Now that the Congressional Ethics Committee has declined to find any blame for how Hastert & Co. handled the Foley scandal, Vanity Fair has published a long article that finds that Foley's predilections were an open secret in D.C. and paints the very ambitious Foley as a political scandal waiting to happen:
The half-open closet in which Mark Foley spent his life was a recipe for disaster, say those few who tried to intervene. Investigating Foley's pre-teen seduction by a priest, the "ladies' man" mask he wore in Palm Beach society, and his love-hate relationship with the gay community, the authors uncover the ambition, delusion, and hypocrisy that corroded both the politician and his party.
Everyone knew Mark Foley was gay. Everyone. And everyone who had a stake in his success-party, press, parents, staff, supporters, and pages-conspired for their own purposes to keep the closet half closed.
