Posted by: Chris

But there's another, even more plausible theory, that the mainstream media is afraid to suggest and the lefty blogosphere is too busy salivating for Hastert's blood to be bothered with.

So far, there are five individuals who've been named as having substantial information over the years about Foley's misconduct: Palmer and Van Der Meid on Hastert's staff, Trandahl, former Foley Chief of Staff Kirk Fordham, and retiring Republican Congressman Jim Kolbe of Arizona.  Three of the five — Trandahl, Fordham and Kolbe — are openly gay, though only Kolbe was truly "out" in the media.  The other two — Palmer and Van Der Meid — are widely rumored to be gay. And, as the world learned earlier this month, Foley himself is gay.

These six mostly-closeted, gay Republicans, if in fact they are all gay, would form the "thin pink line" I've written about before in the early days of this blog.  Confronted with reports of misconduct by one of their own, the theory goes, they kept the matter largely "in-house," keeping each other informed and trying to keep Foley in check.

But from Foley's perspective, these slaps on the wrist from the fellow limp-wristed didn't carry any real sting because, in the end, he expected them to protect him, just as he protected their closets, however deeply in them each lived.

Viewed one way, it's having your buddy's back, like the crooked and not-crooked cops in "The Thin Blue Line."  On the flip side, it's like the nuclear doctrine of  "mutually assured destruction," since all but Kolbe knew that their careers could be damaged or even ruined (in their minds) if their homosexuality became public.  (Interestingly, we know from a Newsweek profile that Foley used "MAD" to describe why he generally chose to cheat on his long-term partner with other men who had boyfriends, since all involved had something to lose.)

If the media picks up further on this line of argument, as opposed to blaming Hastert for what his staff may well have kept from him, expect it to contribute to the hostile climate facing gays within the Republican Party.  To some degree, gays within the GOP are being hoisted on their own petard, not for working on behalf of a party that opposes their own civil rights.  But for staying in the closet for fear of how it would affect their career, leaving their judgment impaired and their priorities skewed.

Rather than purge the party of gays, as some Christian conservatives want, the gay GOP'ers should all come out instead.  With their sexual orientation in the open, their incentive to close ranks would be greatly reduced.  It reminds me of the old saw that gays were a national security threat because they were supposedly vulnerable to blackmail.  In reality, that was (and is) only true of those who hide in the closet.

Posted at 10:02 PM in Foley-gate, Kolbe | Permalink