The last time Congress was de-Foleyated, both houses changed control, and this one doesn’t look like a very good sign, either. Congressman Mark Foley, until recently a shoo-in, has resigned over some rather disturbing emails and apparently much more graphic IMs. Worse, all this happened late enough in the game that Foley’s replacement will have to run under Foley’s disgraced name rather than his own. It’s not as though the Florida Supreme Court would undermine Florida election law to help a Republican, after all. So the most likely result is that this “safe” Republican seat will fall into Democrat hands, while jeopardizing the seats of every other Republican who either knew what Foley was up to, or can’t prove they didn’t between now and Election Day.

I may be a lone voice in the wilderness, but I think it is a terrible thing that Republicans are so quick to throw one of their own under the bus. OK, maybe he’s a sexual predator and all, but he’s also been a champion of federal legislation targeting sexual predators, much more so than the last Democrat who held his seat did, and more son than his likely Democrat replacement will. Foley’s a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch. Foley’s execrable behavior in private towards adolescent boys is objectionable and offensive. But his private sins don’t vitiate the public good he accomplished and is continuing to accomplish. Human beings are complex, multi-faceted creatures; of few is this more true than of Mark Foley. Is he a man who has repeatedly abused his power in sexual relationships with subordinates? Yes. Is this a man who has been an important ally on other issues? Yes. He’s not either a good or a bad man — he’s manifestly both. And we can honor the good in him and lament the bad at the same time without contradicting ourselves. We can work with him when he’s right, and excoriate him when he’s wrong. Foley’s private failings are better known than the failings of any other human being alive. But compared to the other living men who have served in Congress, he has clearly been the one most committed to protecting children from sexual predators. And for that, he deserves our — qualified — gratitude.

That last paragraph was, of course, a total and complete crock. If it made sense to you, however, I’ll bet this does, too.