Shimkus repeats same GOP talking points Hastert used

Seriously, can these guys give an honest answer once without simply repeating talking points?

Shimkus, a Republican, serves as head of the board that oversees the page program and he confronted Foley last year about a set of e-mails that the former Florida congressman had sent to a former page. In a telephone interview Wednesday with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch from his Collinsville, Ill., office, he maintained his actions were sufficient.

". . . What else do you want me to do? Take off my shirt and give myself forty lashes?" he asked. "Would've, could've, should've."

That's exactly what Denny Hastert said the other day, verbatim:

“Would have, could have, should have,” Mr. Hastert said, responding to questions about whether Republicans should have done more.

We're talking about the sexual molestation of children here, Mr. Shimkus. Playing cute little word games isn't going to gloss over the fact that you knew about this scandal, hid it from your Page Board colleagues, and then helped cover it up.

Oh, then Shimkus repeats the other GOP talking point about this scandal, that we need to get to the bottom of who covered up this scandal! What are you people, OJ now? Gonna help us find Nicole's murderer? How nice of you.

The real question, Shimkus said in his interview with the Post-Dispatch, is who had the sexually explicit instant messages Foley had sent to underage boys and why didn't they come forward earlier.

"Whoever had them put these kids at risk," he said. "That's where we ought to be doing our investigative journalism . . . That's the real smoking gun that would have identified the real former congressman Foley."

Yeah, well considering ABC had the same emails as you and was able to find those lurid messages in just 12 hours of looking, tell us again why it was so hard for YOU to find them Mr. Shimkus. Oh, that's right, it was so hard because you didn't even try. Read More......

Woodward book confirms total incompetence on Iraq

I almost feel guilty writing about foreign affairs with all the Foley stuff cruising through the Internets, but also getting some attention is "State of Denial", the new book by veteran Washington Post writer Bob Woodward. The book lays out the years of Bush administration dissembling on Iraq and the war on terror, and does so in a calm, direct fashion. I've only been able to skim through it in the past couple days, but it's damning.

For better or worse, there's fairly little new information. If you read the front page of your daily newspaper, you probably know most of this stuff . . . except that many people don't read a newspaper every day. For those people, the imprimatur of Woodward makes a big difference. Further, Woodward is something of a Washington weather vane. His approval of -- and contribution to -- the shifting winds towards recognition of Bush administration misdirection and incompetence demonstrates that even the beltway "above the fray" crowd is starting to believe the rest of us "shrill" folks.

Some Bush administration defenders are pushing back, of course, and ThinkProgress (which has been just all over the big stories of late, they're really fantastic) blows apart the dishonest critiques of Woodward. I don't love Woodward, and I think his last two books were negligent, at best, but much of the latest work seems accurate. Republican hypocrisy isn't exactly surprising, but the idea that Woodward is generally anti-Bush is ludicrous. In any case, the book is another hole in the Republican sinking ship. Read More......

Stephanopoulos on ABC: Hastert is toast

Read More......

Bay Buchanan: Hastert is toast

From CNN today:

BEST QUOTES FROM BAY BUCHANAN (PAT BUCHANAN'S SISTER)

"He has to go now. And I think the speaker himself will realize that.... There's no -- he should bite the bullet because of what he did know -- and that we're certain he knew -- six months ago, at least, which is that there was a predator in his midst, amongst his colleagues, who were preying on high school boys. You have to step forward. You have to stop that. Americans, all Americans, Republicans in particular, expect that of their leaders. And, so, that, in itself, says, he must go.... I think every single one of those congressmen who knew the basic contents of the e-mail that said "Send me a picture," that alone was a -- as I said before, that tells you there's a predator. They had to do everything in their power to stop the predator. They have to put the children first and stop the man.... If he [Boehner] knew the contents [of the emails], then, he, too has to go.... I mean, I can't tell you that they [the Republican base] are going to be excited because their leaders allowed a predator to remain in the Congress."

Asked who will tell Hastert he has to go: "Congressmen who would like to remain as congressmen."

ENTIRE TRANSCRIPT, BECAUSE IT'S THAT GOOD

BLITZER: But, even as we speak, this Kirk Fordham, a former aide to Tom Reynolds, is now suggesting that he alerted the speaker's office two years ago about this Mark Foley problem.

BAY BUCHANAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Wolf, if that's true, I think the speaker will be gone by the end of the day.

I mean, he can't sustain this now. There are Republicans already talking on the Hill, talking amongst themselves, what they should do. Many of them do believe he should step down. Others are remaining loyal.

I think this kind of revelation tells them he has to go. He has to go now. And I think the speaker himself will realize that.

BLITZER: Even if someone on his staff was informed two years ago, and he necessarily -- perhaps maybe he didn't know anything about it.

CARVILLE: Right.

BLITZER: He -- what I hear you saying is, he's the guy responsible, and he should bite the bullet?

BUCHANAN: He has to.

There's no -- he should bite the bullet because of what he did know -- and that we're certain he knew -- six months ago, at least, which is that there was a predator in his midst, amongst his colleagues, who were preying on high school boys.

You have to step forward. You have to stop that. Americans, all Americans, Republicans in particular, expect that of their leaders. And, so, that, in itself, says, he must go. (CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And she's not a Democrat speaking.

CARVILLE: No. No.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: She's a good conservative.

(CROSSTALK)

CARVILLE: I think Bay and I -- my friend Senator Alan Simpson, a Republican from Wyoming, once said, in Washington, you go from being the toast of the town to toast.

Speaker Hastert is toast.

BUCHANAN: Yes.

CARVILLE: And that's just what it is.

I mean, it's not -- I don't think this is -- and I think Bay, everybody, understands. I think the Republicans in Congress are saying, Mr. Speaker, our majority is in serious jeopardy.

BLITZER: But, James, it wasn't just the speaker who knew about this.

CARVILLE: Right.

BLITZER: It was the House majority leader, John Boehner, was...

CARVILLE: Right.

BLITZER: ... told months ago that there was a problem.

Tom Reynolds...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: ... who chairs the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee...

CARVILLE: Right.

BLITZER: ... he was told about this. Should they go as well?

CARVILLE: You know, I think what the -- from just being -- trying to being -- help -- being an analyst here, without being too much of a partisan, I think what these guys are going to try to do is say, look, we have served up the biggest head that we can do. Let's investigate this and focus on issues that really matter to people.

Do I think it is going to work? Maybe not. But I think their strategy is going to be, the biggest guy has to go to try to stop this hemorrhaging.

And hemorrhaging, they are, right now.

BLITZER: Well, what do you think about -- and you -- I know you think the speaker should resign...

BUCHANAN: Definitely.

BLITZER: ... by the end of today.

BUCHANAN: Yes.

BLITZER: That's what you said. He gives him at least a week to make that decision.

BUCHANAN: A week is one week closer to the election.

BLITZER: But what about the other...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: ... the other Republican leaders, who knew about at least some inappropriate...

BUCHANAN: I think...

BLITZER: ... contact, "Send me a picture," and that e-mail?

BUCHANAN: I think every single one of those congressmen who knew the basic contents of the e-mail that said "Send me a picture," that alone was a -- as I said before, that tells you there's a predator.

They had to do everything in their power to stop the predator. They have to put the children first and stop the man.

What did they do? I understand, in fairness to Boehner, he said he never knew the contents. He knew there was some kind of e-mail. And he went to the speaker. And he said to the speaker: Look, is there a problem here?

And the speaker said: I have resolved this. I have turned this over. It has been resolved.

Well, to me, that would have been doing enough, because he checked it out. He didn't know the contents.

BLITZER: I want to ask you about the...

BUCHANAN: If he knew the contents, then, he, too has to go.

BLITZER: ... the impact among the conservative base in a moment.

But what about the suggestion that Foley, who was a very ardent campaign...

CARVILLE: Right. BLITZER: ... fund-raiser, gave the Republican Congressional Committee...

CARVILLE: Right.

BLITZER: ... $100,000 over the past several months? Is that a factor in this, do you suspect?

CARVILLE: Sure, it's going to be.

I mean, you know, obviously, the Democrats are going to make this an issue. And why wouldn't they? Also, Foley has $2.8 million in his campaign account. I guarantee you that the Democrats are going to make it an issue if he tries to turn it over to Republicans. I seriously doubt if he will. I don't know what the law is, whether he can use it for his legal fees or not.

But, yes, the -- and the fact that Foley was the chairman of the subcommittee on exploited children. Yes, the Democrats -- and a very legitimate issue, by the way. You see this guy in the Virginia 2nd is using it. And it's not like it's unfair.

BLITZER: What is it going to do to the Republican turnout, the Republican base, this issue, come November 7?

BUCHANAN: It's not good news, Wolf.

I mean, I can't tell you that they are going to be excited because their leaders allowed a predator to remain in the Congress.

Now -- but the key here is, if they take quick action, if the other Republicans say: "Look, we take care of our own. We recognize this was wrong. We recognize our speaker, a good man, made a bad judgment call. We're moving him aside. We're bringing in fresh faces, where the -- you know, and we are going to move ahead," then, they have a chance.

But, if they wait a week or two, until the polls tell them they have to, then they don't look nothing like -- any better than the speaker himself, living by the polls, rather than doing by their natural instinct, as men and women who care about children.

BLITZER: All right.

CARVILLE: It is clear Hastert is not going to last the week. I don't think he will go this afternoon. But I think that people are going to see him right now. And I think he understands the position...

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Who goes -- who tells him that? Who...

CARVILLE: I don't -- I'm not one of them.

But I suspect that... (LAUGHTER)

CARVILLE: You know what I mean? That -- you know, people from the White House, people from the Senate leadership. I mean, I have no idea. People from K Street.

BUCHANAN: Congressmen who would like to remain as congressmen. Read More......

Cliff is on now

Talking about our favorite topic, of course. Then again, it looks like it was pushed back. Read More......

Iraq: bombs at "all-time high"; 22 US soldiers killed in past 4 days

Bush's war in Iraq is a disaster -- and it's getting worse. This is what you get when you stay the course:

U.S. military spokesman Major General William Caldwell said the number of car bombs in Baghdad, both detonated and defused, hit their highest level of the year last week and that bombs reported in general were "also at an all-time high".

U.S. and Iraqi forces have mounted a major military operation in the past two months against militants in Baghdad.

For the second time in two days, four U.S. soldiers were killed in a single incident around Baghdad, this time in what appears to have been a substantial skirmish involving mortars or rockets and gunfire to the northwest. It took the death toll in four days of the month to 15 around Baghdad and 22 in total.

Bush has NO plan for Iraq. The Republicans in Congress have let him get away with that. We have to change the course. We have to change the Congress. Read More......

Statement by Kirk Fordham

A statement just released by Kirk Fordham:

"I've learned within the last few hours that unnamed sources have purported that I intervened on behalf of Congressman Foley to prevent a page board investigation. This is categorically false. At no point—ever--did I ask anyone to block any inquiries into Foley's actions or behavior.

These sources know this allegation is false.

Having stepped down as Mr. Reynolds chief of staff, I have no reason to state anything other than the facts. I have no Congressman and no office to protect.

I intend to fully cooperate with any and every investigation of Mr. Foley's conduct. At the same time, I will fully disclose to the FBI and the House Ethics Committee any and all meetings and phone calls I had with senior staffers in the House Leadership about any of Foley's inappropriate activities.

The fact is, even prior to the existence of the Foley email exchanges I had more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest levels of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene when I was informed of Mr. Foley's inappropriate behavior.

One of these staffers is still employed by a Senior House Republican Leader.

Rather than trying to shift the blame on me, those who are employed by these House Leaders should acknowledge what they know about their action or inaction in response to the information they knew about Mr. Foley prior to 2005."

Read More......

Hastert now denying Fordham told his office 3 years ago. So Fordham is naming names.

This one is easy to solve. Let's see if Fordham and Hastert's staff are both willing to put their statements in sworn affidavits.

From ABC News (of course)

Despite claims by senior congressional aide Kirk Fordham that he notified House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office more than two years ago about possible inappropriate contact between former Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., and underage congressional pages, the Speaker's office is insisting it did nothing wrong in its handling of the situation.

"That never happened," Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean told ABC News about the report.

But Fordham — a former chief of staff to Foley, who resigned as chief of staff to another member of the GOP leadership, Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y. — said that as far back as 2003, Hastert chief of staff Scott Palmer had been told that Foley was too friendly with pages. According to Fordham, Palmer spoke to Foley about the matter.

Neither Foley nor Palmer could be reached for comment, yet Hastert's office disputes the account.

Read More......

Two new pages says Foley had sexual online chats with them while they were underage

CNN just reported. Yikes. Read More......

Hastert's office refuses to deny Fordham allegations

Oh my. CNN just reported that Hastert's office put out a statement responding to Fordham's allegations that he told Hastert's office about Foley's problems 3 years ago. Hastert's statement simply says that this matter has been referred to the proper congressional authorities. As CNN just noted, that's not a denial. "Nothing from the Speaker's office denying" what Fordham alleges.

Oh my. Read More......

Sean Hannity is mad at me

Well, the latest rumor in far-right-land is that I personally am responsible for the downfall of the entire GOP House leadership (funny, I thought that was Markos' job). I understand my good buddy Sean Hannity just mentioned me on his show regarding the rumor. And since I've gotten a few emails from you guys asking about this, I figured it was worth setting the record straight.

Unfortunately, and I know this will shock you, since I would never question Hannity’s accuracy, but it's not true. Don't get me wrong, nothing would make me happier, especially since it does make a hell of a fundraising appeal "donate to the guy who handed the congress to the Democrats." So, in that regard, if you want to help us help you take back our country, or just like the work we've done over the past few days (and years), or simply think Sean Hannity is a putz, please use the red box in the right column, just below the HBO ad, and donate to our blog generously. (Donations are NOT tax-deductible.)

You can also donate safely online via this link.


Okay, back to the rumor. As I hear it, I supposedly had the Foley emails and/or salacious "instant messages" for 2 years now, or something like that, but I decided to sit on them until just before the election, then, as the rumor goes, I secretly set up a separate blogger blog on which I published the emails just last week, apparently to push the story into the mainstream media right before the election (because I didn't have another blog on which I could publish them?).

A second rumor has Reynolds' now-former chief of staff, and former Foley chief of staff, Kirk Fordham giving me access to Foley's AOL account - apparently because I blackmailed him, not sure with what - so that I could personally get a copy of Foley's instant message traffic. First off, it's not clear why in God's name Foley's former chief of staff, and still good friend, would want to screw Foley. And second, I'm pretty sure you can't get copies of your IM discussions via your AOL account - but hey, no one ever said that Hannity and his minions were good with facts.

Anyway, as you know, I published the Foley emails on my blog last Thursday after ABC News story broke. I had received the emails in July, as I already explained on this blog last Thursday, but I didn't think it was appropriate to publish allegations of pedophilia/child sex predation, even against a member of the other political party, until I had all the facts (and not being Speaker Hastert, it's not like I had access to the House GOP leadership, to Foley or the pages to quiz them about the emails). Shortly after I received the emails, I found out that CREW had also received copies of the emails and had immediately passed them to the FBI. I figured that took care of the situation (silly me to trust George Bush's FBI, they didn’t investigate) and I let the issue go until I saw ABC had published the story last week and that Foley had confirmed to ABC that the emails were real.

Don't get me wrong. I'd love to be personally responsible for bringing down the entire House GOP leadership and handing both houses of Congress to the Democrats. Nothing would make me happier, and it would be a hell of a boost for the blog and my career. So had I set up that stopsexpredators Web site, I'd be taking credit for it right now - and in any case, if I were going to publish the Foley emails, they'd be on my own blog alongside Jeff Gannon's photos. But it wasn't me, and I don't know who it was.

But I hope that doesn't stop you from using the red box in the right hand column to donate generously to AMERICAblog. If the right-wing thinks I'm the king of the world, and Sean Hannity is mad at me, that’s gotta be worth something.

PS I do have to laugh at the "reverse-Dan-Rather" argument being put forward by Hannity and the GOP. Now you're apparently a bad guy for WAITING to confirm the authenticity of documents that incriminate Republicans. I'll keep that in mind the next time I hear a rumor about Mr. Hannity. Read More......

AP: Former chief of staff to Tom Reynolds and Mark Foley says he warned Hastert's office two years ago about Foley

Uh oh.

A senior congressional aide said Wednesday that he alerted House Speaker Dennis Hastert's office two years ago about worrisome conduct by former Rep. Mark Foley with teenage pages.

Kirk Fordham told The Associated Press that when he was told about Foley's inappropriate behavior toward pages, he had "more than one conversation with senior staff at the highest level of the House of Representatives asking them to intervene."

The conversations took place long before the e-mail scandal broke, Fordham said, and at least a year earlier than members of the House GOP leadership have acknowledged.

Put everyone under oath and see who's lying. Read More......

BREAKING: Reynolds fires chief of staff for role in Foley scandal. New evidence contradict Reynolds' claim that staffer wasn't involved.

UPDATE: Guess what? The story changed again! CNN just reported that the chief of staff, who is saying he "resigned," even though ABC says he was fired, is now saying he resigned because the Democrats were trying to use him as an election issue to hurt his boss, Tom Reynolds. Uh, then why is it that ABC is reporting that you're telling people you quit/were fired because you're being scapegoated by the Republican leadership, and that Denny Hastert in particular demanded that you be fired? Please, all of you, keep talking.

Reynolds just fired his chief of staff for his role in the Foley scandal, but the details surrounding the firing suggest that Reynolds lied about his, and his chief of staff's, involvement in the page scandal.

According to ABC News, Fordham, the chief of staff, was instrumental in stopping Foley from being investigated further:

Those sources said Fordham, a former chief of staff for Congressman Mark Foley, had urged Republican leaders last spring not to raise questionable Foley e-mails with the full Congressional Page Board, made up of two Republicans and a Democrat.

"He begged them not to tell the page board," said one of the Republican sources.

First off, bull. We've been highly critical of Fordham over the past several days, but this reeks of Fordham being scapegoated for the sins of the House GOP leadership. One House staffer has more power than Denny Hastert? Than John Shimkus? You mean the entire House leadership wanted to report the scary child sex predator but a single staffer recommended otherwise, so there was nothing they could do? Excuse me? Who's in charge over there anyway?

According to ABC, Fordham says they're lying:

People familiar with Fordham's side of the story, however, said Fordham was being used as a scapegoat by Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.

They said Fordham had repeatedly warned Hastert's staff about Foley's "problem" with pages, but little was done.

The complaint about Foley was brought to the chairman of the page board, Congressman John Shimkus (R-IL), last spring, and he then consulted with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Jeff Trandahl.

At Fordham's urging, according to the sources, the matter was not given to the full board, and instead Congressman Foley was privately approached and told to stop all contact with the page he had been e-mailing.

Yes, poor Congressman Shimkus. What was he to do. A staffer disagreed with him, so that meant his hands were tied. They have got to be kidding.

But there's a bigger problem here. Congressman Tom Reynolds (R-NY), Fordham's boss, has been denying for days that Fordham was brought into the discussions about this scandal when Reynolds found out months ago:

Reynolds deflected questions about why he never asked Fordham, who worked for Foley for 10 years, about Foley’s character, saying he had a “member to member” conversation with Alexander and he didn’t discuss other members of Congress with Fordham.

Now we know that Reynolds was lying. Fordham was involved quite intimately with the goings on - whether you believe Fordham that he was involved and urging the issue be dealt with, or if you believe Hastert et. al. that Fordham was advising Shimkus to leave Foley alone, either way Fordham was a key player, and Reynolds has been saying for days that Fordham was not.

And finally, isn't it interesting that for days the House GOP leadership has been telling us how they simply never read the emails so they never knew how bad it was. Also, they've been telling us that Foley tricked them, he was such a good liar they never realized how bad it was. But now they tell us that they were convinced Foley was trouble and they desperately wanted to tell the full Page Board but one single staffer wouldn't let them. How is it that the GOP members, at the same time, didn't realize the emails were a big deal and were duped by Foley, but also they were convinced Foley was trouble and wanted to investigate him? Read More......

Conservative icon Richard Viguerie calls on House Republican leadership to resign

Richard Viguerie is one of the founders of the conservative movement. It doesn't get any bigger than this, short of Ronald Reagan speaking out from the afterlife. I just received an email from Viguerie to his email list, to which I subscribe. The email is entitled:

"Viguerie Calls for Immediate Resignation of House GOP Leaders"

These are the high points.

1. Calls GOP leadership "enablers" to Foley's offense.

Viguerie stated that any public official who takes advantage of a page or intern – someone to whom they are “in loco parentis” (in the place of a parent) – should be treated the same as a teacher or member of the clergy who commits a similar act. “And anyone who covers up such behavior should have the full wraith of the authorities and of the public fall upon them, because they are the enablers who made it possible.”

2. Calls Speaker Hastert's call for a Justice Dept investigation a possible "cover up."

He said that calls for a Justice Department investigation “could be part of an effort to cover this up until after the election. Once an investigation is under way, they may claim, falsely, that they can’t comment on an ongoing investigation.” He said House GOP leaders must “tell the American people the truth right now, not sweep it under the rug for the next six weeks.”

3. House GOP leaders will do "whatever it takes to hold onto power," no matter how "despicable."

Said Viguerie: “This isn’t an isolated situation. It is only the most recent example of Republican House leaders doing whatever it takes to hold onto power. If it means spending billions of taxpayers’ dollars on questionable projects, they’ll do it. If it means covering up the most despicable actions of a colleague, they’ll do it.”

4. House GOP leaders have "lost their moral rudder."

“They’ve lost their moral rudder,” Viguerie said of any House leaders who tolerated Foley’s behavior.

Read More......

New poll shows big trouble for GOP, Bush at 39 again

Bush's approval is dropping again. And, the GOP Congress is in BIG trouble according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll:

The survey shows that by 41%-18%, Americans say recent news developments have made them less favorable toward continued Republican control of Congress; by 34%-23% they called themselves more favorably inclined toward Democratic control. It also shows a decline in Mr. Bush's job approval rating to 39% from 42% earlier this month.

Even more problematic for Republicans' campaign positions, the survey shows that a 46% plurality of Americans now believes the war in Iraq is hurting the nation's ability to win the war against terrorism. That's up from 32% earlier this month when Americans were nearly evenly divided over whether the war was helping, hurting or not making a difference in the war on terrorism.

Read More......

Rep. Tom Reynolds' (R-NY) aide apparently changes story of why he attempted to stop ABC from publishing lurid instant message chats

Check out this article in today's Los Angeles Times, it's riddled with contradictions that are quite serious.

1. The most important contradiction is about why Reynolds' top aide tried to basically bribe ABC to not run the details of the lurid instant message chats.

Reynolds' chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, retained a lawyer. You'll recall that Fordham tried to get ABC to not publish the really damning "take off your shorts" instant messages last Friday. Fordham's lawyer now claims that this wasn't an attempt to obstruct justice, but rather, was an attempt to shield "his boss" (not clear if that's Foley or Reynolds, Fordham used to be Foley's chief of staff and campaign manager) for the controversy.

The aide's attempt to ask ABC not to publish or air the instant messages was not an effort to withhold the information from law enforcement, Heaphy said.

"It was never an attempt to obstruct justice," [Fordham's lawyer Tim] Heaphy said. "It was an attempt to shield his boss from the political storm."

That's interesting, since Fordham told USA Today in this morning's paper that the reason he tried to get ABC not to publish the messages was to shield Foley's sister and parents from the lurid details - not his boss.

Kirk Fordham told reporters he was trying to spare Foley's sister, Donna, and his ailing parents from the "lurid" details. He called "absurd" assertions that he was trying to cover up the incident.

"Perhaps a bit naively, I was thinking of Mark's family, primarily his parents," said Fordham, who is now chief of staff for Rep. Thomas Reynolds of New York, who is chairman of the House GOP campaign committee. "It was never, ever my intention to suppress this information."

Having the lawyer and the client giving two different stories to the morning papers doesn't do a lot for one's credibility. Mr. Reynolds has some explaining to do.

2. Reynolds says he never gave Fordham permission to become Foley's spokesman. Then why does he still work for you?

Reynolds, who is locked in a tight reelection battle for his own upstate New York seat, was forced to address his aide's role on Tuesday, telling reporters that Fordham acted without his knowledge. He said he didn't discuss the Foley matter with Fordham until Friday.

"I didn't give him permission to have any conversations that he's had at any time with Mark Foley, either as his friend or as his former employer," said Reynolds, adding that Fordham was interacting with Foley on his own time.

Okay, great. Then what do you plan to do about the fact that your chief of staff decided to become the spokesman for a child sex predator? Or are you okay with that?

3. The NRCC, the Republican political/election organization, wrote Foley's resignation letter?

The NRCC wrote Foley's resignation letter, which was transferred to Foley's stationery and signed by the congressman during a gathering at his house that included Fordham and Foley's sister, who has been his closest friend and political advisor.

Ah, so Reynolds, who was now in the loop on the matter per his own admission, decided it was best to have the Republican election group write Foley's resignation letter because he saw this as a political issue rather than an issue of child safety? What in God's name was Reynolds doing writing Foley's resignation letter? And if this is true, why didn't we learn about it days ago?

4. Reynolds is now claiming that HE was the one who told Foley to resign. Funny, because yesterday it was Denny Hastert who took credit for asking Foley to resign (this was after Hastert claimed that no one asked Foley to resign). We learn the following in today's USA Today:

Fordham said that Reynolds instructed him to tell Foley that he needed to resign.

Here's what Hastert said yesterday, according to ABC News that noticed the Hastert contradiction:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL), under fire from both sides of the aisle for his actions in the Foley email scandal, was asked directly by a reporter in yesterday's press conference if the leadership had asked for Foley's resignation.

On Monday, Hastert said: "I think Foley resigned almost immediately upon the outbreak of this information, and so we really didn't have a chance to ask him to resign, and I left at the very end of the session, almost, before the very last vote."

But during Tuesday’s radio interview with Rush Limbaugh, he seemed to change his story, saying: "We found out about it, asked him to resign. He did resign. He's gone." He then repeated that line in a Tuesday interview with Sean Hannity.

Confused? You should be. The story changes by the hour.

Had enough? Read More......

NY Times Editorial slams Hastert, Boehner, Reynolds, Shimkus

All four of these GOP leaders in Congress screwed up. They put politics over the safety of the pages. And, they can't even get their stories straight:

Mr. Hastert hardly sounds like an effective leader who intends to investigate the allegations thoroughly, particularly now that the focus is shifting from Mr. Foley’s conduct to whether House leaders covered it up. His remarks struck the same dismissive tone as the White House spokesman Tony Snow’s references to “naughty e-mails.”

It is disturbingly difficult to straighten out the basics of who said and did what when. John Boehner, the majority leader, was saying late last week that he did not recall informing Mr. Hastert that there was a problem with Mr. Foley. Now he is insisting he did and trying to dump the mess in the speaker’s lap. Thomas Reynolds, the New York Republican who heads the National Republican Congressional Committee, insists he told Mr. Hastert this spring of his concerns about Mr. Foley. But Mr. Hastert says he does not recall being told.

There are more unanswered questions. When John Shimkus, the Illinois Republican who is chairman of the House Page Board, learned of the Foley problem, he informed the House clerk, but not the Democrat on the committee, or anyone in the Democratic leadership. It is unclear why he withheld the information. The pages’ well-being should have been his primary concern, not partisan politics.

Mr. Reynolds, who was one of the few members of Congress to know about the Foley problem early on, insists he did all he had to when he “took it to my supervisor,” Mr. Hastert. But Mr. Reynolds is a key member of the House leadership, and his constituents need to know whether he knew enough to have done more than he did. We’d also like to know why, in the months when Mr. Reynolds was one of the few people to know of Mr. Foley’s misconduct, Mr. Foley contributed $100,000 to Mr. Reynolds’s Congressional campaign committee.

The first vote cast by House members is for the Speaker. Every GOP candidate needs to say if they'll vote for Hastert again. And, they all need to go on the record about whether they still want Boehner as their Leader.

The way things are going Nancy Pelosi will be Speaker. At best, Hastert will be Minority Leader with Boehner as Whip. But, it's still the first vote. All the Republicans in the House -- and all the GOP candidates -- have an ownership in their leaders. Make them own Hastert, Boehner, Reynolds and Shimkus. Read More......

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Last night on Larry King Live, Republican Congressman Ray Lahood said that the page program was "flawed" and basically Congress couldn't handle it (i.e., couldn't keep its zipper closed around children). Think about that. They can't control a small program of 80 kids in their own building.

No wonder Iraq is quagmire. No wonder the deficit is out of control. No wonder the Katrina response was such a disaster. The GOP can't manage the page program. They don't deserve to run the government. (Also, notice how LaHood says that Hastert's staffer apparently runs the entire office - no one told him about it, LaHood says. Cute, but several members of Congress told Hastert about the emails, so LaHood needs to stop playing down this scandal.)

Having said that, Cong. Robert Wexler (D-FL) kicks LaHood's ass in this interview. Wexler is amazing. We need to hear more from this guy, Tim Ryan (D-OH), and the other young kick-ass Dems who are clearly the future of the party.

Read More......

Have we hit the tipping point in the 2006 campaign?

It looks like there are just too many issues coming together at once for the GOP. Support for Bush has dropped back into the 30s and many more Americans are convinced that Iraq has damaged the US effort to fight the war on terror. Add to that increasing approval for Democrats and the numbers are certainly encouraging for the Democrats. Read More......

GOP Congressman thinks Foley's alcoholism is a "gimmick"

Oh dear. These are troubled times for the GOP who are trying their hardest to weasel out of a self-created problem (besides the other self-made problem, the 800 pound gorilla called Iraq) and now they have one of their own calling it like most Americans see it. I wonder what King and the public think of the news conference that Reynolds had with a room full of kids as he discussed the Foley situation. How low can they go?

Among the skeptics, Rep. Peter King , R-N.Y., a former colleague, said on Fox News Channel: "I don't buy this at all. I think this is a phony defense. The fact is, I think he's responsible for what he did here and I think it's a gimmick."

Read More......

Congressman Tom Reynolds (R-NY), our hero! Or was that Denny Hastert? It's all so confusing.

Yes, you may not have realized it, but Congressman Tom Reynolds, far from being a scamp who helped sweep the Foley child sex predator scandal under the rug, is really a hero. Really, honest to gosh.

You see, we learn today from USA Today that all these days the congressman has been sputtering, unable to answer a coherent question about the Foley scandal and his role in it, he was really simply refusing to tell us what a hero he really was.

How so? Well, we now suddenly learn that supposedly Congressman Reynolds was the one who demanded that Mr. Foley resign, and so Foley did.

Fordham said he then went to his boss, who said Foley must resign. Fordham then went to Foley's home with a resignation letter, which Foley signed.

Isn't that amazing? All the more so since Denny Hastert today claimed that HE was one who demanded Mark Foley resign - and of course, just a few days ago Hastert said he never asked Foley to resign. But who's keeping track, these are HEROS we're talking about, we don't need facts.

So there you have it. Tom Reynolds came to our rescue and demanded that the big bad child-snatching congressman resign. Unless of course it was really Denny Hastert who demanded Foley resign, then Reynolds is simply a liar. Unless Hastert is lying too, then they're both liars.

But hey, you go to war with the heros you've got.

PS We also learn from the article that far from trying to cover up the evidence of Foley's wrongdoing, Reynolds' chief of staff was really just trying to protect the womenfolk in the Foley family from the "lurid details." (You know how silly women get.) God bless those Republicans, always looking out for the women and children.

Well, at least the women.

(Of course, this still begs the question of what Mr. Reynolds' chief of staff was doing working the phones for Foley in the first place. We're to believe that Reynolds had little involvement in the Foley affair when he learned of the emails months ago, yet when the scandal breaks into the open it's Reynolds' chief of staff working as de facto crisis chief of staff for Foley, apparently with Reynolds' permission. So which one is it - was Reynolds' staff at the center of the scandal or not?) Read More......

GOP members and staffers knew about Foley's behavior for over 11 years, former page says

Washington Post

"Mark Foley knew that he could get away with this type of behavior with male pages because he was a congressman," [former page Mark] Beck-Heyman said. "But many people on Capitol Hill, including many high-level Republican staffers and members, have known for over 11 years about what was going on and chose to do nothing."

Read More......