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Tammy here with greetings from Mattatuck, Long Island. I realize most people who do what I do (talk radio, television, etc) take their vacations during the summer. I actually tend to not take vacations at all, but finally I succumbed. So here I am lounging at various places on Long Island. I’m also not used at all to lounging and while I expected it to make me a little nervous, I have to say, it’s been nice to relax. I’ll be home Monday, btw, and back to Tammy Radio, too. I also want to thank Maynard for being a bit more active blogging while I’m away. He’s posting some great pieces.

This is the first chance I’ve had (okay, I haven’t gone out of my way) to check on the news. I’ve avoided it in part because I knew it would be wall-to-wall Foley. The whole thing disgusts me–not just the accusations, but the non-stop political spinning. The hypocrisy. Everyone grabbing at whatever part of the story with which they can make hay.

Let’s just say that I haven’t missed watching the news like a hawk. It is also especially pathetic, being in New York, to watch this tabloid obsession–I wonder what kind of work we could actually get done if the same obsession and moral outrage exhibited by the left about Foley were applied by them to the Radical Islamists we are currently at war with.

And now that the left seems to have found some moral footing on the issue of gay men seeking out teenagers for sex, and how wrong, wrong, wrong, it is for adult men to pursue 15-18 year-old boys, I wonder if all that whining for age-of-consent laws to be lowered will suddenly stop.

I have the feeling the answer is “no.”

As an illustration of the hypocrisy on issues of morality, especially when dealing with sexual promiscuity and even arguably sexually criminal acts, my friend Marc sent along the text from a Washington Post article from 1989 discussing the then-Washington scandal courtesy of a gay man–Rep. Barney Franks.

By Bill Dedman
Washington Post Staff Writer
August 27, 1989

Prostitute and pimp Stephen L. Gobie settled in with his “girls” in his Georgetown town house one evening in late 1987 to watch “The Mayflower Madam” on television. As Candice Bergen portrayed upscale madam Sydney Biddle Barrows, Gobie’s companions had an idea.

“The girls turned to me and said, ‘You’re just like her,’ ” Gobie recalled in an interview yesterday. “That’s when I realized that I was in the middle of a developing story that could be worth something someday. I told them, ‘One day, don’t be surprised if you see me on TV.’ ”

Gobie’s dream has come true. His accusation that Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) knew that Gobie had operated a prostitution service out of Frank’s Capitol Hill apartment became national news after it was first reported Friday by the Washington Times.

Frank, one of two openly gay members of Congress, confirmed Friday that he paid Gobie for sex, hired him with personal funds as an aide and wrote letters on congressional stationery on his behalf to Virginia probation officials, but Frank said he fired Gobie when he learned that clients were visiting the apartment.

Frank, a leading House liberal, likened himself to Henry Higgins, who in “Pygmalion” tries to transform a cockney waif into a member of English society. Gobie dismissed that as “garbage.” “This is not the case of the poor waif who is being sheltered,” Gobie said. “This was the first time he felt good in a relationship. Here’s a guy who didn’t have a social life until he was 45.”

Gobie’s craving for public attention also has produced an uproar in Montgomery County. Gobie said he maintained a relationship with Gabriel A. Massaro, the principal of Chevy Chase Elementary School, and used an office at the school in late 1987 to make telephone calls and have one client meet a prostitute.

As we all know, not only did nothing happen to Franks, he’s still in Washington, contributing to the ever-increasing mess of our nation’s capitol.

Here’s one comment which will remind you of my Authentic Feminist foundation–while we all complain that politicians are politicians, here’s one thing we can be sure of–with all the page scandals, the intern scandals, and girls who worked for politicians turning up dead (think Kennedy/Kopechne and Condit/Levy), none of the politicians involved have been women. A woman lawmaker has never been accused of sexually harassing an intern, or of making passes at a page, nor has a woman in office been linked to an office worker’s death.

So perhaps it’s not Washington, DC, power or politics that is the common thread here–maybe it’s the sort of man attracted to that environment. There are women serving on both sides of the aisle, and no matter what you think of Hillary Clinton, as an example, we can be pretty darn sure she’s not chasing an intern of either sex around her office. The same can be said about Elizabeth Dole, and Dianne Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, or Barbara Mikulski. Because it’s not about homosexuals, but about men, gay and straight, young and old, and what they do with power.

Is it possible to have the same peace of mind with men in Congress as we do with the women in Congress, at least when it comes to their personal deportment? Is that too much to ask? I certainly don’t think so.

Let’s admit it–women handle power differently. And as pundits on the left and the right point fingers and complain about who is more corrupt–perhaps it’s time to see this as an opportunity to decide to really do things differently, and vote for women, for a real change. I’m not saying just any woman, and these days the women worth voting for happen to have an (R) after their name, but I’m urging you to take a closer look at women candidates, vote for them if they’re right on the issues, and if a good woman is running for office out of your area, support them with a donation. You can start by checking out The Wish List, an excellent example of a group promoting Republican women for office.