Mark and Ed Foley plus the MSM

The latest Mark Foley news-

Mourning the death of his father, former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley has returned to Palm Beach County to find himself the focus of a state criminal investigation.

During a preliminary inquiry, Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigators found enough evidence to justify a full-fledged investigation into whether Foley broke any laws during his Internet exchanges with former congressional pages, agency spokeswoman Heather Smith said.

"Our focus is on incidents which may have occurred in Florida with regard to inappropriate communications between Mr. Foley and former House pages," Smith said, although she couldn't say specifically what triggered the shift.

State criminal investigations usually entail interviews with suspects and witnesses, subpoenas, reviews of documents and examination of seized property, Smith said.

A spokesperson for the FBI, which is also looking at Foley's messages, couldn't be reached for comment on whether the shift in the Florida investigation will affect its probe.

Maybe the police are co-operating together. That's been known to happen. If Foley potentially broke any Florida laws. FDLE should be investigating.

Rick at SOTP thinks Foley won't get anymore than a slap on the hand. I'm not as certain. The Post article went on to say-

Foley's 85-year-old father, Ed Foley, died Tuesday after a battle with cancer. Foley arrived in South Florida Wednesday with plans to attend his father's funeral, a source close to the family said.

The 52-year-old former congressman kept a low profile Wednesday and Thursday, although a television station showed footage of him Thursday outside the Palm Beach home of his longtime partner, Dr. Layne Nisenbaum.

The Lake Worth native had not been seen publicly since he checked into a 30-day alcohol recovery program at an Arizona rehab center on Oct. 1, just days after resigning from Congress amid the disclosure of his sexually explicit Internet messages to congressional pages. He extended his stay at the A-list center, Sierra Tucson, at least once, isolating himself from the national furor.

Foley and his family have made no public comments, but his attorney released a statement on the family's behalf Thursday asking for privacy while they grieve Ed Foley's death.

A visitation is scheduled Friday, and the funeral will take place Saturday.

I've discussed with Dear wife if we will attend the funeral. She met the Foleys(Not Mark though) when they were parishioners at the church we attend and where Dear Wife works. We also know the pastor of the church where the mass will be held.

If I attend the funeral, I'm going as a private citizen. There will be no blogging about it. I'm more likely to be attending this tomorrow instead.

Will the Foleys get the privacy they request tomorrow? I talked to a friend at the Post today and she said there would be a reporter there. If TFM had to guess, I suspect their will be both television and print media outside the church.

Bob at The Daily Pulp wrote-

Channel 5 in WPB got the first images of Foley, which were taken outside the home of longtime partner Layne Nisenbaum, since the scandal broke. Today there will be a visitation and tomorrow the funeral will be held at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church (with such an emphasis on the false ideal of immaculate conception, which implies there is something wrong with actual conception, it’s really no wonder there’s so much gay perv shit going on in the Catholic hierarchy).

Foley’s attorney, of course, is asking for privacy for the family. So here’s a question: How does the media handle the funeral? Do reporters go and question people — including Foley if they get a chance — outside the church? Do they just stake it out and get images? Or do they leave it alone altogether?

My bet is that the vast majority of the media will be respectful. Why? Because they know the former congressman himself isn’t going to talk and they recognize that the funeral itself is barely news. They’ll set up across the street from the church. If the family is smart, it will send the lawyer or a spokesman over to answer questions. When it’s over, the media hordes will play it by ear. Ideally they’ll already have sources who they can ask about the service well after it’s over. If they don’t and need quotes, well, that’s when every bit of tact and common sense they have needs to come into play.

This is a weird brew. We’ll see what happens.

The less said about Bob's inaccurate diatribe against Catholicism the better.

What I said in Bob's comments section still holds-

What’s the news about the funeral anyway? Its a mass for Ed Foley not about Mark Foley. The media should be respectful of that.

*****

What will happen at that mass is what happens at any such mass for the dead. Friends and family come to mourn the person who died. These masses are held every day in Palm Beach County and around the world. Is any of this really news?

The MSM is only there hoping there hoping someone lashes out at them. Much like people who watch car races just for the crashes. Tells you something about the MSM's mindset. What do you think?

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