Suggested by this thread.
In the referenced thread, astro asked whether genuine alcoholics are insulted by ex-Representative Foley’s blaming his sexual advances to the pages on alcoholism and a putative history of being abused himself. samclem points out that astro is begging the question–i.e., assuming that Foley’s excuses are not genuine. So I ask you, Dopers–do any of you believe the ex-Rep’s story?
Lying sack of sorry shit.
Put me in the “Don’t give a damn” category. It might pass as an explanation for his actions, but it ain’t an excuse.
Total ditto on what **Oakminster ** said.
Substance abuse and a history of abuse explains a lot of bad behavior, but certainly doesn’t excuse it. Two or even three wrongs don’t make a right.
Foley and his attorney are both full of crap. I believe they’re setting a defense framework in anticipation of a perceived inevitable arrest warrant and subsequent prosecution for multiple counts of Inappropriate Contact with a Minor. His attorney probably calculated that if the idea of Foley being molested as a child is allowed to simmer in the minds of the public (and future jurors) long enough, when/if he finally does go to trial, it’ll be top-of-mind, almost merged in the public’s perception, with the allegations. In my estimation, coming out with this nonsense now can only help Foley in a trial.
I have to hand it to that weasel. He’s certainly fast on his feet. It’s amazing how well one can think when using the right head to do it.
I saw someone describe, quite hilariously, a whole series of messed-up stuff they did when in their cups. A whole list riddled with bad judgment, delusions of grandeur, alarming lack of concern for safety, and no thought to possible consequences. But never once (they pointed out) did they want to diddle a fifteen-year-old boy.
Of course, that’s just half of his excuse. I don’t know what happened to Foley as a child.
So he suffered terrible abuse as a child, and as a result he wants to inflict that same abuse on others?
Nope, not buying it. Even if it’s true, it’s astonishing immaturity on his part (in addition to the inherent repugnance of the crimes, of course), which I doubt most Americans would sympathize with.
Sheesh, doesn’t anyone just try to cop a plea anymore?
Not only do I not believe his story, my initial reaction was most decidedly in the Church Lady voice: How conVEEEEEEEEEnient!! :rolleyes:
I do wonder how many other reps are now scouring their systems to delete emails and IMs?? I also wonder how many pages will now come forward with their stories…
No. Though it’s not as horrible as Jim McGreevy now describing himself as “the first openly gay governor.” In what state?
It was the booze! And he [was] gay and closeted! And he was molested! By a CATHOLIC PRIEST! And, uh, he had too many Twinkies and was undiagnosed ADHD. No, wait - bipolar. Wait, no - SCHIZO-AFFECTIVE DISORDER! Plus, those pages led him on, wearing those Bugle Boy trousers.
IT WAS THE ONE-ARMED MAN!
What do YOU think? No. No, I don’t.
I don’t believe Foley managed to be drunk when sending his text messages, yet stone sober the next moment when he was voting in Congress – as he and his lawyer have said.
I don’t believe, having read those text messages, that Foley never had sex with any of the young men he was engaged in such explicit text messaging with.
So, given that I don’t believe anything else he’s claimed, why should I believe the “not-his-fault” set up, even if I have sympathy for other alcoholics or pedophilia victims?
The thing is, I still don’t know what a history of sexual abuse has to do with the things he’s been accused of thus far. I figure he attributes drunkness to poor judgement, which makes sense. But what does being molested by a priest have to do with him hitting on Congressional pages? This doesn’t make sense to me. Would a heterosexual male attempt to explain his lechery by citing abuse like this? Or would it be obvious that he was just a dirty old man, 'nuff said? Dirty old men don’t need excuses for their behavior. They are what they are.
I maintain that that “the priest made me do it!” excuse was poorly thought-out because it portrays his own behavior as being in the same class as molestation instead of simply being the product of poor judgement and homosexual horniness. The American public isn’t fond of the latter by any means, but the former is almost universally despised. He should have just stuck with the “alcohol made me do it!” excuse (which I don’t buy at all) and left the priest stuff out of it (which I’m suspending judgement on).
The shitstorm just came too fast. No sooner did it come out then everyone was spin, spin, spin, and not just one excuse but just piling excuse upon excuse. Hamadryad exemplifies what I mean. They reached for everything they possibly could.
No, I don’t believe any of it, and even if it’s true, it’s still not an excuse, as [B}DKW** says.
Hogwash, balderdash, horseshit.
The fact that he presented himself to his voters as a heterosexual and a family-values guy shows that he was in the habit of lying. Now, it may be true that a priest screwed him when he was young, and it may be true that he’s an alky. It is absolutely not true that those things made him trawl for boys on the internet. He was never a slave to his impulses. Every one of the things he did was a conscious choice to do something he knew was waayy out of line.
Same.
My grandfather was sexually abused as a child. That doesn’t justify trying to pimp out his own daughters and grand-daughters.
Explanations of evil behavior is a good thing, to help understand the situation and hopefully prevent it in others.
But an explanation in no way whatsoever excuses such behavior. So yeah, the guy is a total scumbag.
Denial. 
I would not be surprised if it turns out he really was sexually molested. It is true that most child abusers were abused themselves. While this case is not true pedophilia, I could definitely see it as fitting that same pattern since he seems to have a pathological fixation on teen boys rather than peers.
Of course, just because I can understand the reason someone might behave a certain way doesn’t mean that makes it okay. There’s no excuse for anyone his age to be messing with teenagers.