Republican sex scandal: do not judge too quickly.

It has frequently been observed that the crime is rarely as bad as the cover-up. So it was with Watergate.

In the case of a Republican congressman text messaging sicko sex talk to juvenile employees of the House of Representitives, the crime is so bad that it would have to be a really ugly coverup to eclipse the nastiness of this pervert's misconduct. Maybe this will be the exception that proves the aforementioned rule.

But wait! It turns out that Republican leaders knew about Mark Foley's odd proclivities for over 5 years. Yep, we may have a cover-up here that exceeds any we have ever seen.

The ABC News Blog reports:

A Republican staff member warned congressional pages five years ago to watch out for Congressman Mark Foley, according to a former page.

Matthew Loraditch, [pictured above] a page in the 2001-2002 class, told ABC News he and other pages were warned about Foley by a supervisor in the House Clerk's office.

…

Pages report to either Republican or Democratic supervisors, depending on the political party of the member of Congress who nominate them for the page program.

Several Democratic pages tell ABC News they received no such warnings about Foley.

…

Loraditch runs the alumni association for the U.S. House Page Program, and he is deeply concerned about the future effects this scandal could have on a program that he sees as a valuable educational experience for teens.

Are Republicans keeping us safe? Not if you are a congressional page, and happen to be a Democrat.

“… and tell ’em Big Mitch sent ya!”