Ain't it Awful?

I have been listening to the Talk Radio echo chamber, I don’t usually but now is as good a time as ever. I refuse to have TV in my home so I occasionally have to get a touch point on a particular bit of news.

Please know that if any gay bashing results from the Mark Foley incidents that it will be from the usual hypocrites that keep that tool at hand.

What we need to address here is the Trawling and PREDATION for less than innocent sexual intention, be it homo or hetro.

We do not know that an act of sexual misconduct arose out of any of Mark Foley’s pleasant little chats that have been documented. We do have reason to believe that the intent seems to be there to create a sexually charged atmosphere between himself and some of the young pages. That is the smoke of this event. The draft that gave life to flames was the precipitous resignation. The fuel load is the result long period of benign neglect by those who knew without doubt that there was a hot clinker in the bin and chose not to address it - "out of kindness, I suppose."

Mr. Foley was a functioning, public gay man who mingled in the social setting of Palm Beach County and Washington D.C. as such. That is not the error here. That he was interested in the development of young minds for noble Congressional service is not even an affront. What is an affront is that he chose to tend that hot frame of seedlings to tease out those who were receptive to his advances for mutual sexual gratification, either in the illegal near term or as soon as they turned 18.

Alcohol as a reason for the behavior is a weak crutch and an illogical ploy to dismiss the egregious behavior. Mr. Foley is a brilliant man who did not need benefit of a university education. So, no matter the quality of his thinking or his able abilities of mind, he is one down from most of his colleagues because he is a mustang. He came up through the ranks without a university degree.

Further, Mr. Foley is a gay man who comes with all the baggage that entails. He is two down.

Mr. Foley is a rapacious pleaser and compensator. To fit in with his chosen political party he had to be twice or three times as aggressive and effective in all the organizational and political chores he took on.

Mr. Foley was also a second bench man when it came to his representative status. There are two House districts that run through Palm Beach County. One is the 16th; that is Mr. Foley’s. The other is the 22cd; that is someone else’s. The 16th takes in the west side of the county. The 22cd takes in the narrow coastal enclave that is centered on the City of Palm Beach. So, in Palm Beach Count, Mr. Foley was definitely second string.

Palm Beach and Lake Worth are different from the rest of the world. It is an enclave that is driven by the peculiar needs of its peculiar residents. They are “old money” super rich, they are new comer super rich. There are resident TV preachers who have made theirs and are now taking their ease. There is an inordinate representation of sexual preferences in the Palm Beaches and its attendant shore side colony of drones and worker bees.

Mr. Foley is very much a product of his surroundings. Those surroundings being wealth - great wealth. New money is one thing, but old, great wealth is preferred. There is the grand collection of epicureans, dilettantes, rapacious sexual appetites and predation on the shore side herds of willing.

Mr. Foley may have come with a predisposition for his sexual preferences. When they emerged in Palm Beach County, you can be sure that they were noted and tended by interested parties.

Back to alcohol. Drink is the salve that soothes the hurting and deprived ego. It is the great compensator for social division and isolation. Mr. Foley did not come by his preferences out of the blue. He was accessible and willing. It became a learned behavior. He in turn made inroads with the accessible and willing. The pages under his care came with all the potential that is to be found in the rest of the population. They are intelligent – they have a capacity – they are smart – they are able to develop their capacity. In addition they are accessible and some are willing. Mr. Foley needed only to cull the herd.

The rest of the defensive echo chamber is laying it off on previous administrations back to Constantine.

My educational background is one of research and writing regarding human intentions, actions and outcomes in the social, psychological and political arenas. My onboard skills are those of what I consider to be those of a successful hunter gatherer, that is a keen ability to observe and a deep capacity for details. The only ax that I have to grind here is that the relevant issues come to the fore and that the true nature of the circumstances prevail.

Lantern Bearer

Please, be attentive, be intelligent, be reasonable, be responsible.

You have no business to believe me.
I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself. . .
If you have not a critical mind, your visit here is useless.
G.I. Gurdjief

Comment by Lantern+Bearer — October 7, 2006 @ 11:15 am