Former Louisiana Governor Edwin W. Edwards has been quoted as saying that he could not lose his race for reelection unless he was “caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.” It didn’t take quite that much to bring down Congressman Mark Foley, but almost.

     You have already heard far too much about Congressman Foley. Even if your name is Helen Keller and you are living in a cave in Tora Bora, you have heard too much about him. So I am not going to write about him, at least not directly.

     You have likely not heard so much about the Don Young connection to the Foley scandal. If you were paying attention, you might have seen a short article in the October 4th issue of the Anchorage Daily News in which Congressman Young had his spokesperson say (regarding the Foley scandal) “It’s not in [Don Young’s] character to comment on someone else’s personal problems.”

     Oh, really? I guess we are supposed to believe that Don Young is a sensitive New Age kind of guy who does not want to add to the problems when someone else is in trouble. Is this the same sensitive guy who berated the female director of the Fish and Wildlife Service while brandishing an 18-inch long oosik in 1994? (for the benefit of my non-Alaska readers, an oosik is the penis bone from a walrus).

     No, I think there is a much more likely explanation for Don Young’s efforts to stay as far away from this entire Foley scandal as possible. Did you notice that he did not even speak directly to this issue himself? He had his spokesperson issue his “no comment”.

     The much more convincing explanation is based upon Don Young’s own prior scandal involving inappropriate, sexually explicit communications with high school age children. The mainstream media are too discrete to remind people about this former bit of unpleasantness, so I guess it is up to me.

     Back in 1995, Don Young was addressing an assembly of high school students in Fairbanks. During that address, the issue of federally funded art came up. Here is what Congressman Young said to the assembled teenage students.

     “Butt fucking. You think that’s art?”

     Do you see any similarities here to the Foley scandal? Was our Congressman looking for a little “Young love?” Perhaps not, but he certainly showed a lack of judgment, decency and common sense. Unlike Congressman Foley, Congressman Young rode out the ensuing uproar, and kept his seat in Congress.

     After surviving his own scandal you would think that Congressman Young would be eager to show that he now “gets it” and that he wants to help protect children by investigating and making sure that these things don’t happen again. Instead, his behavior suggests that he, like the rest of the Republican leadership in Congress, is more interested in protecting the Republican majority in Congress.

     Congressman Young appears to believe that his reelection is assured as long as he keeps his distance from the Foley scandal, and isn’t caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy.

     Mister sensitivity indeed.

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