It wasn't that long ago that the same cast and crew who are now claiming to be misinformed, uninformed or in denial went to great and extraordinary lengths to interject themselves into my life.

Armed with factually-wrong information, innuendo and a partisan play book, Congress pontificated at length about their "moral authority" and how they "had to act" when it came to "saving" someone who did not want or ask for their help.

And we all remember that when it came to my private situation, these leaders in Congress acted swiftly - with blinding certainty and authority.

But in the Mark Foley affair, when the leaders of this Congress were armed with facts and a history of behavior that may go back for years, they were blind. When they actually had a moral and legal duty to protect children under their care, their "moral authority" was absent.

Is that just a coincidence?

It could be that, when it came to me and my family, leaders like Tom Reynolds and Tom Delay and Rick Santorum saw a chance for political gain. And when they looked at Mark Foley they saw something else - something that could actually cost them votes.

Or perhaps those leaders just weighed out the situation and determined that my rights as an American and my obligation to my family just aren't worth risking one of their seats in Congress.

No matter what the reason, nobody needs to be told how wrong that is. And to the benefit of the nation I am sure their self-interest and obvious hypocrisy will cost them more than one seat in Congress. Because to me, it's as simple as this: if you can act so quickly to "save Terri" why won't you act to protect children in your care?

That's something I may never understand.

And it hasn't escaped my attention either that most of the people on the Foley hot seat are the same ones who voted to put Congress in Terri's hospice. People like Tom Reynolds, Sue Kelly, Dennis Hastert, Don Sherwood, Mike Fitzpatrick, Mark Kirk and, yes, even Mark Foley voted to put the Congress in my personal life when they should have been looking at his.

If you want to see how your member of Congress voted, we have the list on the TerriPAC homepage - here.

And if you're a KOS reader you know I started TerriPAC to keep the issue of privacy and our freedoms in the public debate - even campaigning for and against specific candidates. If you've kept up with our progress, I've personally travelled throughout Florida, in Connecticut and Colorado.

And about two weeks ago, TerriPAC wrote more than $10,000 in PAC checks to congressional candidates in North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and elsewhere. To see who we're supporting across the country you can visit the TerriPAC Election Center - here.

You can be assured that this Foley debacle won't keep me off the campaign trail. To the contrary, I'm planning to spend a great deal of time in these final few weeks travelling to help good candidates win and make sure our leaders answer for their behavior - whether it's unwanted and illegal action directed at me or criminal inaction when it comes to Foley.

We're already booked for trips to Pennsylvania, Chicago and Miami and we have other stops in the works. As always, if you know of a campaign that needs our help, send an email to the PAC at Director@TerriPAC.com or call us at 1-800-TerriPAC.

We'll be on the road, doing our best to remind voters from sea to sea what's at stake this November. Please stop by our PAC site and give us a hand. The more help we get the more help we can be.

To me, as a former Republican, this election is about Iraq, it is about Mark Foley, it is about Katrina and it is about Terri. When this Congress gets it wrong, they really get it wrong. It's a very good thing we all get a chance to set it right.