October 01, 2006


Downfall?

It's kind of sad (but no it really doesn't bother me) that the downfall of the congressional republicans won't be because of their utter malfeasance in running the nation into massive generational debt, or allowing the executive to create a near-dictatorship, or ceding virtually their entire function to a few well-paid, highly influential money changers...it'll be the politician caught not-quite in-bed with a live boy.

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) was notified early this year of inappropriate e-mails from former representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to a 16-year-old page, a top GOP House member said yesterday -- contradicting the speaker's assertions that he learned of concerns about Foley only last week.

Hastert did not dispute the claims of Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), and his office confirmed that some of Hastert's top aides knew last year that Foley had been ordered to cease contact with the boy and to treat all pages respectfully.
...
Republicans appeared to have kept the matter under wraps. Rep. Dale E. Kildee (Mich.), the only Democrat on the House Page Board, said yesterday: "I was never informed of the allegations about Mr. Foley's inappropriate communications with a House page, and I was never involved in any inquiry into this matter."

Seems like the republicans wanted to keep their prospective "Jimmy Swaggart Moment" member a state secret. Not that any Democratic member of the Page Board would ever make a matter like that part of the public discussion... nuh uh.

You have to wonder given the "Jefferson" precedent whether they'd be able to search Foley's computers at home and his (former) office for "interesting" pictures and information. I seriously doubt he's smart enough to know how to delete stuff so that it stays deleted. Most users just think that erasing a file is the end of it.

"As the author of laws designed to protect children on the Internet, I was appalled at the recent revelations that a member of Congress engaged in reprehensible behavior toward young people connected to the congressional page program," said Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.). "Congress should thoroughly investigate this matter and, in cooperation with law enforcement authorities, support all proper legal action."
Of course he's shocked that there's gambling at Rick's. Proper legal action in republicanland means "swept under the rug", following accusations of some sort of Demcratic malfeasance a generation or more ago. I wonder if this time that ju-jitsu will succeed.

posted by Jo Fish on 10.01.06 at 03:26 PM





Comments:

Jo, within an hour of the announcement his House web site was down and I'll guarantee they have reformatted the hard drives in his office.

The Clerk of the House had his name on the resignations page before the echoes from the press conference had died.

The guy was a "champion" of protecting children, so he was probably been given briefings on computer forensics and would know how to really delete a hard drive.

 posted by: Bryan on 10.01.06 at 06:41 PM [permalink]

Well, it certainly has been an interesting week, one in which the Fascist Party congressional leadership has demonstrated a complete lack of Jeffersonianism, Washingtonianism. or even Americanism.

First they grovel to a severely psychologically damaged human to ensure he is able to assume total dictatorial powers. And they defend it, of course, as being done solely to "defend America." Constitution, meet trashcan.

Then we learn they have entered into a conspiracy of silence and complete abrogation of not only the responsibilities of elected representatives, but also the responsibilities of honorable men, by secretly hiding a party member's crimes from the public.

The parallels to Post-Weimar Germany just keep getting more and more evident, don't they?

posted by: Lurch on 10.01.06 at 06:45 PM [permalink]

Hey, they got Capone for tax evasion, not murder, but the inside of his cell didn't look any different.

It would be nice if Americans rose up as one and, through their legislatures, demanded the impeachment of every congresscritter who voted for torture. But if this works instead, I'll take it.

 posted by: Lex on 10.02.06 at 08:33 AM [permalink]

This story has a thousand tentacles. Hastert, Boehner, Shimkus, Reynolds. Many Republicans in the House need to check their backsides to see if they are on fire. And if they aren't on fire, then the Democrats need to set them on fire in all of the campaigns. Between ABramoff and Foley and others, the Republicans have proven themselves thoroughly corrupt in every way imaginable. Okay, so we knew they were, but maybe now more people know than just us.

 posted by: DBK on 10.02.06 at 11:27 AM [permalink]

Wait for it, the first shoe has just dropped. Foley is in rehab as I type, apparently it was the alcohol that made him do it and Hastert is calling for investigation. How soon will someone from the camp of the power brokers fall on their sword for the party?

 posted by: carson on 10.02.06 at 02:06 PM [permalink]

Alcohol made him do it? I've been plenty drunk in my time and never had a craving for teenage boys. White Castle, maybe, but never teenage boys.

This is one thing the Democratic Party has going for us: We don't have this kind of awful closet case.

posted by: tony on 10.03.06 at 08:48 AM [permalink]

He's now blamed the booze, the evil liberals and the Catholic Church. The Party of Personal Responsibility. Right.

 posted by: merlallen on 10.04.06 at 08:57 AM [permalink]


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