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Here's the thing. When you get into positions of some power you are bombarded by various groups to take an interest in the lives of young people. To mentor them. To pretend an interest in their lives. To offer connections for advancement.
Besides being a slave employment system to save the House money, this is exactly what the kids entering the program hope to get. They're not doing it because watching C-SPAN live is all excitement.
Yes, with the hindsight of the latter communications the former is obviously a sign of what was to come. But without that hindsight these emails aren't all that different from communications between people in power and young people all the freaking time. My last employer had an official program for connecting senior management with high school students and offered guidelines on trying to connect with them. Making small talk. Being informal. Expressing an interest in what they do and what they find interesting. Just generally showing an interest in them and creating that exposure to "successful" life that will hopefully help propel them to great things.
If that type of communication makes you an obvious pedophile then every Boy Scout leader and Big Brother volunteer and professional mentor is likely an obvious pedophile. That's the difficulty of it: pedophilic interest looks, at least initially, pretty much like the interest of any caring person.
But really, my comments weren't about Foley but rather what Hastert should have done a year ago. There is debate as to whether he ever saw the emails or simply referred the matter to the congressman in charge when told there was an issue. The family expressly said they didn't want anything done in the way of investigation or punishment but to just stop the emailing.
Go ahead an hoist Foley up by his scrotum based on those first emails. I'm just not willing to put Hastert up there with him based on what is currently known.
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