Quotes from

Sex Panic on Capitol Hill 

Mark Foley and the Politics of Sex in America

By David Rosen 

< http://www.counterpunch.org/rosen10102006.html >

[...] 

Sex scandals are not new to Washington. Much has been made of earlier scandals involving Democratic Congressmen: Gary Stubbs had sex with a page; Mel Reynolds had sex with an underaged campaign worker; and Barney Frank facilitated his lover's male prostitute ring. But these pale before the impeachment of Bill Clinton for his liaison with Monica Lowinsky -- to say nothing of his relations with Gennifer Flowers and who knows how many others.

Clinton's dalliance seems quite innocent when compared to other presidential indiscretions. 
[... examples ...] 
Deviant sexual practice is not unfamiliar to American
politics.

The media seems especially captivated by Foley's peculiar sexual predilection -- his erotic fascination with adolescent youths. Most disturbing, they don't know how to make sense of it. Media thugs like MSNBC's Tucker Carlson have labeled him a "child molester" and others have called him a "child predator" and "pedophile." However, his particular sexual fetish may be what some analysts' label "ephebophia," the adoration for adolescent youth.

Speculation as to Foley's sexual proclivities is just that -- speculation. Little is really know about his psychological makeup or sexual practices. At this point of the unfolding saga, Foley seems to have committed no applicable sexual crimes, particularly solicitation. He also seems to have adhered to Washington, DC, age of consent laws that place consent at 16 years (in Florida its 18 years of age). 

In addition, he seems interested only in post-pubescent boys, not pre-pubescent children -- thus, technically, he's not a pedophile. Finally, and what seems perhaps most disturbing to conventional media pundits, Foley's interest in youthful lads seems to be an asexual fascination--he seems to have never sought to consummate (i.e., violate) his attraction for underage boys who he pursued so indiscreetly. 

* * *
Besides terrorism and immigration, the war against sexually unacceptable practices seems to be one of the most pressing national security concerns. More disturbing than hurricanes, corporate scandals and political corruption, sex offenders -- especially alleged pedophiles -- have become the nation's obsession. 

Bill O'Reilly regularly rants against them and NBC Dateline runs an ongoing series exposing child "predators"; reports about pedophiles and other sex offenders appear regularly in local press and TV coverage across the country. Even Oprah Winfrey has joined the battle against pedophiles with a recent show promoting Child Predator Watch; she showed mugshots of ten fugitives which led to two arrests. She offered viewers a $100,000 reward, noting that it was the "[b]est money I ever spent."

This fervor is not limited to the media. The federal government, together with states and localities across the country, are moving aggressively to increase penalties for a growing list of sex offenses. They are seeking to limit access to birth control and abortion services, prohibit teenage sex, neuter sex education, suppress pornography, restrict homosexual encounters and close down sex clubs and swinger get-togethers. A new sex war is gaining momentum.

Ironically, this puritanical revivalism is taking place not only amidst America's fourth "sexual revolution," but during a period in which sex crime is declining. The FBI reports that in 2005 there were some 550,000 registered sex offenders living throughout the country. The number is alarming and says a lot about America's sexual culture. It includes men (and a handful of women) who have been convicted of everything from pedophilia, child kidnapping and rape as well as child pornographers, their customers and some who failed to pay child support. 

"But," as Steve Chapman reports in the Baltimore Sun, "the truth about the incidents of rape and other sex crimes is no mirage: It has declined drastically and is still dropping."

FBI data confirm Chapman's assertion -- and undercut much of the media hype about today's sex crime "epidemic." 
[...] 
The FBI's statistical summary, "Crime in the United States, 1986-2005," shows that sex crime -- along with nearly all crime -- has dropped significantly. 
[...] 
FBI data reveals that between 2002 and 2004 other sex offenses (statutory rape, incest) were down 31 percent and prostitution and commercial vice was down 19 percent.

No offense disturbs the popular imagination more than sex crimes involving children and youths -- which helps explain part of the media's fascination with the Foley scandal. Yet, as public outrage about such crime escalates, it is actually declining. 

[...] 

* * *

In the face declining incidents of sex crime, cities and states are vying to impose tougher penalties for sex-crime convictions. Many cities have established "child protection zones" near schools, playgrounds and other locations and two cities, Binghamton, NY, and Brink, NJ, have passed banishment laws. Five states (i.e., Florida, Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma and South Carolina) permit the death penalty for some sex crimes. 

Under "Megan Laws," all states require sex offenders to register and most have websites with registered offenders listed. Some states require convicted offenders be electronically tracked for life and others are considering inserting RFID tags in those deemed predators. 

[...] 

The Bush administration is aggressively pursuing sexual offenders through the Justice Department, FBI, FCC, Customs and the Postal Service.

The Justice Department has created an infrastructure that is facilitating a sex panic. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, following in the footsteps of John Ashcroft, has prioritized the prosecution of pornography and child exploitation. 
[...] 
If a sex offender was labeled a terrorist, could all the powers of the Patriot Act be applied?

[...] 

* * *

America has witnessed repeated sex panics, both at the local and national level. Most recently, a daycare child-abuse panic swept the country from 1980 to 1992. During this prosecutorial nightmare at least 311 alleged child sex rings were investigated in 46 states and innumerable childcare workers, parents and total strangers were sent to jail. All appear to have been innocent. However, two even earlier panics illustrate just how bad things could get. 

[...]

* * *

Sex has never found a welcoming home in America. From the earliest Puritans to today's religious zealots, sex has been a constant source of discomfort in terms of both personal physical experience and social relations. This discomfort is, at root, what drives the Foley scandal and the public's peculiar fascination with it.

[...] 

Mark Foley may well have crossed the line between unconventional (if inappropriate) flirtation and nonconsensual behavior with a minor -- it's too early to tell how the various Congressional and FBI probes will turn out. But it's clear that Foley (if not the Republican Congressional leadership) will have to pay for their sins. No matter how the scandal affects the upcoming election, one likely outcome will be the adoption of laws tightening intergenerational contact.