If you can't criticize a Representative pursuing a 16 year-old page and your leadership apparently covering it up, there is absolutely no hope that you'll be able to do so with more complicated issues such as Iraq and detainee torture. I make this point with respect to both the conservative bloggers and those in Congress who covered this story up. Go team.

I thought you people got freaked out about sex. (See: Monica Lewinski, gay marriage, etc.) What's counter-balancing that in this story for you?

Simple: You can't leave behind the team mentality long enough to be honest about these issues. Even with yourself. This story, which should push all your buttons, is about a team member.

The broader point, apart from the Foley news, is that the silly cheerleading has supplanted any real analysis of policy, of what's right and wrong. It's much more akin to the guy at Williams Brice stadium screaming his lungs out for his beloved "Cocks" than it is to anything the founding fathers had in mind when they anticipated open policital debate. And it's hurting our country. [link]

And if they can't protect a teenage page, how are we supposed to believe that they can protect America? Just saying...

To be fair, there has been some criticism, but it's been selective and calculated.