As the former page was exchanging suggestive comments with the 52-year-old Congressman on Instant Messenger, the boy suddenly wrote, “my mom is yelling.” He had to go do his homework, a book report for English class.

That’s it, right there. That’s why Americans are so outraged about the failure of the House Republican leadership to prevent Rep. Mark Foley from preying on the youngsters who work in the Capitol. These are kids. The adults who run Congress are supposed to protect them, not exploit them, and they failed miserably.

This is not just one more scandal about consenting adults behaving badly over money or sex, or one more untidy “mess” about “naughty e-mails,” as White House press spokesman Tony Snow so stupidly described it. This one has really touched a nerve among American parents, and that’s why it could jeopardize Republican control of the Congress this fall.

Sample the comments on the Web site of ABC, which broke the story, and you understand the passions that have been stirred up. “I’ve been a Republican all my life and so has been my family for generations,” wrote NRALover. “The GOP knew for years and did nothing to protect our children ... heaven forbid we leave these (expletive) in control any longer.”