Hastert briefing raises more questions

He just keeps saying they 'fixed the border'. ?!?!

You know, all this about Foley...Blah,Blah,Blah..
but what I find really interesting is that Hastert feels they have solved the border problem. I can't even fathom what is going on in his mind. A 700 mile fence on a 2500 mile border that hasn't even been funded yet. OK here's a bandaid all better! These politicians obviously hold a low opinion of our intelligence. But then...we voted them in, didn't we?

Hastert has a navy vet running against him. There is a lot more info coming out now three more Pages have come out. The Republican ruuning are saying no thank you to him coming in support of them. The Leadership seat were safe but now Democrats are ahead in the new polls just ran. This statement of Hastert will keep this in the news until the end of the race. Heres a link to the vet running

http://www.john06.com

The scary thing about J.Dennis Hastert is that the right wingnuts that live in his distict will probably keep voting for him.

The man has yet to explain his dealings with Jack Abramoff, the same dealings that convicted Bob Ney,and are in the process of doing the same to Tom Delay.

Now,he is caught covering up for a Sexual Predator/Pedophile,in order maintain a Republican majority in the House.

Mr.Hastert,you may have been an honorable man when you were first elected to the House,unfortunatly for the people of Illinois,and the rest of the Country,you are now no better than the late Richard M. Nixon.

Please resign,and spare the State of Illinois anymore embarrassment.

Mr.Hastert,we have enough patisan political hacks in Washington already,you and George W. Bush give knew meaning to the word INEPT.

Ray LaHood thinks there's two other Repub congressmen who may be linked to the same kind of behavior or worse. We're talking about Repub kids working for Repub congressmen. Kids who probably thought about political careers one day. Hastert is surprised there's a Repub staffer who blew his button downed coverup.

That phone line sounds to me like they're trying sniff out who sprung that leak, and also a way to contact any kid who's even thinking about spilling any more beans to keep his yap shut. Additionally they can quiz these kids to try and build a case that it's a Dem plot. By Monday they'll probably hold presser with a bunch of kids who say they were called by CREW or Lux or the Trib to "prove" it's all a liberuuul media/Dem plot to destroy the Republican party.

This Foley story has run it's course and now it's telling us all,that the democratic party was behind this. It's going to back-fire on them because it shows they have nothing to run on,except gay bashing.
Where as, with the Republican Party,we have the stock market breaking records,low interest rates,low taxes,higher income per family,a robust economy,very,very low unemployment and safety at home.
Sorry lefties,no free government cheese anymore.
Paulo

I wasn't going to vote this November. Then I heard Sean Hannity on the radio ask a congressman for Texas if there might be a backlash against the Democrats because of the Foley controversy. This was after I heard Rep. Ray LaHood blame the children involved - apparently for being too tempting. And previous to that, I had heard Rep. Dennis Hastert blame the media.

I cannot imagine not voting now.

My only concern is how Diebold will count my vote. But that's not really a major concern at all. Because even if Diebold rejects all of our valid ballots or turns all of our votes into Republican votes like they did the last few times, America still wins.

It wins because the people will still be angry. And when the people are angry, things happen. They may not happen immediately, but they happen when our children die because the "last-to-know" Congress refuses to oversee progress on the war in Iraq. They happen when people like Rep. Foley and his friend, Rep. Tom DeLay, are outed as non-Christians. They happen when guys like Mike "You're Doing a Hell of a Job" Brown(ie) look like deer caught in headlights after another miserable performance.

America can survive these bozos and the rest of the circus in the Republican tent. And that's why America wins.

Rather than blame ABC for breaking the story, shouldn't Hastert be THANKING ABC for letting him know what's going on in his own Congress?

This "last-to-know" Congress is unbelievable. They are the last to know the details on every major issue since 2000. They ought to get off the golf course once in a while and do a little oversight so that they can keep their pulse on what's going on in the world rather than on who's still pumping money into their coffers.

I find Mr. Hastert's comments to the Tribune alleging that there's some type of conspiracy between ABC News, George Soros, and Bill Clinton to somehow discredit the GOP confusing. When Hastert was asked about those comments at today's press briefing he responded that he was only saying what he had read in the press. To my knowledge the only story in the press about such a conspiracy with those named people . . . was the Tribune article quoting Mr. Hastert.

As to Mr. Hastert's comments that "the buck stops here" - it would seem that the buck first needs to get passed, many times, between many different people before he would acknowledge any responsibility. His proclamations of responsbility seemed to be equally countered by his attempts to lay blame elsewhere. Mr. Hastert, either you are Harry Truman or you aren't - one can't invoke Mr. Truman's legacy and then begin pointing fingers.

I don't think Mr. Hastert is the sort of fellow that would knowingly protect a child predator for political advantage, but until such time as the GOP leadership steps up to the plate and really acknowledges what seems to have taken place it would appear that GOP = Guarding Our Pedophiles. They need to take a lot more action to dissuade us of that notion. THAT would be a true family value.

If the head of CREW knew to send the E-mails to the FBI right away...why wouldn't the people writing the laws know that they were more than "Naughty"? Why didn't the FBI seal his office last Friday and request all communications from his office? Why did they wait until Wednesday??? That's what I would like to know. Anyone else would be hauled off immediately.

QUESTION: How were the emails characterized? Were they overly friendly? Not only as the speaker but as a former teacher and coach? Did that not ring any alarms for you?

HASTERT: We were advised in our office and then the clerk's office and then to the chairman of the Page Board that there was a Katrina message—period. We knew of no other e-mails that we, that in that system, there were no other e-mails other than that one that I know of.

And we didn't even have the e-mail because the parents didn't want to give the e-mail out. They said, 'Stop it.' You know, the guy who I asked to do that job a long time ago is John Shimkus. John Shimkus is an Army Ranger. He's a tough guy. He goes right to the point when there's a problem. He confronted the member and the member said he would stop doing that. Asked if there was any other messages, he said, 'No.' I said, 'Don't do it again.' You know, that's what we did. The parents were happy and you know, could we have done it better, could the Page Board have handled it better—in retrospect, probably yes. But at that time, what we knew and what we acted upon was what we had.

WOW!!! what an answer.

Does congress attract these types or create them? Here is another egotistical pure politician with the moral compass of a prostitute. Mr. Hastert thinks he is smarter than the rest of us so he can lie his way out of anything. It looks like a few staff members will get thrown under the bus and the Hasterts of this mess will try to hang on until the story goes away.

I hope no Democrat is going out of their way to spy on Republicans to get an in as to their strategy, because it's a broken record.
Deny there's a problem.
Spin the whole matter, water it down, talk on Limbaugh, talk on Fox.
Blame the real problem; Democrats, biased media, Clinton & liberals.

There's been a lot of talk about Hastert being a family man, & former wrestling coach. Someone who was a coach at a high school should have been far more proactive at the time he suspected something was up with Foley.

But maybe he was too busy trying to pin this on Democrats.

A fence? We're supposed to be happy about a damn fence? Who cares? A rope, a grappling hook and a pair of wire cutters takes care of your $100million fence. Unless you have the resources to patrol and monitor your stupid fence, you might as well appropriate the money for a victory party when you complete the fence and "stop illegal immigration altogether". What really goes on in the mind of Congresmen?

Wonder if DeLay is STILL pulling Hasterts' strings?? Everything Hastert said yesterday was classic CYA - republican style.....He's only a republican butt-boy...has no original thoughts and only follows orders......

How long are we going to stand for this kind of whitewash???

When Hastert said that Republicans "fixed the border", he's making a reference to Lucky, Shimkus's 6-month old border collie puppie.

They had him fixed a few weeks ago, after a bipartisan vote. Democrats thought Lucky should be put out to stud, while the GOP argued that the Biblical injunction to be fruitful and multiply only applied to hominids -- men and apes, which in itself was a surprising departure for them.

That good ol' Denny Hastert has bumbled his way into trying unsuccessfully to conceal this scandal does not surprise me at all.

I guess what surprises me the most about this whole situation is that Foley is a Gay REPUBLICAN! Why would he or anyone join a Party whose members and supporters seem to hate Gays?

If Dennis Hastert were a high school principal, and he'd failed to take proper action upon first learning of the first e-mails (as Hastert failed to do,) he would be fired and nobody would question that decision.
Instead, Hastert runs to the Rush Limbaugh show and blames the Democrats, and most shockingly of all, blames the victims.
Only when that tactic didn't produce the desired results did he switch directions and feebly claim to accept responsibility.
When Dennis Hastert said, referring to his own actions, that "the buck stops here," Harry Truman began spinning in his grave.

Hey Paulo, have you finished that reading homework yet? I don’t think so, or by now you might be able to attempt a half way intelligent comment. Let’s see, you think this “Republican scandal” is getting to be old news (a week old), but you constantly refer to the “Clinton scandal” (eight years old), and you think anyone here would take you seriously? You should get back to reading “My Little Pony”, and stop reminding us of how the educational system has failed you.

"This Foley story has run it's course and now it's telling us all,that the democratic party was behind this. It's going to back-fire on them because it shows they have nothing to run on,except gay bashing.
Where as, with the Republican Party,we have the stock market breaking records,low interest rates,low taxes,higher income per family,a robust economy,very,very low unemployment and safety at home.
Sorry lefties,no free government cheese anymore.
Paulo"

This is the kind of attitude that scares me the most. THIS IS NOT ABOUT IDEOLOGIES!!!

I don't care what side of the aisle you are on, if someone is going after children, in ANY way, they need to be dealt with. Even if there was no evidence of "explicit" language in the first emails, it should have been looked into. Sweeping under the rug is not taking care of it. Most law enforcement people would tell you that the original, non-explicit emails, were very bothersome and warranted further investigation.

So, I don't care if it's Dems or Replubs, it should have been investigated. The fact that the Republicans have been in control the entire time to me, means they are responsible.

And the fact that they run on family values and protection issues and then don't do a damn thing about this makes it that much more sickening.

Sam

I'M HASTER FAN THRU AND THRU. I THANK HIM FOR ALL THAT HE HAS DONE FOR ILLINOIS. BUT NOW MR. SPEAKER YOU MUST EITHER RESIGN THE POST OR RESIGN THE SEAT. WHAT THE REPUBLICANS DID WAS COVER UP. HE KNEW, HE DID NOTHNG ABOUT IT. HE BUSY TRYING TO FIND THE LEAK.AND NOT WHO COVERED IT UP.

I'M HASTER FAN THRU AND THRU. I THANK HIM FOR ALL THAT HE HAS DONE FOR ILLINOIS. BUT NOW MR. SPEAKER YOU MUST EITHER RESIGN THE POST OR RESIGN THE SEAT. WHAT THE REPUBLICANS DID WAS COVER UP. HE KNEW, HE DID NOTHNG ABOUT IT. HE BUSY TRYING TO FIND THE LEAK.AND NOT WHO COVERED IT UP.

Paulo--ever hear of the Iraq war?

Three words:

Closeted Gay Republicans.

Capitol Hill is full of them, and they'll bury Denny so this investigation doesn't uncover any more of them.

It's All in the Polls , and It Ain't Good for the GOP
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/opinion/erbeblog/archive/061006/its_all_in_the_polls_and_it_ai.htm

Anybody know if Fox News has ceased and desisted from referring to Mark Foley as a Fla. Democrat?

Talk about right wing agitprop. Perfect way to convince the ditto heads that comprise their audience that, yeah, it was all the Democrats fault.

And even if they have stopped, the damage may be done. There are millions of Fox viewers that believe it.

Ah, that fair and balanced slimy turd, Hannity,

So it's a Republican thing! The Democrats should remember Democratic congressman Gerry Studds whoa actually had sex with a 17 year old male page (the age of majority is 18 in most states). He not only was not censured but was reelected and served for 13 more years during a time when the Dems contolled congress.
The level of hypocrisy is carried by the senders of vitriolic messages that do not get to the point. Hastert should resign his leadership position as it happenned on his watch. However, the attempt to make this a Republican thing is really ignorant. Foley resigned as he should have and will be investigated for criminal activity. Far different from one of the most famous democratic senators who was obviously guilty of criminal negligence and should have been at least investigated and probably charged with involuntary manslaughter when he made the decision to allow a girl to die after he crashed his car and did not either help or even call for emergency response but went home and called his lawyer.
The duplicity in these arguments on this blog are the attempts to make this a Republican thing. It is a congressional thing. Serving in these jobs corrupts the best. Soemtimes, we need to throw the "rascals" out, even if we agree with their positions. However, from the lack of English skills and attention to detail shown by most of the writers here, I guess that this is above their heads.

"So, I don't care if it's Dems or Replubs, it should have been investigated. The fact that the Republicans have been in control the entire time to me, means they are responsible."

Right on one point wrong on the other.

Someone has had these emails for THREE YEARS.

For THREE YEARS this dirtbag has been "Cybering" teenagers.

Why is it an issue now?

Follow the Politics. If the Repubs had "control" of IM transcripts, why publicize them now when it only hurts their "cause"?

If the Dems had "control" of IM transcripts, why didn't they publicize earlier, and protect the Pages?

If the Media had "control" of IM transcripts, why didn't they move to protect the Pages sooner as well?

No, it has to be made an issue only only after the ballots were printed in an important, contested Race. Gee, I wonder who benefits the most from delaying justice?

I'm glad to see a predator go, but I'm sickened to know that his Predatory proclivities weren't important enough to deal with until there could be a Politically Advantageous outcome as well.

Follow the Politics. That's the only "Truth" in DC.

GOP = Gross Old Pedophiles

P.S. Pedophiles DO NOT = Gay (98% of molested males and 99.6% of molested girls are victims of Heterosexuals)!!
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/94/1/41

This Foley story has run it's course and now it's telling us all,that the democratic party was behind this. It's going to back-fire on them because it shows they have nothing to run on,except gay bashing.
Where as, with the Republican Party,we have the stock market breaking records,low interest rates,low taxes,higher income per family,a robust economy,very,very low unemployment and safety at home.
Sorry lefties,no free government cheese anymore.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | Oct 5, 2006 9:38:09 PM

So Paulo says that the Democrats forced Foley to send the emails and instant messages to teenage boys during the last 10 years.

So Paulo says that the Dems are "gay bashing", trying to spin this away from the facts that Foley is a pedophile and that the Republicans have been covering this up for at least 3 years.

Paulo: What color is the sky in that alternate universe that you live in, because here in reality we have:

- over 47 million Americans with no health insurance

- several million Americans who haven't had a job in over a year; thus, they're not receiving any unemployment benefits to help keep a roof over their heads

- over 2900 Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan to date

- approximately 20,000 American soldiers and civilian workers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan to date

- more Americans falling below the poverty level due to wages not keeping up with inflation

- a higher tax burden being forced onto the middle class of America, rather than having an equal sacrifice by all Americans

- a "robust economy" that keeps putting hundreds of thousand of Americans out of work as their jobs are sent overseas, leaving them jobs that pay less and don't offer health benefits, like burger flipping at McDonalds

A 700 mile fence on a 2500 mile border. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!

I think Paulo was being sarcastic.

Can I sue him for perjury? He said "...holding the line on spending." Exactly what line are they holding? It sounds like a line of BS to me.

Hastert said he had no knowledge of the email exchanges, but then goes on to say that he told his guy Shimkus to make it stop. How could he tell someone to tell someone to make something stop if he didn't know about it in the first place?

These crooks need to be sent to the
Eastern Front.

Did he actually say they held the line ON SPENDING?? This guy is a trip. A total trip. Every single thing he said is completely loony. I almost hope he stays in office so people will have a little more time to realize what a dangerous loon he is.

I don't believe Hastert for a second. He's a hypocrite and crooked. He can't talk straight.
His days of being speaker are numbered. He needs to be investigated from top to bottom.
We should also remember Hastert is linked to Jack Abramoff.

So I guess Denny Hastert was a wrestling coach back in the day.

The only thing Hastert has been wrestling with the last six years is the truth,and the refrigerator door.

See Ya On Nov.7,2006 Mr.Hastert.

Why shouldn't we find out who had the IM transcripts back in 2003? Everything we've seen shows that no one in congress did. Sure, they had e-mails, rumors, and innuendo, but the IM transcript is the smoking gun in this case.

If ABC News sat on the story for two years until it was the optimum campaign and ratings time to run it, then they're just as guilty of letting Foley harass pages for two more years as anyone in congress. The faux concern from the democrats in this scandal is palpable.

ABC News wanted their bombshell and now it might come back to bite them. Someone clearly fell asleep in journalism ethics class.

P.S. They're promising a full investigation as soon as they find someone in Washington with ethics to conduct it. Good luck on that account, Denny.

In the end, this is about a person in authority (co-founder for a program dealing with missing and exploited children) who preyed on children. Hastert and the rabid Republicans are putting the interest of the political power ahead of protecting these children they were responsible for during the time they were pages. It has little to do with Foley being gay. The pastors and other Christian leaders that praised the Republican Party in the past better not let this opportunity go to talk about true moral values. This has nothing to do with the Democrats. The ones that are really making this a political issue ar the Republicans. Sickening!

tomf:

Gerry Studds was censured.

Bill,
So rather than drop this bombshell prior to the Presidential election, ABC waited for a mid-term election? Do you have proof of this cover-up by the media or are you just regurgitating RNC talking points?

PS A watchdog group forwarded e-mails to the DOJ 3 months ago, why is the DOJ just now starting an investigation? Where is your outrage Bill, et al?

I cannot wait until the list of people who knew about this (but didn't act) begins to include Democrats who wanted to hold their smoking gun dormant until the right time. Perhaps we will find out they are some of the same ones who are now calling for Hastert's resignation. At least Hastert has one thing going for him- he hasn't lied under oath yet...

Maybe someone should remind all the airheads that want to blame ABC and the evil democrats for the timing on the release of this info that ABC is owned by Disney who just happened to release their wonderful tribute to GW Bush a few days ago called 'The path to 9/11', ummmmm on ABC I think.
who's boinkin' who here??????
and tomf, get over yourself......

Rory, BC, Brian (you imposter),

Paulo The Tard is supposed to give us his book report today on State of Denial (not the river Paulo) Well Paulo, what have we learned? Anything?
Is there any hope for you young Paulo? Any?

The phone number that Hastert gave in his speech is a fax line. Hmmmm.

One lie embedded in Hastert's comments that I haven't heard comment on is "Congress found out about the explicit messages, Republicans dealt with it immediately and the culprit is gone."

No. ABC News found out about it and confronted Rep. Foley, who did nothing until ABC confronted him with additional, more explicit text messaging, upon receipt of which he resigned within the hour.

Hastert tried to make it sound as if Foley's resignation was the direct result of Republicans taking immediate, decisive action. Perhaps they consider sitting on their hands decisive.

This is sitcom stuff, except the sitcom went off the air years ago. Hogan's Heroes. Remember Sergeant Schultz? "I know nutink!"

Remember folks, this is Illinois and once elected, the corrupt and the inept are re-elected with probably even greater frequency than the honest and capable. The Paolo's are in the majority!

Tim you lost me ...........

Pedophile does not equal homosexual (even if it's with someone of the same sex) but pedophile does equal heterosexual (whether or nor the child is a male or female) ??????

I'm not sure what your trying to say but I'm a doctor who has treated sexual abuse victims for 15 years and I know the correct definitions -- I hate to break it to you -- as much as I hate what Foley did and as wrong as I think it was for him to abuse his position -- nothing released so far indicates he was a pedophile -- harrasser yes / out of control - yes, but not pedophile (maybe he is but you cannot draw that conclusion based on what's already been released unless of course you want to call Mel Reynolds a pedophile). Don't believe me -- look it up in your journal (but I know exactly what the heck I'm talking about). Still, I agree a prudent person such as Hastert should have investigated the possibility of pedophilia based upon the e-mails that were presented to him -- he says he ruled it out by talking to Foley but if he knew anything about pedophiles at all, he would know they are often narcissists and sociopaths and incredibly good liars.

There's a real easy way to end this Foley nonsense..Let's bomb North Korea!!!

The FBI is supposed to pursue things that show evidence of criminality, right? An email from a 50-something man to a teenage boy saying another teenage boy has a good body and asking for a photo isn't exactly evidence of criminality.

Whereas a member of Congress who sees the same email can at least forward it to the Ethics Committee (the entire Ethics Committee, not just one's loyal friends), who can act on evidence short of criminality.

I'm not convinced the FBI fell down on this one. Whereas the Republican leadership absolutely did.

what a mess this is! does anyone out there think speaker hastert really knows what goes on in congress? nooooooo!
if kirk fordham was foley's aide for ten years then did he participate in the e-mail and im page debacle? he knew about them for several years and he too is gay. foley was like a kid in a candy store. if fordham really did not approve then why did he stay so long? he says now that he reported the issues of the scandal up to three years ago. did he follow up? didn't he know who to contact? sure he knows speaker hasterts' assistant. uh huh...right.
as speaker hastert would respond: uh, you know you know you know. what a bunch of bumbling idiots, repubs or dems, including dubbyah.

I will not regurgitate the well articulated point that this is (supposed) to not be a manner of politics, but of basic decency. One of the few times in human history where there is an absolute right and an absolute wrong.

(For those of you relying on propaganda for "information": right = protecting children; wrong = victimizing children and/or covering it up to protect political position.)

What saddens me to my core after reading several of these blogs dealing with a variety of issues is the apparent intractable positions of approximately 80% of the posters. Right or left wing (though one side does seem more prolific in commenting), employ the Colbertian phenonmenon of "truthiness" -- remaining certain in one's interpretation of events regardless of evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or actual facts.

To be sure, the majority of human circumstance are, among people of integrity, honestly debatable. The problem is we have traded integrity for intractablity and debate for bombast.

What does it say about a culture that more people are getting their information from sources like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report?

I grew up watching Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update," and The Daily Show started much in the same vein -- poking fun at the oddities of our media and our culture. But it has evolved (and expanded with Colbert), so that now it is a venue where Jon Stewart publicly expresses the dismay, disbelief, and disgust we all wish we could. OK, yes, he is liberal leaning, but is equal opportunity when it comes to skewering anyone who leads with illogic or obfuscation.

For someone who began life in the shadow of JFK's assassination and was inspired by the activism that was emblematic of his era, witnessing current events and what passes for discourse are a horribly bitter pill.

Deep within my soul, I feel the stirrings to take action and work to make things better. But how does one accomplish that when "fighting the good fight" doesn't matter anymore. Now you just declare victory and keep congratulating yourself until everyone joins in.

Consider this for a momement:

Isn't the group with the strongest honest motivation to bring this scandal to light at the very momement it creates the maximum embarassment for the elected officials entrusted with the welfare of pages those same pages themselves?

Don't you think that the FBI knows this now too?

How soon will it be before Rep Hastert, Boehner, Reynolds et al realize this?

What rich and poetic irony, that young people who came to DC with idealism and a desire to learn the intracies of public service and were serviced so wretchedly, now use what they have learned to hurt those who have hurt them in the exact way that hurts politicians most?

You go boys!

Paulo needs to stop listening to Rush to hear what really going on in America.
This Foley scandal didn't end.
The investigation has just started.

Jethro,

If ABC found out about it last summer (as they say) there would be absolutely no reason to wait three years for a presidential election. Especially since Foley was running for reelection in this cycle. The bigger treat for ABC was Fall sweeps, the time of the year when ratings set advertising rates for the rest of the year.

As far as I've seen neither the DOJ or congress had the IM transcripts, just the fairly innocuous e-mails from Foley to pages (they said, "how are you doing" and "send the office a picture" and other stuff like that that could have been benign), only ABC had the chat transcripts. ABC has said they have chat transcripts dating back until at least July, the question is when did they get them?

Well....Mourning the death of intelligence...

basic decency does not exist in washington d.c. or frankly in the general population. nevermind intelligence. people will say or do nearly anything as long as they want to and don't get caught, particularly our young people. ask any parent of a teenaged person today. the parents days are filled with hollow pleasantries. they really don't want the truth because they are not familiar with it. lack of intelligence (which will grow when properly nurtured) and (this is an old term) breeding. typically intelligence and breeding go hand in hand. breeding has nothing to do with religion or race.

what we see we do......... what we do we become.

So 98% of molested boys were the victims of heterosexual ... women, then? Are we talking about teenagers who got Debra LeFave style molestation here? Or is it other children doing the abuse? I just want to know where the study is coming from, that's all. Seems like the methodology of the study determined the outcome. 276 girls were in it and only 76 boys. Sample isn't necessarily representative.

Check out this passage:

The majority (222/269 = 82%) of children in this
sample were suspected of being abused by a man or
woman who was, or had been, in a heterosexual relationship with a relative of the child. In other words, in this sample, a child’s risk of being molested by his or her relative’s heterosexual partner is over 100 times
greater than by someone who might be identifiable as being homosexual, lesbian, or bisexual.

Pretty much says it all, eh?

I sent definitions which are scientifically accurate and dispute a lot of these postings but it must have been too racy and got edited out -- I tried to keep it clinical -- at any rate a lot of the sexuality stuff here is baloney

IrishCurse, Please! Let's not give them any more bright ideas. With all they have to cover up, we'll run out of enemies and end up bombing Canada.

BC...

There is a saying that goes something like this: "To find the truth, one must read between the lines". That does not mean go and fill the space with ludacrous imaginative relevations.

Re: So Paulo says that the Democrats forced Foley to send the emails and instant messages to teenage boys during the last 10 years.
=> Paulo's inference was that you knew at least something about the ENTIRE story, and would understand that the democrats did not force Foley to send the messages; but instead they chose to try and manipulate a situation for their own political good (not the people they represent) at the cost of the victim(s), their opposing party and their own, and ultimately us (the people they are supposed to represent).

Re: So Paulo says that the Dems are "gay bashing", trying to spin this away from the facts that Foley is a pedophile and that the Republicans have been covering this up for at least 3 years.
=> Foley's behavior is abhorant and pedophilic if his actions were put upon a child. But there have been a number of claims to the contrary, and that his dealings may have been with an adult. If this be the case, then we are talking about two consenting adults, which would make this a case for "gay bashing" when you examine the democrats, as well as media reaction and actions to the situation. And as it stands, someone other than the republicans (the democrats, the media, or some other leftist group) has been holding onto this information for a purpose. And if it this purpose was truly meant to uncover a pedofile, they did an injustice to the victim and everyone else for their own gain by waiting "for their moment".

BC: The reality we live in:

- over 47 million Americans with no health insurance => Why? Is this owed to us? Is this a priveledge? Who are those that do not have health insurance? This is a hot topic to debate, but because of all that is involved. The government is not going to solve this one, we need to.

- several million Americans who haven't had a job in over a year; thus, they're not receiving any unemployment benefits to help keep a roof over their heads => Again, why? Who doesn't have a job? Who cannot keep a job? Yes corporations reduce their payrolls for alot of the wrong reasons; but there are not a million people or more off of work simply because they were laid off. Many (and maybe most) were let go because they are lazy and were not producing (see below), or simply feel they can use public programs meant for those really in need.

- over 2900 Americans killed in Iraq and Afghanistan to date => One life lost is too many. And I am honored by those that have lost their lives, and those that are willing to put theirs on the line for all of us. But it could and can be worse. The reality, that you fail to recognize, is that the sky is not so blue in this here world of ours. Our environment is and may never be the rosey red place of fairy tale lore. What I get from what you say here, is that you would rather we sit back and wait for something to happen instead of being proactive and preemptive. History all too often has taught us that we cannot sit back and finish counting the bodies to decide when it is worth doing something.

- approximately 20,000 American soldiers and civilian workers injured in Iraq and Afghanistan to date => Again, I am honored by the service these people provide. The unescapable reality is that this will happen, and that it could be worse; because it has been in previous battles we have fought.

- more Americans falling below the poverty level due to wages not keeping up with inflation and...
...a higher tax burden being forced onto the middle class of America, rather than having an equal sacrifice by all Americans => True. But if you really were trying to say something, you should have said that pretty soon there will be no more middle class; so then what?

- a "robust economy" that keeps putting hundreds of thousand of Americans out of work as their jobs are sent overseas, leaving them jobs that pay less and don't offer health benefits, like burger flipping at McDonalds => 1st of all, most american consumers seem to think that the cheaper a consumer item is, the better the deal it is for them; so consumers are hugely to blame. American workers are expensive and produce expensive goods (and sometimes quality lacking goods) when compared with their worldly competitors. And there still can be a good case made about how americans (in general) are very lazy and complacent in their work ethic; and if the products that are provided lack the quality to compete in many of the world's markets, then what do you expect?

BC, if you want to get off subject, why not raise an intelligent question like "WHY ISN'T ANYONE, I MEAN ANYONE (the media especially), COMPLAINING ABOUT YESTERDAY'S REQUEST BY OPEC LEADERS FOR AN EMERGENCY MEETING TO REDUCE OIL PRODUCTION"?!?!? When has our demand wained? Our needs only increase as each day passes. There is no need to do this other than to gouge the consumer and drive costs back up, so the oil barons can line their pockets (and look up OPEC to see who they are). Where is the true outrage that should be front-page news?!

I fail to understand how any responsible parent can support or vote for Hastert.

He deserves no support, considering his attitude, his actions, and his arrogance.

If you can't bring yourself to vote for his opponent, I urge you to simply not vote.

It's time to send a real message to partisan politicians like Hastert that their party, and their re-election, is not more important than the truth.

tom,

Some things don't get in.

It sometimes takes a couple tries.
Some of my pet names for Hannity, RR's, etc. get blinged.
Keep a copy on your desk top (if it's a long masterpiece) and edit it until it passes.

Also, beware late night postings. They sometimes just disappear, even very innocuous ones.

I think they get caught up in a maintenance cycle or server re-boot.
Who knows.

Paolo
What are you smoking? This is what we have with Rethuglicans in power:
(1) a record defecit blown up by overexpenditures and tax breaks ONLY for the very wealthy
(2) An out of control war in Iraq that, whether you agree with it or not, has been badly bungled from the start, taking away much needed resources from security here at home and the war in Afghanistan.
(3) Federal government growth at unprecedented rates. What happened to all that small government?
(4) more governmenet intrusion into American private lives via fed checks into taxes, med records, etc. with no oversight from anyone
(5) A dictatorial presidency that can identify anyone he wisjes as an enemy combatant for any reason he chooses without having to justify it to anyone. (And if you can't see the horror of this development then you are truly brain dead
(5) Rapid growth of multi national Islamic terrorism by leaps and bounds in the last three years.
(6) the emnity of the entire planet
(7) record defecits that have left us at the mercy of China and Saudi Arabia
(8) Out of control energy prices that fluctuate between high and very high
(9) one lost American City - New Orleans, whether by design or criminal incompetence, you choose
(10) Increased power and influence for Iran and Hezbollah in the Middle East
(11) A rapidly accelerating nuclear progran in North Korea, despite all the tough posturing of the Boy King and Company
(12) a miserably failed education program that has replaced emphasis on one set of antiquated tests for actual education and placed the names of poor and middle class American youth on lists of military recruiters (more Big government)
(13) Sexual pedophiles (Rethugs) loose in Congress. Foley is only the tip of the iceberg. Reports are circulating that atleast two more are out there (Rethugs, both of them)
(14) An actual INCREASE in abortion rates nationwide due mostly to declining socio-economic conditions.
There's more but I don't have the heart to list it all here. It's too depressing.
Sorry righties. You can't go on blaming that non existant cabal of millionaire lefties anymore for all you've foisted on our great nation. Your days are numbered.

The GOP has more then redefined corruption, they are the defnition. From Bush right down to the newest Rep. in congress. Democrats will have to go to a four year corruption school to even hope to match this GOP Congress and no President will be able to match the dog doo in the white house. Bush and company has already earned the title of this countries worst administration in its history. For this countries sake they all have to go.

Hastert is a pompous buffoon and a liar. He should have been thrown out of congress when he and Delay first turned it into a cash and carry operation. He has consistently suppressed and obstructed any investigations into the receipt of illegal contributions to the GOP and quid pro quo arrangements with Republican lobbyists. His comments about how the tax-cuts for the wealthy have benefited Americans are absolutely idiotic. And the notion that Republicans have somehow held the line on spending is just outright fabrication. By giving out tax-breaks and pork projects to friends and donors of the GOP, the congress, under Hastert,has put this country in a hole so deep, it will take many generations of Americans to dig ourselves out. The only spending they have "held the line on" is spending on education, healthcare, police protection and all the other government services that affect the lives of average Americans. When it comes to dishing out billions to corrupt corporations, and the very wealthiest elite (American and Foreign), they have shown no restraint whatsoever. Let's not forget that congress has also spent over $100 billion so Dick Cheney can realize his dream of Halliburton building a pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean (not to mention the 20,000 soldiers who have been killed or wounded). The only thing that has kept this economy from completely going down the toilet is that Greenspan held interest rates at record low levels for 3 years. But even that reckless gamble will come back and bite us in a big way in the form of stagflation. If there was still justice in this country, Hastert would already be sharing a cell with Tom Delay. I think the reaction to this latest scandal is completely overblown, but if that is what it takes to boot the crooks out of office, so be it. Unfortunately, there are plenty more greedy and corrupt politicians eager to take their places.

It appears that those wishing to deflect the blame here, call out Democratic conspiracy and ABC holding onto these IM for years til the right moment just before an election.
Is it so hard for people nowadays to read the reports online or watch a relatively unbiased news station? ABC were fed these in the late summer, just as a lot of people were, supposedly by a GOP staffer in Congress as reported by Ross. CREW immediatley handed them off to the FBI to investigate, and Brian Ross said he was busy with the commemoration of Katrina then 9/11. When he got around to them, he did the story and posted it on his webblog. This was strictly about the emails. When that appeared, it was only then that previous pages contacted him about the sexually explicit IM and not before. If Hastert is worrying about why this only came out now, then perhaps he should discuss why the FBI did not investigate or have given now 2 different responses as to why they did or didn't. If the FBI had investigated properly then, it wouldn't have been held off until now and been dealt with much earlier.
And may I also mention that it is really indefensible for republican supporters to dismiss the responsibility and accountability by trying to point out right away that there is some democratic person guilty of doing something wrong as well. That just feeds into the part of the story that this was a coverup and no one wants to take accountability because of the upcoming election. If republicans cannot handle something like this without trying to pass the buck or blame or just lately trying to say it was some evil pages playing pranks, then are you worthy of the trust of the voters? Something to think about!

This Foley story has run it's course and now it's telling us all,that the democratic party was behind this. It's going to back-fire on them because it shows they have nothing to run on,except gay bashing.
Where as, with the Republican Party,we have the stock market breaking records,low interest rates,low taxes,higher income per family,a robust economy,very,very low unemployment and safety at home.
Sorry lefties,no free government cheese anymore.
Paulo
Posted by: Paulo | Oct 5, 2006 9:38:09 PM

Always good to hear from fans of those who molest underage boys. No one cares that he's gay except you Paulo. It's the fact that it was to a page that was 16 years old.

Yes, this is a true believer republican. Inaccurate on his facts about the economy(poverty risen 6 straight years) but personally more wealthy. Who cares if we have a huge deficit and pedophiles being covered for.

Yes, Paulo is a true believer republican. As long as he has lower taxes he doesn't care if teenage boys are being molested. Congratulations Paulo, you have shown your true colors and are entitled to your opionion.

I just won't let my kids come within a mile of you.

If anyone in the media or anyone on the democratic side had these emails any earlier they would of been running to publish.

There is no way that anyone with these juicy details would sit on them for any amount of time.
And there is no proof whatsoever that anyone in the democrats had this crap.

This is a republican scandal plain and simple. Reynolds, Boehner Pryce and Blunt were all turning on Hastert all week.

What sweet karma to the party of gay bashers that they get caught in a gay scandal.

The fact that there are over 9 gay chief of staffs in the republican house and they are all going to be outed very soon. Plus 6 Gay republican director of communications for this swine. The religious right is going to flip about this. Who knew they celebrated diversity?

And since when would the republicans be concerned about gay bashing-they live for that crap.

...Deep within my soul, I feel the stirrings to take action and work to make things better. But how does one accomplish that when "fighting the good fight" doesn't matter anymore. Now you just declare victory and keep congratulating yourself until everyone joins in.
Posted by: Mourning the death of intelligence | Oct 6, 2006 3:49:07 PM

I respectfully disagree. I am likely a bit older than you and I have lived through the same events. My idealism has not died because I consider it worth protecting. It’s not simply because I can proclaim and prove its righteousness as a witness to history, pointing to repetitions of the same mistakes. The "good fight" is standing up for decency and imparting the same values to your children. It’s a continuing struggle, not a skirmish with dimwitted thugs that only know the black and white of what they're allowed to see.

And we cannot forget those who have laid down their lives for the sake of the common good. Not only in this country, but also in the bigger world around us.

Justice and decency still remain ideals that lie far beyond the jaundiced reach of politics this current crop of criminals are forcing us to endure. Don't give up hope. There are only brighter days ahead. We may already be past the height of darkness. Our freedom will return or we will fight the good fight once again, to the death if necessary. For our children-- like we’ve done so many times before.

A lot of you are being silly. One of the first news organizations to get the original emails was... FOX news. How's that for a conspiracy? The emails were known to several organizations, but nobody printed them until ABC. After ABC printed them they got the more sexual IM's from someone who knew the pages. That someone is... a Republican. The Republican leaders already know this. They are making a lie to blame the Democrats as a way to save their base from completely imploding. And judging by some of the posts I'm seeing, it's working. Itjust goes to show how effective the "big lie" can be, even when it's completely ridiculous.

I read some of the comments here, but there are simply too many of them to keep up with, so if I'm repeating something that's already been said, I apologize.

I'm in Kentucky, where we have our own political problems, so I can't vote against Hastert. But I did want to point out one little thing that might be a mere slip of the tongue, or might be significant:

Hastert's reading of the phone number did not agree with the number printed on the screen. He said 384, the screen read 348.

Not indicative of any republican conspiracy or anything - just that the press conference was an hour and a half late, and the phone number was wrong.

Can't these people get ANYTHING right?

Who is Scott Palmer?

He is Speaker Hastert's chief of staff, which makes him the key player in the what-did-Hastert-know-and-when-did-he-know-it drama. Scott Palmer has issued a statement flatly denying that Kirk Fordham, Mark Foley's former chief of staff, warned him that Foley was crossing the line with pages long before Foley's inappropriate email surfaced. Palmer's denial of Fordham's headline-grabbing claim is the thread Hastert's Speakership is now hanging by.

In Hastert's brief, evasive press conference on Thursday, sharp reporters immediately zeroed in on Palmer's role in the Foley information flow. Did Hastert leap to the defense of his chief of staff's honor in the crucial credibility contest with Kirk Fordham? Did he say I know Scott Palmer and I know he's telling the truth? No. He avoided every question with Palmer's name in it. Hastert obviously does not want to talk about Scott Palmer.

If Fordham did warn Palmer about Foley a long time ago, what are the odds that Palmer did not tell Hastert? As close to zero as you can get. Many chiefs of staff are close, very close, to their bosses on Capitol Hill. But none are closer than Scott Palmer is to Denny Hastert. They don't just work together all day, they live together.

There are plenty of odd couple Congressmen who have roomed together on Capitol Hill, but I have never heard of a chief of staff who rooms with his boss. It is beyond unusual. But it must have its advantages. Anything they forget to tell each other at the office, they have until bedtime to catch up on. And then there's breakfast for anything they forgot to tell each other before falling asleep. And then there's all day at the office. Hastert and Palmer are together more than any other co-workers in the Congress.

For now, Hastert is holding on to the Speaker's office because the Republicans don't have anyone in the leadership who is squeaky clean enough to take the job. Every one of them is tainted by the Foley scandal or the Abramoff scandal or the DeLay scandal or, like Henry Hyde, has some ancient sexual indiscretion in his background. But if the press cracks Scott Palmer's denial of Kirk Fordham's bombshell, then Denny Hastert is going to have to pass the gavel to some freshman we've never heard of.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20061007/cm_huffpost/031171

Hastert clearly comes off as a guy who would rather protect his party than investigate obvious signs of pedophelia. What more do you need to know? If this isn't a sign of absolute corruption of power by the GOP, then I don't know what is.

I'm a long time Republican, but I've had a belly full of this party's shenanigans. We desperately need some means to implement checks and balances back into our political system.

This election, I'm going to hold my nose and vote Democratic. I'm sick and tired of the obvious signs of corruption of power within the GOP. It's time they where taken to the "political woodshed" and learn some much needed lessons in better behavior.