And yet ...

It's of course delicious to watch the Republicans hoist on the petard of their own homophobia.

And yet.

And yet there's something about this entire Mark Foley episode that makes me uncomfortable.

We agree: sexual harassment is sexual harassment.

We agree: no one should make inappropriate advances to anyone who works for him or her, especially to 16-year-olds.

We agree: the real point is not the sex per se, but the fact that Dennis Hastert and other Republicans did nothing significant to stop Foley once they'd been informed about his behavior.

And yet when I watch the liberal punsters on television, I can't help suspecting that they're taking advantage of the homophobia in the culture in order to make slightly more of this episode than it may in fact turn out to be worth. When I watch the Democratic politicians smack their lips, I can't help wondering whether they've forgotten that this is the sort of scandal that can happen to either party, and there's no evidence that Democrats would have handled it any better. In short, I can't help thinking that the homophobia is catching.

It's of course delicious to watch the Republicans deal with this.

And divinely ironic.

And I certainly hope it all lasts until November and plays a role in electing a Democratic Congress.

And yet.