by DemFromCT
The Independent, from overseas, has a nice summary of the Republican leadership scramble over the Foley scandal.
he abrupt resignation of a Florida congressman caught sending sexually explicit computer messages to teenage pages at the House of Representatives has developed into a full-blown Republican Party scandal with senior party leaders accusing each other of knowing about the e-mails for months and doing nothing about them.
Within hours of the departure of Mark Foley, a lawmaker from the Palm Beach area dogged for years by rumours about his sexuality, the party of "family values" turned on itself in an unseemly sequence of denials, accusations and counter-accusations in which the party's top leaders appeared frantic to save their own political skins.
The furore has sucked in the Speaker, the Majority Leader and the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, all of whom are now in the firing line just a few weeks before next month's pivotal mid-term elections.
By tonight, everyone and her dog is calling for a criminal investigation.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert requested Sunday that the Justice Department conduct an investigation into former representative Mark Foley's electronic messages to teenage boys - a lurid scandal that has put House Republicans in political peril... The White House and Democratic leaders in Congress also called Sunday for a criminal probe.
Meanwhile one of the more overtly political analyses comes from none other than Mark Halperin (he of the Note):
With just five weeks to go before a critical midterm election that will determine which party controls Congress and the fate of the last two years of the Bush presidency, the resignation of Republican Florida Congressman Mark Foley has the potential to shake up a volatile electorate and tilt the advantage to the Democrats.
Ya think? Here's one reason why:
Hastert is through. ABC is reporting that not only did GOP staff know about Foley in 2001-2002, but some people in that class got predatory emails from Foley. And don't forget, the instant message chat from 2003 and the emails from 2005 would never have happened had they dealt with Foley in 2001 when they knew about it.
Take this instant message exchange between Foley and yet another child, AFTER the GOP already knew he was trouble, AFTER the GOP had already warned children to stay away from him.
I'd say the GOP has a problem. As to the Dem response, from CSM:
Democratic Party response
The Democratic Party is reportedly considering a quick ad campaign focusing
on family values. Of all the scandals hurting the Republicans this fall -
three GOP members have already been indicted for corruption - the page
scandal is the easiest to understand. Few issues grab voters with children
more than a scandal involving a member of Congress and an underage child,
and the appearance of a coverup.
This is moving rather fast and furious.
Mark Halperin is the best rebuttal to anyone who pretends the press is liberal. Today he had a two-fer: an op-ed in the Times extolling the genius of the GOP goose-the-base-on-terror strategy (at that point, he seemed certain they'd win with it), and an appearance on World News Tonight where he called Matt Drudge the Walter Cronkite of our time. So, that comment you cite is actually his wisest remark of the day.
I have a sense the Republican party right now is like a person who's gone untreated for cancer for years, and now finds corrupted cells popping up everywhere they turn. This scandal is a bit like the Plame scandal: our side didn't need it -- we were doing great regardless -- but it can only help our effort...maybe enough to turn this into a legendary election.
Posted by: demtom | October 01, 2006 at 22:31
How bad is it, This bad:
That never happens.
Posted by: DemFromCT | October 01, 2006 at 23:09
The big hit would be if media pressure got Hastert and Boehner to resign. Not expecting it as I assume the Repubs will be marshalling their obfuscation team. Specially getting Gonzales in the picture to do the "investigation" which would mean cover-up.
Posted by: ab initio | October 01, 2006 at 23:51
Listen, this is a "win" for Republicans. See, an election is coming up in a few weeks and, true to form, the cut-and-run Democrats are politicizing things. That's their knee-jerk response to virtually ANYTHING that happens. The rock-solid Republican base will see this for what it is, and will come out in record-shattering numbers to defeat these Democrats, who are so eager to embolden Bin Laden's followers with treasonous talk of pulling out of Iraq. They are just trying to cause a scandal to take attention away from the fact that the price of gas has FALLEN, or haven't you noticed? You know, it's sickening how these Democrats act.
Posted by: John Palcewski | October 02, 2006 at 04:07
John Palcewski is right
why do we hate Amurikkka ???
if were so liberal and tolerant, why can't we just shup up and enjoy the ride ???
only a pessimist would focus on the fact that we just went off a cliff
look on the bright side
we're going to hell, but we're doing so at record speed
and we didn't have to stop and ask directions either (NASCAR Nation will like that little tidbit)
Posted by: freepatriot | October 02, 2006 at 06:03
Thus far the time lines of known communications that were [without question] unsavory, favor the Republican leadership.
The bad stuff has only surfaced (according to what is known) recently. Yes, some of the Pages themselves did know about bad communications for say about 5 years, but they practiced a conspiracy of silence designed to further their own careers, and protect their reputations and Foley's as well. Most really liked the guy. This is according to their statements.
The Pages seem secure in their domitory arrangements, and seemed to be watched and checked on carefully, and had strict curfews, and not by Foley.
Thus far there is no indication of sexual meetings or encounters between Foley and the Pages. He may have just discovered the "pleasure of the cyber encounter" and got caught up in it. This kind of thing usually leads to a physical encounter. We can only hope nothing like that happened.
The problem for the Republican Leadership is the "taint." All Republicans will suffer, but the Leadership has responsibility. Just like the prison in Iraq. [[It is not enough to not know.]] My father and brothers say that Command and Leadership requires that you broadcast your standards and expectations to your men. You ask if there is something you should know. You state the kind of behavior you expect.
Personally I like what Donald Trump said last year. ~Hire good people and then watch them.~
Barring some revelation that a Republican (other than Foley) knew about BAD, BAD communications earlier than very recently, the Republican Party as a whole will weather this crisis. However the momentum and direction of the taint, even though it will be dampened by time, will carry it to Election Day.
I expect one or both of the Legislature Branches to go Democrat, or at least be lost to Republican control. [Unlike a lot here, I hadn't expected that until this happened.] All the books not withstanding.
AGAIN OF COURSE, THE WAY THINGS ARE GOING IN THIS EXCITING 6 MONTH LEADIN TO THE MIDTERMS, SOMETHING BIG AND BAD MAY HAPPEN TO THE DEMOCRATS. HOWEVER THE REPUBLICANS SEEM TO HAVE STOREd UP ALL SORTS OF LIGHTING TO STRIKE THEM. Maybe there wasn't enough to go around and the Democrats will be unscathed.
Oh, and Foley has checked himself into an alcohol treatment program in FL.
Posted by: Jodi | October 02, 2006 at 06:29
"Barring some revelation that a Republican (other than Foley) knew about BAD, BAD communications earlier than very recently, the Republican Party as a whole will weather this crisis."
If the media exercise the same degree of lapdog-style restraint they have been w.r.t. the G.O.P. in the recent past, then that is possible. But there are all sorts of hints that your damage assessment is based on what is so far a successful cover up, but one that might not last. The timing of the "donation" from Foley's committee to Reynolds/NRCC, the blatant contradictions emerging in the G.O.P. congressional accounts, and the persistent stories that Foley's m.o. was known one two or five years earlier. But beyond Shimkus and those others who are likely to be implicated in covering this up, there is the issue of hypocrisy. Remember John Major? If memory serves, the scandals involving his administration were so toxic simply because they proved that the moral high ground they kept bragging about was actually built on very trashy landfill. And that's what Foley's story brings home in a very direct and simple way. That's why I think that this is likely to have more resonance -- again, depending on the degree to which the media continues to report it.
Any word on Foley being born again?
Posted by: MarkC | October 02, 2006 at 07:53
That argument won't fly. There are too many angry lower feed chain Rs demanding investigation and or resignation from leadership if involved (Chris Shays, Peter King, e.g.). They're doing so because they're all going to get hammered by the Ds running aganst them, who are all today going to demand an investigation and paint their R opponents as protecting a predator if they don't (that's not a guess, it started yesterday).
The Catholic Church scandal also sets precedent here. This will not go away so easily.
Over the next week, the story is whether there is an active and timly investigastion. Anyone blocking it is putting their head in a political (and ethical) noose.
Posted by: DemFromCT | October 02, 2006 at 08:23
And checking into an alcohol treatment center does not one wit for Foley. Alcoholism does not cause a desire to have sex with minors. That predilection has to be there before the alcohol. It's actually a diversion from the real problem. Sex addicts need treatment for sex addiction, specifically. He needs offender treatment and obviously is hoping to not need to own his behavior. Minimize, deny and blame. Today he blames it on alcohol. Not a good sign for treatment as far as I am concern.
Posted by: Peacerme | October 02, 2006 at 08:38
Yes, John Palcewski is right.
Republicans consider child molestation a "win." Tell everyone you know!
Posted by: Kagro X | October 02, 2006 at 09:05