Posted on 10/01/2006 3:45:10 PM PDT by MSM Hater
Edited on 10/01/2006 4:03:57 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., requested Sunday that the Justice Department conduct an investigation into former Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record)'s electronic messages to teenage boys — a lurid scandal that has put House Republicans in political peril.
"As Speaker of the House, I hereby request that the Department of Justice conduct an investigation of Mr. Foley's conduct with current and former House pages to determine to what extent any of his actions violated federal law," Hastert wrote in a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
I think given the freeper in question had been around for some time, the three-day cooling off period was a fair approach. What Foley did skeeves me to the gills, and I'm not homophobic - but it is JUST PLAIN WRONG for any person in a position of power to do what he did. But it is also JUST PLAIN WRONG to call for him to off himself. Both pedophilia and suicide are violations of the Good Book.
I'm sure, and thanks txsleuth.
-PJ
I am just reading and lurking on this thread...all of the great minds, figuring this out...is fascinating.
Of course, the occasional troll is amusing (/s) as well..
Be sure to bookmark this thread. Valuable infor here.'
bump
Oh...........that was a LONG night.
Federal law? Probably not much.
And local laws are going to be iffy (DC's age of consent is 16) and these were emails, possible solitications but not even evidence of any meeting (as Scott Ritter did on several occassions with adults posing as minors).
I don't know what that says, but I have a feeling I would not want to call it down on my head :)
Dang. It *is* bad. :-( Foley is a complete pervo.
If it really turns out that the GOP leadership knew of this sicko's perversion and did nothing, I... I just don't know. Jeez.
Yes it is.
The first step was to get Foley out of the GOP. The second step was to figure out who knew what when -- for the children.
Once all the dots are connected and we know who all the players are, then we have to figure out the media spin. That is going to be a tough one. It appears that the Democrats have been scheming to make this happen, but without the right spin the Democrats will not have this as a weapon.
They can't go after the leadership's slow response on Foley without exposing their own past and present members, or else they'll have to play the "that was then and this is now" card or the "you don't excuse bad behavior by pointing to other bad behavior" card (which also exposes their members).
It is interesting that it is Nancy Pelosi (but not Barney Frank) who is fronting for the Democrats. Yes, I know she's the minority leader, but her San Francisco district considers what Foley did to be the ordinary course of relationships. What do her constituents feel about the strong position she's taking now, as if she's aghast at Foley's behavior?
If they go after the leadership anyway, they'll have to explain how the leadership acted any differently from several respected media outlets that acted in exactly the same way. It would be interesting to see if those media outlets defend the GOP leadership or try to play some "different standards of quality" card. I wouldn't bank on their credibilty if they choose to go the latter route.
Then there is the threat to the gay lobby that the Democrats have to consider. Are they going to argue that only Republican gays are dangerous? Can they go full-force after Foley's preying on Pages while simultaneously defending gay teachers and boy scout leaders? Wouldn't that be arguing that Congressmen are MORE dangerous than everyday people?
And what will all of this mean for the various Defense of Marriage initiatives across the states? Will this undermine the Democrats' opposition to that?
The Democrats have to realize that they would be walking a very fine high-wire if they play this wrong. What will they do?
What will they do?
-PJ
-PJ
But worth it if it turns out that we helped steer the story onto the right track in the end.
-PJ
What they always do. Engage in rank hypocrisy and pretend no one notices.
I am glad to see this.
I haven't read through the thread, but it takes an offensive rather than defensive stance on this. Good.
But worth it if it turns out that we helped steer the story onto the right track in the end.
Now I'm getting the feeling that we might have "suckered" the Democrats into biting the "it put children at risk by delaying" bait, now that it seems that CREW was really behind all this as a smear attempt to drive Republicans out of Congress.
Let's see them wiggle out of that one, for the children.
-PJ
My pleasure. You're welcome. :-)
-PJ
After reading through all of the information on this issue, I am inclined to think this is not the case. Be patient. Take your time.
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