On blaming the victim, GOP-style

Okay, so you know we just love victim blamers here at Practically Harmless (and when I say "love," I mean, of course, "hate"). The "she was asking for it" defense, the "she shouldn't have been out at night" defense, they piss us off nearly, but not quite, to the point of committing a "he should have kept him damn mouth shut when surrounded by angry feminists" offense.

But now Matt Drudge gives us a brand new defense to get red about: "They were egging the congressman on":

Clip #1: And if anything, these kids are less innocent — these 16 and 17 year-old beasts…and I've seen what they're doing on YouTube and I've seen what they're doing all over the internet — oh yeah — you just have to tune into any part of their pop culture. You're not going to tell me these are innocent babies. Have you read the transcripts that ABC posted going into the weekend of these instant messages, back and forth? The kids are egging the Congressman on! The kids are trying to get this out of him. We haven't got the whole story on this.

[...]

Clip #2: You could say "well Drudge, it's abuse of power, a congressman abusing these impressionable, young 17 year-old beasts, talking about their sex lives with a grown man, on the internet." Because you have to remember, those of us who have seen some of the transcripts of these nasty instant messages. This was two ways, ladies and gentlemen. These kids were playing Foley for everything he was worth. Oh yeah. Oh, I haven't…they were talking about how many times they'd masturbated, how many times they'd done it with their girlfriends this weekend…all these things and these "innocent children." And this "poor" congressman sitting there typing, "oh am I going to get any," you know?

(Transcripts and emphasis courtesy of Jane at Firedoglake.)

Those damned seductive pages. The way they greet you in the hallway with "Good morning, Congressman Foley" and call you "Sir" when you talk to them. The way those navy blue blazers hang, the back vent fluttering flirtily to give you just that little shot of gray slacks as they walk away - oh, they know what they're doing. They're 16- and 17-year old beasts, they are. They're begging for it.

They're not like, say, poor, innocent Monica Lewinsky, who at the tender and impressionable age of 22 entered into a consensual relationship with that pedophiliac devil Bill Clinton. That sweet girl had her innocence stolen by a ravening child molester. These boys - these young men, they are - are evil, scheming, seductive little Lolitos, drawing him in with their coy smiles and naughty e-mails, and for Mark Foley to be taken in by their alluring, provocative ways was inevitable. The man should be pitied, not censured.

God bless those Scientologists for helping this poor, devastated man piece his life back together.