Conservatives Weigh In On Foley Scandal And Embarrass Human Race

In response to the Mark Foley scandal, the conservative side of the media seems to be twisting things into an anti-gay issue. Foley himself blames alcoholism and is seeking treatment but admits that there is no excuse for his behavior. I don't know why I'm so suprised that conservatives would turn so quickly on their own just to promote their own agenda. A few notable comments:

Ben Stein, American Spectator:

On the one hand, we have a poor misguided Republican man who had a romantic thing for young boys. He sent them suggestive e-mail. I agree, that’s not great. … I hope it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys. Link

Linda Harvey, WorldNetDaily:

Open or suspected homosexuals should never be elected. The problem with homosexuals is that they frequently don’t have common sense and don’t acknowledge appropriate boundaries. Weird sex, public displays of “affection” and nudity, and sex with youth are built into the “gay” sub-culture.

Jonah Goldberg, National Review:

The funny thing is that you would think the left — particularly the gay left — would be a bit more interested in not having 16 and 17 year old teenagers classified as young children for legal/sexual/political purposes. If that were the case, then a whole lot of dirty old men would need to be prosecuted for felonies when they pick up street hustlers. Link

Wall Street Journal, editorial:

But in today’s politically correct culture, it’s easy to understand how senior Republicans might well have decided they had no grounds to doubt Mr. Foley merely because he was gay and a little too friendly in emails. Some of those liberals now shouting the loudest for Mr. Hastert’s head are the same voices who tell us that the larger society must be tolerant of private lifestyle choices, and certainly must never leap to conclusions about gay men and young boys. Link

Tammy Bruce, political analyst:

All I want, frankly, is a gay person in office who is not a sexual compulsive. I mean, is that too much to ask for? Fox News

Cliff Kincaid, Accuracy In Meda:

In fact, the entire scandal might have been avoided if Foley’s homosexuality had been exposed and confronted, rather than protected, over the last several years. Link

Is this just ignorance or an ugly smear campaign? Is this a coordinated attempt at anti-gay propaganda? Am I just being paranoid? As Philo from Strange Days said, "Paranoia is just reality on a finer scale."