On ex-congressman's e-mail trail

IT'S IRONIC that former Republican congressman Mark Foley could be prosecuted under the law he helped create to make it illegal to solicit a minor over the Internet. Now that he's claimed responsibility for writing the messages, the FBI's investigation is largely a foregone conclusion. All that needs to be determined is who else in Congress knew of the evidence and helped conceal it.

But the Democrats' drive to paint the entire Republican caucus as condoning pedophilia seems a tad far-fetched. If Speaker Dennis Hastert or any other member of Congress knew of Foley's disturbing predilections, they should resign immediately. But with contentious elections looming and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi saying of Republicans, ``They are all responsible. They all were enablers," one can smell the politicking a mile away.

Democrats don't need to kick Republicans while they're down in order to win. The Republicans are alienating voters sufficiently on their own.

JUSTIN FINNEY
Austin, Texas

I FOUND Brian McGrory's Oct. 3 column about Republican hypocrisy to be right on target ("Back at you, Santorum," City & Region). However, I feel he left out one important fact: that Mark Foley represented himself as an advocate for children against predators, all while possibly being one himself. The fact that Foley was cochairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus and authored a bill on keeping children safe from online predators makes his actions even more appalling.

As usual, it appears the Republican leaders who love riding around on their moral high horses were more concerned with losing seats in Congress than keeping young people safe.

KATHLEEN MALLOY
Somerville

AS A gay man living for more than two decades in Boston, I have known many gay men raised in strict Catholic homes, two of whom were molested by their priests. Not one of them grew up to be a closeted Republican who worked to criminalize his own behavior.

Foley should have sought professional help, as many of my friends did, long before he mixed alcohol, his own apparent homophobia, congressional pages, and the Internet, and brought himself to this ignominious place.

If he had taken personal responsibility for his mental health earlier, it would not be thrust upon him now by events he set in motion by his very failure to do so.

CHRISTIAN DRAZ
Boston