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Florida Congressman Mark Foley has resigned from Congress amid charges and allegations that he had inappropriate e-mail contacts with a former teenage page in the House of Representatives. So what's the real deal? What's really going on? You can read the mainline press, and watch television, but you'll never get to the real story that way. You have to ferret it out for yourself, and that's what we have done. We have talked with the movers and the shakers, to learn what's really happening.

First off, no one has a right to violate the sanctity of a teenager's world. In our country young people are protected and given rights precisely because they are young. They are at an age where they can not protect themselves. It is the sign of an advanced society that we choose to protect them, as well we should.

People who would prey on our children should go to jail for the rest of their lives. There is no need to give such "scum" a second chance. We shouldn't take that chance by giving them another chance. It is also the symbol of an advanced society that the framers of our constitution went out of their way to protect the rights of criminals. Compared to every other society on earth, here's one observer that thinks we do a fairly good job. Now having said that what's going on in Washington?

First off, neither party has a stranglehold on ethics. The Democrats have stolen just as much money through the years as the Republicans. What they spend it on may be different, but the money in both cases seems to DISAPPEAR, with very little to show for it. The first rule of government, and I learned this personally from Noble Prize winning economist Milton Friedman is that, "Whoever is in power, loves to spend money."

Ronald Reagan was a hero of mine. Nobody could spend money like him, until this President that is. At least Reagan bankrupted the Soviet Union and drove them out of power. What does Bush have to show for his trillions? A war without clearly defined objectives, and hundreds of billions in pork spending that no society can afford. He is the first President in my lifetime that has chosen not to exercise the power of the VETO.

This gay Congressman was not a sleeper. People around him knew his peculiarities. They chose to ignore them for their own reasons. Foley was running to be Senator from Florida a couple of years ago, and the party torpedoed the nomination to give it to Mel Martinez out of fear that word would get out.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives knew something was up and decided to keep quiet. Don't these guys realize by now that 'THINGS DON'T BLOW OVER". Word gets out; it always does; whether it's Hewlett Packard trying to snuff out corporate eavesdropping, or Enron trying to bury their financial worries in lies to Wall Street. You can only keep that game going so long, and then somehow it goes wrong.

If the impotent Democrats are smart, they will say nothing, and do nothing about this Mark Foley affair. The world of the Republicans is vaporizing right before their eyes. These are men who say they are conservatives, and yet know nothing of conservatism. Barry Goldwater the Arizona conservative Republican Senator who started it all, would be appalled at what is taking place in his party today. He might not be able to call himself a conservative anymore if he were alive.

Foley was in charge of a subcommittee in the House that dealt with exploited children. You talk about living a lie. Where are we as citizens of a free society, if elected officials think that it's okay to espouse one thing in public, and then do the opposite thing in private. I would ask our elected officials, "How dumb can you be"? What contribution do you make to society? The rest of us are out here supporting ourselves, making our schools better, and improving our local communities. You guys are just living off the collective decency of the rest of us. You spend money like it's unlimited. You eat in the finest restaurants, yet your basic paycheck isn't big enough to support your lifestyle. Who's paying for these lifestyles? If it's not the citizens than who, what is expected in return.

Mark Foley is symbolic of something terribly wrong in both parties. It's an atmosphere of anything goes, and I am above reproach. I am not accountable. Is this really the message we want to send to the next generation. Foley, this sick, mindless Congressman wants to hide behind the notion that he was drunk when he committed these acts. Really, does he really think that the rest of us are going to fall for his mindless chatter?

I mentioned in this article that I am generally optimistic regarding my country. What keeps me optimistic today is the power of the Internet. It is something the founding fathers would have marveled at. Yes, there's too much "NOISE or CHATTER" out there. Yes, you have to be focused to get pass the sheer density of information that is available to each of us. Ah, once you get passed that noise though, there's a liberating experience awaiting each of us. We have the power to obtain whatever knowledge we desire on just about any topic.

We are not using that vast knowledge yet, but we will be. It is conceivable that by 2008, the Internet will completely change the look and feel of American politics. The political process as we know it will be unrecognizable compared to where we are today. With information there is power, and people will have choices that they do not have today. There's a new freedom coming, and with it, a shift of power back to the people.

Copyright 2006 Richard Stoyeck