WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Re: Ben Stein’s Hypocrisy, Democrat Style and Reader Mail’s La Cage Aux Foley, Knives Out for Ben Stein, and Hypocrisy Held Over, and the Prowler’s Demolition CREW:

Ah, the sex scandals of fall are upon us. The media, tired of turning out the same tired old arguments over immigration, Iraq, Social Security and health care, finally have something to hold their interest. Sex sells and homosexual pederasty sells big time. Just ask the Roman Catholic church.

But is that what the Foley affair is really about? Or is it just pre-election politics? Unfortunately I believe it to be the latter. Most of the readers who have responded to Ben Stein’s piece would be well advised to re-read that article. Whether you agree with his statements concerning male homosexual lifestyles or not, that was not the point of his piece. His point was that, considering the penchant for sex scandals and past anti-civil rights stances shown by the Democrat Party, their current “outrage” over the reported behavior of Foley and Allen hardly rings true.

The Prowler makes a similar point in his report of 04 October, 2006. The Democrats made a glaring error in using Congressman Foley’s behavior to attack the Republican House leadership. After all, the Democrats have 50+ years of Congressional leadership during which many scandals occurred as a result of which little or no action was taken. In the Foley affair, the Congressman resigned immediately and Republican leadership called for a criminal investigation. That Democrats did not wait for that investigation, before shouting their outrage, will come back to haunt them. There are, after all, still a little over four weeks to go before the election. This leaves plenty of time for the Republicans to point out the past peccadilloes of various Democrats and the reaction of their party to those incidents. In politics, as in life, timing is everything. The Democrats sprung this too soon and may find it to be a curse rather than a boon.

The only thing that may offer the Democrats some small advantage is the knee jerk reaction of Republican politicians and some conservative groups. They should remember that to attack the party leadership over the actions of a single Congressman may only gain them the leadership of the minority party. Leadership changes are best addressed following the up-coming elections. Congressman Foley will pay the price for his actions and the price will likely be rather high. As a result of this scandal, the Congress will do what it always does in similar instances; mouth a lot of platitudes and do little or nothing to see that it is not repeated.

Let’s hope we can move on to more important matters prior to Election Day.
— Michael Tobias
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

STILL GOING
Re: Ben Stein’s Hypocrisy, Democrat Style and Reader Mail’s La Cage Aux Foley, Knives Out for Ben Stein, and Hypocrisy Held Over:

I want to thank Ben Stein for explaining to me, a 46-year old gay man, “…that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys.” I must have missed that day in gay school. I also appreciate the fact that he thinks gays are “great people.” I wish I could say the same for him.
— David Mason Eichman
Los Angeles, California

Thanks for printing this. Because of this article, I have now lost all respect I once had for Ben Stein. This will save me a lot of time that would otherwise have been wasted reading future Special Reports from him.

With regard to the Ben Stein article, “Hypocrisy, Democrat Style,” I would like to know what credentials Mr. Stein can produce to justify his expertise with the gay community. I cite this comment from his “special report”:

“I hope it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys.”

Then Mr. Stein goes on to name the source of his expertise: observing the persons in his video store renting a moving entitled: “Endless Summer.” That alone is enough to completely discredit the comment. But it begs the question: What kind of logic makes you think that the observance of what person rents which movie at a video store is a reasonable way to judge people? You really shouldn’t embarrass yourself like that, Ben.

Let me rephrase your comment in a way that is not only more accurate, but more enlightened and intelligent:

“It will come as no surprise that some, but not all, men have a particularly strong sexual attraction to young people and are obsessed with youth. It is also generally agreed that gay men that pursue underage boys as sexual partners, and for that matter straight men that pursue underage girls, are acting outside of the bounds of healthy sexuality.”

Your attack on the gay community is a tool to incite the emotions of your readers and is an unconscionable and inaccurate portrayal. Gay men that exhibit healthy sexual practices are no more interested in having sex with underage boys than women.

Before you make broad statements on a subject about which I am sure you would attest to having no knowledge, get some real information. Since I am a gay man (and by the way, 36 years old and only interested in men very close to my own age), feel free to quote me.
— Tom Tolbert

As a heterosexual Independent thinker and voter I am deeply offended at Ben Stein’s ridiculous statement that the only Democrats besides teacher’s unions are homosexual men and lesbian women. He has really showed his ignorance this time. Not only that but I guess he doesn’t know that 98 percent of all male children and 99.6 percent of all females children are sexually abused by heterosexuals not gay and lesbians. His comments aren’t just spin but total ignorance and down right meanness.
— Kevynne Layne
Damascus, Oregon

What happened to ya? Your show got canceled and you lost your mind? I read your rambling article. You call the Democrats the party of the gays. You claim the constituents are lesbians and homosexuals and union members. How very shlocky of you. Aren’t you supposed to be smarter than that? Slurs instead of logic are very tacky and not terribly convincing either. In short, you’re the winner for sheer hypocrisy and general grossness. Guess I won’t bother catching any reruns of your show either since you defend pedophiles and racists.

Bye Ben. Sorry your career went up in flames but then again, you’ve got no one to blame but yourself.
— CCM

What a bigot. This man is a tool of the radical right wing. It is more of the same — Repus blaming someone else for everything they do wrong.
— Hank BrowneChicago.

Indignant Critic of Ben Stein:

“But not all male homosexuals are pedophiles!”

Indignant CAIR Spokeswoman:

“But not all Muslims are terrorists!”

Observant Pedophile:

“So far, almost all the terrorists have been Muslims.”

Observant Muslim:

“So far, almost all those who’ve preyed on underage boys have been male homosexuals. By the way, is Prisoner Le Flaive permitted visitors?”
— Paul Kotik
Playstation, Florida

I realize that not everyone agrees about the morality of homosexuality. Regardless of your POV, however, don’t you think it is morally reprehensible to print blatant lies about the “standard” behaviors of gay men? To publish on the web a suggestion that we shouldn’t be surprised because gay men are all pedophiles anyway? Being gay and being sexual with minors are two different things. If this had been a female page, the response would have been the same. At least Clinton went after legal tail.

Regarding Mr. Stein’s statement about the Confederate flag and George Allen, I completely agree with him that the flag is not necessarily a racist symbol. History should never be ignored or forgotten. I think people above the Mason Dixon line forget that it is even a part of U.S. history. The problem I have with Sen. Allen is not his flag but his use of racial epithets. I don’t want a man who calls an American man of Indian descent a “macaca” to represent me in Congress. I’ve read that other people have witnessed him saying worse things than that, but I won’t cite them because it’s hearsay. I also know that Mr. Allen owned stock in Barr Laboratories Inc., the only American maker of the Plan B morning after pill. I’m pro-choice, but Mr. Allen is not. Not only is he a racist, he is also a hypocrite. The flag? That’s not what’s bothering me.
— Molly McAshan

Ben wrote: “I hope it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys.”

This is vile and disgusting! If Ben cared at all about facts and truth, he’d take a deep breath and do some research instead of attacking Democrats. Over 98 percent of boys and 99 percent of girls who are sexually abused are abused by HETEROSEXUAL MALES! (go to the following link to get some real facts –https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/94/1/41).

It’s typical of the New GOP (vs. the Party of Eisenhower and Goldwater) — when you can’t defend the conduct of elected Republicans (e.g. Mark Foley), obfuscate, divert, and… lie. Come on, Ben … do you REALLY think that either R’s or D’s have cornered the market on hypocrisy? And, what do Robert Byrd, Bill and Hillary Clinton, or any other D have to do with this scandal? Lest you forget, R’s have control of the government and with regard to this particular scandal, none of the Ds were informed about this and they found out when the story broke in the media.

And, by the way, being incomplete and selective also constitutes lying — Mark Foley did more then ask a teenager what he was wearing … it was far more sexually explicit then that. If you can’t see the relevance of this, given Mr. Foley’s involvement with efforts to make the internet “safe” for kids and protect them from adult sexual predators … well, then, I guess you really are hopeless.

Ben owes all gay people an apology. His first mea culpa should be to his “good friend” who is gay! Are you a bigot, Ben? Or are you just willing to say ANYTHING to attack Ds?
— Tom Adessa

I guess I now have to weigh in on Ben Stein’s column on “The Foley Scandal.” Simply put what his detractors are doing is to use smoke and mirrors to obscure Mr. Stein’s point. This what democrats have to do since they have no “points” of their own to make. Mr. Stein correctly pointed out that no matter what democrats do, they get a pass. They get a pass from all media outlets and each other. I can only guess this happens because if the democrats display pederasty; or run a house of male prostitution, or associate with known pederasts (NAMBLA) that are their constituents, it is for the greater good of we the unwashed.

Mr. Stein was merely pointing out the hypocrisy that pervades America’s radical, socialist party.
— Jay W. Molyneaux
Wellington, Florida

Old man, for a smart guy, your [sic] kind of ignorant. Ninety-eight percent of pedophiles are straight men. Look it up. Secondly, Pelosi and a few others will speak up. It’s election time, dude! They’d be stupid not to. What entertains me is how many Republicans are condemning Foley (well, okay, mostly the ones whom were aware of his escapades). — human nature 101(self-preservation) and the other Republicans (himself included) want to play drama queens and blurt out and keep repeating that he’s gay and can’t hold his liquor (booze is making him molest children? …whatever) — also human nature 101. Hey, it’s election time!

It’s too late, though. The Republicans are on fire…and not in a good way. And the Democrats can easily beat a dead horse and screw it up if they were to rub salt in the wounds and put mean spins on things. But they’re playing it smart, for the most part. They just standing back and watching the fire stoke itself.

See you at the polls,
— Don Karnoski
Assistant Operating Engineer
Steam Plant, University of Chicago