CREW members say they turned copies over to the FBI in July. But they didn't turn them over to responsible authorities in the House (the page board, for example, or any one member of it), as they could have. From what I have read, Foley IMs, or at least the ones we have seen, probably wouldn't justify a prosecution under federal criminal law; that requires some act rather than just words.
But the House holds its members to higher standards than the criminal law. Democrats or their sympathizers can withhold information politically damaging to Republicans until a time when disclosure seems likely to do the most damage. It's an adversary system. But is it ethical to withhold information when its earlier disclosure might serve to protect young people from harassment? I should think not. That may not be a question for the ethics committee, if the withholders were not House members or staffers, but it should be a question for the press.
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This represents the next step of the investigation in my opinion....It could get very interesting.....
This is Plamegate all over again. Big media rant about nothing. The perpetrator has resigned. The rest is a witch hunt.
BTW, thank you for adding the parenthetical in the title to let us know this was a Michael Barone piece. I might not have read it otherwise.
and from post #279
There are three revisions of the Foley IMs authored by Jennifer J. Fitzgerald.
I still say this is going to end up splattering all over the dems face4s far more than it will depress repub voting. I'm just one person, but I'm madder than I was before over this alleged "PRANK" by Page members.
And .. the stories of a book deal is plenty of motivation for these young people to try to get the "goods" on Foley. Evidently, the Pages all knew about him and used that knowledge to mock and make fun of him. I'm not sure Foley deserved that treatment as much as he deserved to have been asked to resign much earlier in his career.
But .. bashing the GOP for not getting rid of Foley (when the GOP didn't know of the IMs) - look what the dems did with their info - they HELD THE SALACIOUS MATERIAL. They had more of a responsibility to bring it to the attention of the GOP - in order to protect the young people. BUT THE DEMS DIDN'T DO THAT - instead of protecting the young people, they held on to it to use to DEPRESS GOP VOTING.
So .. the truth about the dems has become crystal clear .. THEY ARE "NOT" FOR THE CHILDREN - AND THEY ARE EQUATING GAYS WITH BEING PEDOFILES. How about a backlash from the Gay community against the dems ..?? Funny .. nobody's talking about that.
I SURE HOPE WE ARE NOT STUPID ENOUGH TO FALL FOR THIS ATTEMPT TO SUPPRESS OUR VOTE - I know it now working for me.
It's scary how much I find my thoughts exactly matching Barone's, and not just on this issue.
That's one issue. The other issue -- the one that has to be addressed in the next couple of weeks -- is the dishonesty of withholding the key information while accusing opponents of a coverup. If we can get the public to understand this, the whole Foley thing will boomerang.
Bump.
Starting Monday... Investigate these closeted staffers **** The Left Outing GAYS on the RIGHT
Hope the National Republicans are watching this. This is a brilliant response.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1715525/posts?page=2
A Tale of Two Ads
The Weekly Standard ^ | 10/16/06 issue | William Kristol
Posted on 10/07/2006 2:40:27 PM CDT by AmericanExceptionalist
Repelled by former Republican congressman Mark Foley's sexual overtures to congressional pages and ex-pages, and by the House GOP leadership's alleged failure to move aggressively against him? Vote Democratic. Worried about the Demo crats' tendency to coddle jihadists? Vote Republican.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...