The ground is moving rapidly under Washington.

Congressman Mark Foley may eventually be seen as a sort of dark Prometheus for finally lighting a fire to the Republican Closet and burning it down.

In the process, he has shed light on how homosexuality is used to scare and distract the Republican party’s rural, Bible-centric base, while in fact, the Republican elite are no more troubled by gay people than any other corporate employer, looking for bright, competent workers — not sexual conformity.

It’s all been a big sinister hoax (at our expense). And now, finally, the jig is up.

Item: The Sex Was Legal, Says Foley Page

The Los Angeles Times reports that a House page acknowledged that he had sex with the disgraced Congressman, but only after he had turned 21. The young man, who quietly knew he was a gay when he was a teenager, agreed to talk to The Times only if his identity was protected, because of his fear that exposure could hurt his job prospects.

From the L.A. Times:

“I always knew you were a player but I don’t fool around with pages,” declared one instant message from Maf54, a screen name Foley used …

The former page’s account is consistent with Foley’s assertion that he did not have sexual relations with minors, an issue that will be key to determining whether he committed crimes. The legal age of consent varies from state to state; in the District of Columbia, where the pages live in supervised dormitories, it is 16.

Yet the former page’s exchanges with Foley offer a glimpse of possible predatory behavior by the congressman as he assessed male teenagers assigned as House errand-runners.

In the messages, Maf54 described how years earlier, he had looked to see whether the former page had an erection in his tight white pants while the then-teenager was working near the congressman. Maf54 also speculated about the sexual attributes of other males in the same page class, including the observation that one young man was “well hung.”…

Foley’s flirtations made the young man feel important at a time when he was struggling with his emerging sexuality. “It seemed cool that he was taking an interest,” he said. “I knew he was gay, and he was attracted to me.”

Item: It’s Put-Up or Shut-Up Time for Gay GOP Staffers

The New York Times reports “that a group of gay activists angered by what they see as hypocrisy by gay Republicans, have begun circulating a document known as The List, a roster of gay Congressional staff members and their Republican bosses.”

The List is already being cited by Christian “family” groups, who are demanding a purge.

“It’s a time of siege and suspicion,” a gay GOP staffer told the Times. A dozen of these staffers meet every month or so over dinner to, “commiserate about their uneasy experience as gay Republicans.”

Excuse us if we fail to shed a tear. All of these men work for Congressmen and Senators who actively push anti-gay policies, sometimes ferociously. One of their bosses, former California Congressman Robert Dornan, regularly referred to gay men as Sodomites; another, Rick Santorum, equated homosexuality with “man-on-dog sex” in a widely lampooned statement.

In the wake of Foleygate, the gay staffers are getting it from all sides — from the Republican bureaucrats who want to shed them as election liabilities, the social conservatives who wish to criminalize homosexuality, and their own gay community who see them as traitors to the general wellbeing of gay men and lesbians.

But what is really going on in those twisted Republican heads of theirs? How do they hack the rationalizations? The New York Times tries to probes the question:

When asked why he remains in the party, Brian Bennett gave an answer common to gay Republicans: he said that he remained fundamentally in sync with the small government principles of the party and its approach to national security, and that he was committed to changing what he considers its anti-gay attitudes.

“I’m fighting hard, every day,” said Mr. Bennett, who was among a small group of gay Republicans who met with George W. Bush during his 2000 presidential campaign…

In contrast to what many view as the right’s increasingly anti-gay rhetoric, members of both parties say there has been a growing tolerance for gay men and lesbians within the Republican ranks.

“There’s been a change from 20 years ago when people used to be hyperconscious of staying in the closet,” said Steve Elmendorf, an openly gay Democratic strategist … “Now there’s more of an evolution to a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ rule.”

An addendum could be “don’t flaunt.” “You just don’t wear it on your sleeve, bottom line,” said one gay Republican staff member.

“I always made a point of dating women,” said Mr. Bennett, who disclosed that he was gay after his tenure with Mr. Dornan.

“For many conservative Republicans, just being gay in itself is an act of indiscretion,” said Tracey St. Pierre [a GOP lesbian staffer.]

Frankly, none of the reasoning sounds very persuasive. The paradox remains. They’re gay yet they work to undermine gay life in America, and then pat themselves on the back because nobody threw them in the stocks.

Heck of a job, pink elephants. You get the Roy Cohn Award for Raw Careerism.

Item: My Way of Life by Mark Foley

The most revealing piece we read this week was a sharp-eyed profile of the Foley world view by Maura Reynolds and Jenny Jarvie in the L.A. Times. Loaded with the sort of killing details and offhand quotes that bring the Republican Closet vibrantly to life, our favorite excerpts follow.

At the Republican National Convention in 2000, Rep. Mark Foley hosted a late-night bash at a Philadelphia gay bar, where an acquaintance snapped a photo of an attractive young intern sitting on the Florida congressman’s lap.

Months later, according to the acquaintance, when she offered to send him the photo, Foley looked anxious.

The intern, “male or female?” he inquired.

“Female” was the reply.

“Oh, thank God,” Foley responded. “Send me that photo, I might need it someday.”

*****

Early in Foley’s congressional career, friends and associates say, he took measures to deflect attention from his sexual orientation. He showed up at parties with a woman on his arm, made references to girlfriends, and used photos of himself with his sister and niece in campaign literature. Many voters assumed the photo showed him with a wife and daughter.

“He always had a knockout woman on his arm,” said Jack Furnari, president of the Boca Raton Republican Club. “People would say, ‘See that woman Mark was with?’ and chuckle. It was all a show.”

At times and in certain circles, however, Foley was less reticent about being seen with his longtime male partner, friends and associates say. In Palm Beach, the luxury winter resort island that some describe as fiscally conservative but socially liberal, Foley would arrive at fundraisers and galas with his companion, a local dermatologist. But they always sat at separate tables.

What makes these Republican nutjobs tick? The best answer came from the same L.A. Times piece, above. “They’ve hitched their stars to the party, hoping to hunker down and ride out the Taliban-esque wing,” said a gay D.C. council member who left the Republican Party over its opposition to gay marriage.

“It’s difficult for them,” a gay Democratic staffer added. “For the most part, they grew up in Republican households and families. It’s like a religion to them. They may even be out to their families. But they are not out professionally.”