The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is former Congressman Mark Foley. He gets the award for the following-

WASHINGTON — Mark Foley abruptly resigned from Congress on Friday, ending his political career amid a growing scandal involving his conduct with teenage boys.

After being confronted with a series of sexually explicit chat messages and e-mails he allegedly sent to congressional pages, Foley resigned within hours.

Rep. Mark Foley resigns over Internet contact with teens

Foley's district was shocked by the news. Republicans in Washington worried about losing Foley's seat and control of Congress. And GOP leaders in Florida scrambled to find a new candidate to run against Democrat Tim Mahoney, who instantly went from long shot to front-runner.

Meanwhile, Foley went into seclusion at his Washington townhouse facing the possibility that the scandal destroying his political career could result in further investigation of his conduct.

"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," Foley said in a statement released by his office.

Foley, 52, faxed his resignation to Gov. Jeb Bush at 3:41 p.m. and sent a copy to House Speaker Dennis Hastert.

ABC News has logs of some of the instant messages. They're disgusting.

I blogged about this news yesterday in this post.

Full Disclosure- I must tell that my wife has met the Congressman's parents but not Mark Foley himself. The Foleys were at one time parrishoners at the same Roman Catholic Church dear wife and I attend and where DW works as church receptionist.

This news is quite a shock because we actually liked Foley. His name had been mentioned in specuation for state-wide including the 2006 US Senate race. My wife wished he would have run for office so we could vote for him. Now Foley's life and career are in a shambles and we don't feel sorry for Foley, but do feel sorry for his parents who were active members of our church for many years.

Former Congressman Mark Foley is today's knucklehead of the day.

Others blogging on Mark Foley- Captain's Quarters, Michelle Malkin, Betsy, Stuck on the Palmetto, State of Sunshine, James Joyner at OTB,

Linked to- Bright & Early, Right Wing Nation, Stuck on Stupid, Blue Star, Jo's Cafe, Cao's Blog, Third World County, Right Wing Nation, Adam's Blog, TMH's Bacon Bits, Clash of Civilizations, Samantha Burns, Uncooperative Blogger, Is it Just me, Random Yak, Stop the ACLU, Church and State, Basil's Blog,