Are they children?

AJ at Strata Sphere makes the following comment:

Up front let me say this: I could care less if Foley is gay. If he went after children that is something for law enforcement to deal with. And I think whoever this Mike Rogers “outs” could be gay or not - Rogers sees gays everywhere he looks. Why he is so obsessed is beyond me. Maybe he needs it to fight back his internal insecurities. Whatever. Many others have been doing excellent reporting on this, and we need to know if this was a setup piece by people in Foley’s office on personal agendas. That is my interest. Were children abused and/or was this story planted. I agree with Michelle and have said the same from day one - if Foley was a child predator then lock him up. I do disagree with Michelle on one point - if dems hid this for political gain they allowed a predator to run loose and risked children.

Is a 16 year old a child? And if so, should they be driving or for that matter hanging out at the Capitol without a babysitter? If the age of consent is 16 then can we call this child abuse? It is creepy maybe, but is it a crime? Are these young people no more capable of being responsible for themselves than a grade schooler?

The panel tonight on Brit Hume talked about this. Will it hurt Republicans in the midterm? The consensus was that it sure would not help them. I would say that over reacting to the whole thing will hurt them as much as the incident itself. Maybe it is just election jitters but people need to get a grip.