It seems like only yesterday that the front pages of every newspaper in the country were dripping with headlines about Washington sex scandals.  Oh wait…that was yesterday.  Let me be more specific.  I’m referring to the Oval Office circa 1998 when then-president Clinton found himself the subject of a year-long investigation surrounding accusations of sexual misconduct and perjury. 

There were many unfortunate consequences of the scandal, individually and politically.  Among the latter, and perhaps overshadowed by other surrounding issues, was that the story diverted Washington’s attention (not the least of which was the White House’s) from pressing Foreign Policy concerns.  This distraction occurred in two different ways.  First, it took up an incredible amount of time and resources.  Instead of meeting with foreign policy officials, the President was meeting with lawyers.  Instead of taking a delegation to Eastern Europe, he was taking the witness stand.  You get the point.  Second is that the events drove the wedge been Democrats and Republicans even deeper into the aisle.  The word “Liberal” was to “Immorality” as “Conservative” was to “Witch Hunt.”  And of course, we all member speculation about whether the White House was “wagging the dog.”

Almost a decade later, the circle of life on Capitol Hill has come…well, full-circle, landing this time in the office of Congressman Foley.  In all fairness, it isn’t his fault that Washington is still waking up to the sound of a Republican alarm clock with an Abramoff-DeLay hangover.  But while recent Republican scandals have all but demanded skepticism and mistrust from fellow Republicans and Democrats alike, Foley’s behavior has no excuses and the public deserves to know.

So, here we are again:  a capital divided by mistrust and counter-attacks at a time when we need to be united.  I admit that Foley’s resignation will not have nearly the affect on our foreign policy as, say, Clinton’s investigation did (and removal would have).  But that’s not the point.  It still poses a substantial distraction, particularly with elections only a month away, that draws attention from political matters that are quite frankly more important.  I predict that on the upcoming months’ campaign trails, we’ll here as much about House Pages as we will about Immigration or Nuclear Non-proliferation.  While I can’t blame incumbents or prospectives for trying to win their races, it is disconcerting for me to see where the focus is.

Ironically, Capitol Hill is not the only forum to come full circle from the Clinton Administration; some of the same issues our leaders faced then still haunt us today.  Towards the end of Clinton’s first term he made significant headway with North Korea and nuclear non-proliferation negotiations.  At the time, those talks seemed in many ways successful and progressive, but they also represent a failed opportunity to bring total security to the region; North Korea clearly never really abandoned their goals.  The same could be said, I think, of Clinton’s dealings with Israel and Palestine –  he skillfully crafted the Oslo Accord early on in his presidency, as he did the Wye River Memorandum in his second term.  But both ultimately failed, arguably due to a lack of attention and diplomacy at critical times.  I cannot and do not put the blame for our current lack of security in Asia and the Middle East squarely on President Clinton.  I simply point out that the man was a skilled negotiator and had the resources to effectuate progress.  Yet his second term was mired by personal distractions and a plummeting image that, perhaps without such, he might have been able to see his efforts in foreign diplomacy through to a more complete and permanent resolution.

Today our nation’s Capitol faces some of the same issues at home and abroad.  We are still haunted by North Korea and the Middle East, and our scandals have moved from the White House to Cannon.  Congress has an enormous responsibility right now, as always, to influence foreign policy both directly (through its committees and caucuses) and indirectly (with the purse and the public).  Let Foley be prosecuted and let us move on.  Now is the time for our President, along with Majority and Minority leaders to reign in the focus on more urgent matters that should be permeating our halls.  We cannot afford anymore missed opportunities.          

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