He died of natural causes. There usually isn't a choice in the matter. "Timing" is not the bummer, his death is.

I sure would hate to be an inside track Democrat and be asked to testify about a scandal they're trying to flame Republicans only for being a party to.

His death is yes a bummer but remember he's the one who had a relationship with a 17 year old male page and flew him to the middle east where it wasn't illegal to have sex with him.

He had to be up to his eyeballs in the know of how it still works so timing is very interesting.

If Studds were a Republican it would be all over the news with all kinds of conspiracy theories. Now say that isn't true!!

The timing is not "very interesting"! He died of natural causes and until the coroner can come up with a suicide or homicide conclusion, your comment is callous, rude and paranoid. Leave the dead out of your political rants. I don't find it amusing at all and I would imagine his family and friends do not either.

If it's a politician they've CHOSEN to be in the public eye.

He chose to be in everyone's face by his actions, flamboyance and defiance of laws. Until his death is long forgotten after the Foley issue has died down of its own accord he will remain fresh in everyone's mind. That's just the way it is in politics. He should have chosen another profession had he desired privacy.

I doubt that if Foley met the same fate he would have been defended so resoundingly. One acted on his desires with an underage page, the other is under investigation and there is not yet any proof that a crime has been committed. In time we'll know.

I didn't even know who Studds was before I read the link you provided. If you think I'm defending him you are sadly mistaken. However I will re-assert that it sounds like you are defending Foley and over a dead man's body. Had Foley died today I would give him the same respect. A human being's life transcends politics.

Do a bit more reading on him, Rick. He was a piece of work.   

Not defending Foley, but he is innocent of allegations he has NOT admitted to but being investigated for, until proven otherwise. Thank God we still have innocent until proven guilty in the US no matter how perverted a person's actions can be construed. Censure and condemnation YES, but conviction until or if charged/tried no.

Anyone who thinks the gay rumor mill doesn't run full blast no matter which party they're affiliated with doesn't know gays very well. From how the "velvet mafia" has been characterized it seems they're running things almost like the eunichs did the palace during the Ching dynasty.

Spelling correction Qing dynasty instead of Ching.

let's talk about republican jim kolbe. leave the dead alone.

People continue learning from the past, even from dead people. And that's true whether they were good guys like George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, or bad guys like Adolph Hitler or Gerry Studds. (How do you like that juxtaposition?)

People SHOULD be talking about Studds at this point in time, because the country in in the middle of a discussion about morality of congressman, and many people are interested in exposing hypocracy, so that we can all separate partisan politics from witchhunts. Just like it's important to separate valid concerns about Mark Foley from partisan attacks on the other Republicans.

Wanting to divert attention to Jim Kolbe is strange, because Gerry Studds was confirmed to have an inappororiate relationship with a page, and right now the Jim Kolbe thing is rumors. Emily, if you have some kind of inside track, and you know more about this than the media, I would love to hear about it.

Secondly, both acts happened 10 years ago. (Well, at least one did. The jury's still out on Kolbe.) Singling out Kolbe over a guy who was proud of having sex with a page is dumbfounding.

There are much better people than Gerry Studds to put up a fight over. On the other hand, we can learn a lot from his topical story right now.

Thank you for your sage comment, Todd. I believe in respecting the dead who respected their lives and the nation they served.

Couldn't find much on Kolbe so if anyone has more than inuendo and can put down some hard facts welcome them to use their own blog space to do so. Maybe they can take it point by point like Powerline and other bloggers did the Harry Reid land deal I posted on Todd's blog.

Only in step by step details, times, dates backed up by verifiable records can you get down to the truth.

Liberals should have learned Dan Rather's lesson long ago, but perhaps not.