the young boys in the White House and around the Capitol is what has the Republican bosses scared to death. It’s just wrong that this guy can hit on young boys and still be in the leadership. 1. Courtesy of [MyDD poster kickingdonkey](http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/10/1/142251/288), there’s [Foley’s Farewell to the Departing Page Class of 2001-2002](http://www.washingtonwatchdog.org/environmental_justice/documents/cr/02/jn/06/cr06jn02-89.html): > [@](#): > > [Congressional Record: June 6, 2002 (House)] > [Page H3278-H3283] > From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [[wais.access.gpo.gov](http://wais.access.gpo.gov)] > [DOCID:cr06jn02-89] > "Mr. SHIMKUS. I thank my colleague. Now someone who spends a lot of time with you also, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Foley), would like to say a thank you. > > Mr. FOLEY. I warn all of you not to cry in front of me, please, so I can get through this very important day with you without shedding tears as well… > > And, of course, Melanie, and finally John [redacted]. John was the highest bidder on lunch with Mark Foley. Maybe you all do not know this story, but John had paid considerable sums to dine with me. I had offered to take the winning bidder to lunch in the Members’ dining room. Then I heard how much John [redacted] paid. And I said, `John, there is no way in the world after you committed so much money to have lunch with me that I would dare take you downstairs to eat in the Members' dining room.'' I said, `Where do you want to go?‘’ He says, without reservation, `Morton's.'' I said, `Morton’s? Like in Morton’s Steakhouse?‘’ He said, `Oh, would that be too much?'' I said, `Oh, no, we’ll go.‘’ I said, ``Call your mother, get permission, make sure she notifies the Clerk and we will go to Morton’s.‘’ And so we proceeded to cruise down in my BMW to Morton’s." That would seem _almost_ innocuous, 1. but for (h/t to Greenwald again) [this from ABC](http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/gop_staff_warne.html): > [@](#): > > **GOP Staff Warned Pages About Foley in 2001** > > A Republican staff member warned congressional pages five years ago to watch out for Congressman Mark Foley, according to a former page. > > Matthew Loraditch, a page in the 2001-2002 class, told ABC News he and other pages were warned about Foley by a supervisor in the House Clerk’s office. > > Loraditch, the president of the Page Alumni Association, said the pages were told “don’t get too wrapped up in him being too nice to you and all that kind of stuff.” Foley’s predilection for underage boys is starting to have the look of a _very_ open secret. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/131 "2006-10-01T23:41:40Z")
In the current thread on the GD, I posted Newt Gangrene’s response on FoxGnaws, to effect that an overly aggressive investigation would be seen as “gay-bashing”. Presumably, somewhere in that twisted mind, gay = pedophilia. I doubt he even noticed it, it is so ingrained, he probably believes he is not prejudiced against gay people. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/132 "2006-10-02T00:49:03Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] In the current thread on the GD, I posted Newt Gangrene’s response on FoxGnaws, to effect that an overly aggressive investigation would be seen as “gay-bashing”. Presumably, somewhere in that twisted mind, gay = pedophilia. I doubt he even noticed it, it is so ingrained, he probably believes he is not prejudiced against gay people. [/QUOTE] Probably blow the Grinch’s mind to find out that one of the bloggers working hardest to unravel this coverup is [John Aravosis of AmericaBlog](http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/10/gop-rep-john-shimkus-r-il-let-foley.html), who’s openly gay. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/133 "2006-10-02T01:13:18Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] was doing the same stuff-he plied a teenage page boy with vodka and then sodomized the boy. The then-democratic house didn’t do anything. Ex-rep Studds is held in high esteem. [/QUOTE] That page was 27 when this (10-year-old) scandal hit the press. The page stated at a joint Press Conference with Rep. Studds that they were both consenting adults, and it was nobody else’s business what they did. And he later campaigned for Rep. Studds reelection. The voters of Studds district apparently did hold him in high esteem; they re-elected him 5 more times. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/134 "2006-10-02T01:15:53Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] This is either the finest throwaway pun of the year, or the most hilarious unintentional double entendre. 🙂 [/QUOTE] It is the latter, I’m afraid, because sometimes I’m just that dense. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/135 "2006-10-02T01:26:27Z")
[QUOTE=t-bonham@scc.net] That page was 27 when this (10-year-old) scandal hit the press. The page stated at a joint Press Conference with Rep. Studds that they were both consenting adults, and it was nobody else’s business what they did. And he later campaigned for Rep. Studds reelection. The voters of Studds district apparently did hold him in high esteem; they re-elected him 5 more times. [/QUOTE] Or, in other words, **Ralph** once again has posted knowing lies. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/136 "2006-10-02T02:28:39Z")
[QUOTE=Polycarp] Or, in other words, **Ralph** once again has posted knowing lies. [/QUOTE] You can’t blame him. Nobody ever calls the pundits on FoxNews when they do this kind of thing. Works very well for them. And continues to. Look for tu coques and Big Lies all over the place next week. Anybody notice this blew up on a Friday, the trad time for Pubbies to vent bad news? If this scandal proves to have enough legs to damage the House leadership, look for some exciting votes/overseas initiatives to spring up in the next couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/137 "2006-10-02T02:50:35Z")
Here’s a spin: I happened to click into a radio station carrying Drudge’s Sunday night show tonight. Didn’t catch much of it but the gist I heard was that Foley’s actions weren’t so bad, after all, the pages weren’t little children, or even 12 or 13 or 14; they’re almost adults. Okay, that’s an argument that could be made, though it doesn’t address the power imbalance of such a relationship, among other issues. But then Drudge segued into allegations that this scandal is going to be used to REGULATE THE INTERNET THAT’S RIGHT FOLKS YOU’RE GOING TO LOSE THE FREEDOM OF THE INTERNET OH THE HORROR! I tuned out before discovering just who would be seizing upon this sorry episode to impose such jackbooted censorship. Anyone else tune in and catch enough of the story to explain and/or expand up this? Oh, and speaking of power imbalance, here’s a quote from [an ABC News online story](http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/gop_staff_warne.html) about a former page who was warned five years ago to watch out for Foley: > [@](#): > > Loraditch [former page] says that some of the pages who “interacted” with Foley were hesitant to report his behavior because “members of Congress, they’ve got the power.” Many of the pages were hoping for careers in politics and feared Foley might seek retribution. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/138 "2006-10-02T03:17:27Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] Can’t make shit like this up. [Statement from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children](http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/NewsEventServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2820):Statement from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: Quote: “Congressman Mark Foley’s resignation is a great loss to Florida and the nation. He has been a hard-working, dedicated and effective Congressman. He will be missed." They all but say, “Great guy, shame he got caught.” [/QUOTE] The first line of your quote is on the site but not the others. I wonder if they changed it when more details came out. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/139 "2006-10-02T03:37:08Z")
[QUOTE=Dewey Finn] (I also wonder whether he did anything other than send inappropriate emails and IMs.) [/QUOTE] He most probably violated federal laws by doing this; laws he promoted. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2006, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687/140 "2006-10-02T03:43:01Z")
Actually, I was wondering whether he had any more intimate contact than just emails and instant messages. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-make-you-a-little-horny-well-strip-down-and-get-naked/374687.md?page=8)