Tucker Carlson: The Republicans hate evangelicals

From the Daily Dish:

CARLSON: It goes deeper than that though. The deep truth is that the elites in the Republican Party have pure contempt for the evangelicals who put their party in power. Everybody in ...

MATTHEWS: How do you know that? How do you know that?

CARLSON: Because I know them. Because I grew up with them. Because I live with them. They live on my street. Because I live in Washington, and I know that everybody in our world has contempt for the evangelicals. And the evangelicals know that, and they're beginning to learn that their own leaders sort of look askance at them and don't share their values.

MATTHEWS: So this gay marriage issue and other issues related to the gay lifestyle are simply tools to get elected?

CARLSON: That's exactly right. It's pandering to the base in the most cynical way, and the base is beginning to figure it out.

No one could have ever imagined that the Republicans would hate the intolerant, doctrinaire, all-demanding and never-happy bigots in their own party. Read the rest of this post...

I really wish Washington Post reporters would read the Washington Post

It's amazing what they might learn.

For example, in tomorrow's Washington Post we learn that GOP Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) issued a statement saying that he never saw emails a former Page brought to his attention (emails from Foley to the Page that creeped the Page out) back in 2000 or so, Kolbe was not aware the emails were sexually explicit, and that Kolbe did not personally talk to Foley about those emails.

Here is what tomorrow's Post article says:

Meanwhile yesterday, Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) issued a statement regarding his knowledge of one complaint about Foley's dealings with pages. Kolbe said that several years ago, a former page alerted his office to "e-mails from Rep. Foley that made him uncomfortable." Kolbe, a former member of the House Page Board, said he did not see the messages "and was not told they were sexually explicit."

Kolbe said that at his suggestion, the complaint was taken to Foley's office and to the House clerk, who oversees the page program on the speaker's behalf.

Of course, what you won't learn in tomorrow's Washington Post story about Mr. Kolbe's statement is that Kolbe just totally contradicted the statement his spokeswoman gave the Post on Monday - that would be 48 hours ago. Here is what Monday's Washington Post reported:

A Republican congressman knew of disgraced former representative Mark Foley's inappropriate Internet exchanges as far back as 2000 and personally confronted Foley about his communications.

A spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) confirmed yesterday that a former page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel uncomfortable with the direction Foley (R-Fla.) was taking their e-mail relationship....

A source with direct knowledge of Kolbe's involvement said the messages shared with Kolbe were sexually explicit, and he read the contents to The Washington Post under the condition that they not be reprinted. But Cline denied the source's characterization, saying only that the messages had made the former page feel uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she said, "corrective action" was taken. Cline said she has not yet determined whether that action went beyond Kolbe's confrontation with Foley.

So, on Monday we learned from the Washington Post that Kolbe confronted Foley about the creepy emails to the kid, and that he had personally seen the emails. We also learn that a second source read the emails to the Post and they were reportedly sexually explicit (you'll note the Post didn't deny that fact). But then tomorrow we learn that Kolbe didn't confront Foley and that Kolbe never saw the emails, and was never aware that they were sexually explicit.

Only problem is, tomorrow's Post article doesn't tell you all of that. Why not? Who knows. They just reprint Kolbe's statement when they know he's just contradicted his own spokeswoman and a second source. I.e., the Washington Post pretty much knows Kolbe is lying, but they reprint what he says anyway, with no additional information.

And reporters wonder why the blogs get so ticked at them. Why do people have to find out about these things from me when it's in your own newspaper? Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Man, another busy day. And while you're open-threading away, have a look at Arianna's latest on the Foley scandal.

Also, ThinkProgress has the video of John McCain now blaming Bill Clinton for the fact that North Korea didn't build any nuclear bombs during his entire presidency, but has now been allowed to build one six years into the Bush presidency. The buck apparently never stops here in the Bush presidency or Republican-controlled Washington, DC. Read the rest of this post...

Sickening comment by Kolbe today - apparently channeling John Shimkus (R-IL)

This is Shimkus all over again. A member of the Page Board, this time Kolbe, is informed of a problem with the pages, and he seemingly doesn't go to his fellow page board members. And to top it off, Kolbe made this rather sickening comment today in his public statement on the matter:

I believed then, and believe now, that this was the appropriate way to handle this incident given the information I had and the fact that the young man was no longer a Page and not subject to the jurisdiction of the program.

Not subject to the jurisdiction of the program? That's sounds like a nice legalistic way of saying that you simply don't give a damn if a 50 year old man is preying on 16 year old children. Because you don't have jurisdiction? Are you kidding? Does Denny Hastert agree with this perverted logic?

Apparently Kolbe wasn't worried that Mr. Foley might try (or was already trying) the same shenanigans with CURRENT pages, nor was Kolbe apparently curious as to how Mr. Foley got to know the former Page he was currently harassing - was Foley using the current Page crop as a farm team of sorts? Kind of an obvious question, but one that apparently Kolbe wasn't very interested in pursuing - assuming he's telling the truth. Perhaps Foley harassment of the Page started while the kid was still a Page - wouldn't that be relevant to the overly legalistic Mr. Kolbe?

We'll never know any of these answers because Kolbe wiped his hands of the situation since the kid had left the Page program "some time ago." As if Foley's knowing the kid had nothing to do with the Page program whatsoever. This is disgusting. Read the rest of this post...

ABC: Hastert today contradicted yet another member of Congress

UPDATE: And let's not forget that Kolbe contradicted his own staff today on the Foley scandal as well. We're in our second week of this scandal and these guys are still spinning tales.

From ABC:

Last month, before the Foley scandal broke, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fl., also learned about the dormitory incident, which she says she was told about from first hand sources. After learning about an inappropriate but not sexually charged e-mail Foley sent, which had been posted on ABCNews.com's "The Blotter" on Thursday Sept. 28, Brown-Waite decided to launch her own investigation. She says she alerted GOP leadership on Friday, Sept. 29, about both the dorm incident and pages who had been made to feel uncomfortable by Foley. That evening, the Foley scandal erupted with news of the lurid Instant Messages Foley had sent former pages.

But in Aurora, Illinois, today Hastert told ABC News that he didn't know of any Foley incident other than those conducted via computer.

Read the rest of this post...

Kolbe was a member of the Page Board when the earlier emails were brought to his attention

We just found this on our own - it was Joe's idea - but CNN apparently has also confirmed it.

Kolbe was a member of the House Page Board when the e-mails were brought to his attention.

So we're to believe that Kolbe was a member of the Page Board, but when a former Page came to him - a Page who Kolbe sponsored (was he a constituent, a family friend?) and said that he was being harassed by another member of Congress, Kolbe told the kid, basically, you're on your own? Deal with it yourself? Go confront your abuser when you're only 16 and he's nearly 50 and a member of Congress?

If that's Kolbe's story, it's an incredible dereliction of duty. And frankly, I don't believe it. Read the rest of this post...

GOP Rep. Kolbe contradicts own spokeswoman on role in Foley child sex predator scandal

TPMmuckraker points out the discrepancies:

Kolbe spokeswoman Korenna Kline told The Washington Post that the congressman had personally confronted Foley about his inappropriate exchanges. Kolbe now says he merely "recommended" that the page's complaint "be passed along to Rep. Foley's office and the Clerk who supervised the Page program." (Kolbe's full statement is after the jump.)

Kline also told the WaPo that the page had showed the offending messages to Kolbe. In his statement, Kolbe denies ever seeing the messages. (A source told the WaPo that the messages, which have not been released, were "sexually explicit.")

The congressman gave no explanation for why his version of events contradicts that of his spokeswoman. Kolbe also implies now that this really wasn't his problem, since "the young man was no longer a Page and not subject to the jurisdiction of the program.”

Read the rest of this post...

Don "The Choker" Sherwood vs. Tom "The Enabler" Reynolds

I have to admit, after reading Joe's post below, I was scratching my head trying to figure out who was more afraid of being seen with whom at their upcoming fundraising event: The Choker (R-PA) or the Child Sex Predator Enabler (R-NY). Well, the votes are in: They're both claiming they were the ones who canceled on the other.

Reynolds' people are citing a scheduling conflict, but a Sherwood spokesman says criticism of Reynolds' handling of the Mark Foley scandal was a factor.

Read the rest of this post...

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Kolbe was apparently close to the same Page with whom Foley had the lurid instant message chat

This is important because it suggests that Kolbe, and the page, may be more involved in this entire affair than had been previously thought.

1. The Washington Post reports yesterday that Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) invited four former Pages to stay at his apartment in Washington, DC while he was out of town. On its face, not necessarily a problem, but still a bit odd.

2.The Post reports that the source for this factoid about the Pages being invited to Kolbe's place is former Page Jordan Edmund.

Kolbe once invited four former pages to make use of his Washington home while he was out of town, according to an instant message between Foley and another former page, Jordan Edmund, in January 2002. The pages planned to attend a first-year reunion of their page class. But because of a snowstorm, they did not take Kolbe up on his offer, according to one of the four pages.

3. Note that Edmund revealed this fact in an instant message chat with now-ex Congressman Mark Foley (R-FL). And that Edmund is the same Page who reportedly had the salacious instant message chat with Foley that ABC published and that prompted Foley to resign. So Edmund, presumably, knew both Foley and Kolbe pretty well, or well enough to have sex chats with Foley and be trusted with the home of Kolbe.

4. Also note that I just confirmed with the Washington Post that Edmund was in fact one of the four pages invited to stay at Kolbe's home while Kolbe was out of town (that fact was unclear in the Post article).

Okay, so here are the questions and observations:

1. There has been talk over the past few days that Edmund, a conservative Republican, was simply "joking around" with Foley in those instant message chats. I have no way of proving or disproving that allegation, but it's interesting that Edmund was apparently on good enough terms with the only other openly gay Republican member of Congress to be invited to stay at his home while the congressman was out of town. That ties Edmund to two openly gay congressman. Not that there's anything wrong with it, it's just interesting.

2. It's interesting on its face that Kolbe was close to the same Page with whom Foley had the salacious chats.

3. It's also interesting that the Page was willing to tell Foley about private discussions he and his friends were having with Kolbe. That begs the question whether the Page was equally open about telling Kolbe about the private discussions he and his friends were having with Foley, i.e., the lurid ones.

4. Why did Kolbe and Foley know the same Page, apparently quite well?

5. This suggests that, at least in one case, Kolbe and Foley may have gotten to the know the Pages at the same time, or at least shared their friendship with the Page in some way - meaning, did they all hang out together, did one congressman introduce the Page to the other? It begs the question of how involved Kolbe was with this entire affair, and at the very least whether Kolbe knew more about Foley's indiscretions with the Pages, either from talking to the Pages or to Foley.

There are a lot more questions. But in a nutshell, it's strikes me as more than a little odd that the same Page's name has now come up with regards to two different congressmen. Read the rest of this post...

Rep. Kolbe (R-AZ): I told page to notify Speaker's staffer in 2000

Congressman Kolbe issued a statement today, according to CNN:

KOLBE: Sometime after leaving the Page program, an individual I had appointed contacted my office to say that he had received emails from Rep. Foley that made him uncomfortable. I was not shown the content of the messages and was not told they were sexually explicit. It was my recommendation that this complaint be passed along to Rep. Foley's office and the Clerk [of the House, Hastert's staffer] who supervised the Page program.

1. We're to believe that a recent former staffer of Kolbe's, who is a child, came to him and said he thinks he's being sexually harassed by a fellow member of Congress who Kolbe knows extremely well, and Kolbe's response is to tell the child victim to confront his adult abuser? You have got to be kidding. Kolbe should consider resigning now, before his term ends, just on that basis alone - if this allegation is even true.

2. Kolbe is confirming that Foley's behavior was known in 2000.

3. Kolbe is also confirming that notification of Foley's behavior was made - or may have been made, we need to check with the former page - to the Speaker's staff, the Clerk of the House, in 2000. We're to believe that the Clerk didn't tell anyone else? No other staffers, no other members?

4. We're to believe that Kolbe and his staff didn't tell anybody about the child's complaint, ever - which is what Kolbe is now alleging?

5. If Foley's office was contacted in 2000 about this, then someone on Foley's staff was aware of the congressman's problem back in 2000. Who was that, and what did they do as a result? Read the rest of this post...

Hastert does press conference about Foley scandal in front of a graveyard

(The video is at the bottom of this post.)

First, Hastert outright lied during his press conference. It is simply amazing that GOP leaders are still trying to downplay the severity of this scandal. More on that below.

I cannot believe they chose this as the back drop. Check out the terror-ticker at the bottom of the screen. I also love how CNN posted the word "Live" at the top of the screen to help the viewers distinguish between Hastert and the dead.

Some snippets from Hastert's press conference this morning:

REPORTER: How satisfied are you as to how your staff has handled this scandal so far and whether anyone should resign in your office.

HASTERT: Well I, uh, you know, look, this, I understand my, I have, understood what my staff told me, uh and uh I think from that response they've handled it as well as uh they should. However, in 20/20 hindsight probably you can do everything a little bit better....

I didn't think anybody at any time in my office did anything wrong. I found out about these revelations last Friday, that is the first information I had about it.

The problem we have to do today is, you know, this didn't happen under our wa [Hastert catches himself mid-word, then continues] while pages were in Washington. It happened after these people left, in my understanding, left the page program, at least the ones we're dealing with now, left the program and they were contacted after they left the program.

Excuse me? We have numerous members of Congress saying you were informed personally about this matter - so, it's cute to be talking about how your staff handled this and how you only found out about this last Friday. You were informed years ago. (I'm sure you're really dedicated to finding out who really killed Nicole, aren't you OJ Hastert?)

Secondly, this didn't happen under you watch? It only happened outside Washington, so the implication is that somehow it didn't happen under your nose? That's a lie. We already know that your staff was informed numerous times, and you were informed numerous times, that Foley was getting inappropriately close to the 16 year old pages WHILE HE AND THE PAGES WERE ON THE JOB TOGETHER. That is an utter lie to suggest that the untoward behavior only happened after the pages left Washington, so thus it didn't take place under your watch. The pages were warned to stay away from Foley in 2001 UNDER YOUR WATCH. An utter outright lie.

Moving on, we also know for a fact that your staff was informed by several members of Congress and by several congressional staffers, about this matter. We even know that your staff was involved in talking to Foley about this matter. You're now trying to claim that your staff never told you for six years that a member of your leadership was a child sex predator, but that's apparently okay because you can't find anything wrong with how your staff handled this?

Here's the actual video of the Hastert graveyard press conference - it's only 3 minutes long.

Read the rest of this post...

Damn Jews, I mean, gays

From a top GOP "family values" advocate:

House leaders permitted homosexuals to infiltrate and manipulate the party apparatus while they publicly postured as friends of family values and traditional marriage. The facade is now in ruins.

Other than that, Mrs. Rabinowitz, how'd you like the article? The article goes on to blast Hastert and the GOP leadership - clearly the rift with the religious right has not been healed.

On the Fox News Sunday program, conservative Republican Rep. Jack Kingston continued to insist, in a shameful display of partisan spin, that the messages to the 16-year-old were just “friendly” and that House leaders handled the matter properly. The fact remains that House leaders conducted no investigation into the Foley matter and didn’t inform the Democratic member of the House committee overseeing the pages as to what Foley was up to....

House leaders had plenty of time to react so that it would not emerge as a campaign issue so close to the November elections. They can’t blame Soros or the Democrats for their own failure... secret Republican homosexuals are working behind-the-scenes to sabotage a conservative pro-family agenda in the Congress....

Despite Kolbe’s living a lie and changing his position on legislation in response to homosexual pressure, Hastert and Vice President Dick Cheney hailed his congressional career in video tributes delivered at the 2006 convention of the Log Cabin Republicans, the homosexual activist group. Kolbe is retiring from Congress.

For the sake of honest and open government, not to mention protection of the children, the secret Capitol Hill homosexual network must be exposed and dismantled. But only Republican leaders can do that. Their failure to do so suggests that the network may go higher and deeper—and have more power—than even the New York Times article indicated.

Secret Republican homosexuals? It reads better in the original German. Read the rest of this post...

George Allen (R-VA) lied about stock options, said they were "worthless," actually worth $1.1 million

George Allen is really one rich and out of touch Republican. How else could one explain his determination that stock options worth $1.1. million are worthless? I bet a lot of his constituents in Virginia would think of that as A LOT OF MONEY.

But, not George Allen. He said those options, which he failed to report as required by Senate rules, were worthless. Now we know the rule story. Does this man every tell the truth about his past?

From Bloomberg:

Stock options that Senator George Allen described as worthless were worth as much as $1.1 million at one point, according to a review of Senate disclosure forms and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

The records appear to contradict remarks he made to the Associated Press. ``I got paid in stock options which were worthless,'' AP quoted him as saying.

Allen served as a board member of Chantilly, Virginia-based Xybernaut Corp. from 1998 until December 2000 and was awarded options on 110,000 shares during that period. His Senate financial disclosure form for 1999, required for candidates as well as officeholders, doesn't report that he owned the options.

George Allen is worthless.

Check out Jim Webb for Senate. He's going to win. Read the rest of this post...

Hastert, Reynolds cancel on Don "The Choker" Sherwood -- will Bush show on Oct. 19?

Okay, this is rich. It's the clash of Republican sex scandals. Republicans across the country are running from Speaker Hastert and NRCC Chair Tom Reynolds. But, not Don Sherwood. He wanted them. But, Hastert and Reynolds don't want to be seen with him. The toxic leaders are dissing the even more toxic Choker:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert and another Republican leader criticized for his role in the congressional page scandal will not be appearing at fundraisers on behalf of a Pennsylvania congressman who has admitted to an extramarital affair.

Democrats have accused Hastert, R-Ill., and Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-N.Y., of doing too little to protect teenage male pages from Rep. Mark Foley. The Florida Republican resigned Sept. 29 after the disclosure of inappropriate electronic messages to a former congressional page.

Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Pa., had been considered to have a safe seat for re-election until a woman filed suit against him and alleged that he had choked her during an altercation at his Capitol Hill apartment. Sherwood admitted to having an affair with the woman but denied hurting her. They settled the case out of court.

President Bush is scheduled to appear at a fundraiser for Sherwood on October 19th. Will the Prez appear for the Choker? Or will Bush drop him just like Hastert and Reynolds did?

UPDATE: Sherwood's opponent, Chris Carney is running a great campaign. It's still a very Republican district. Help him out if you can...either at his campaign site or his ActBlue page. At this point, everything helps. Read the rest of this post...

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

So, are you scared yet? In the NY Times/CBS poll, an astounding 83% of Americans think Bush is hiding something or lying when he talks about how Iraq is going. But, the White House thinks Americans going to trust him -- and let him strike fear -- on North Korea. Not going to happen.

Four weeks til election day. Read the rest of this post...

Majority of Americans think Hastert should resign

Sounds like a hostile crowd for the GOP according to the new CNN poll:

- 75% said Republicans took inappropriate steps
- 52% said they believe the GOP leadership didn't investigate the charges earlier because they were deliberately covering the scandal up
- 39% approval for Bush
- 28% approval for Congress
- 58% of likely voters to support Democrats
- 34% think most members of Congress deserve re-election

It doesn't sound as though Americans are interested in staying the course. Read the rest of this post...

Army continues to use lower standards

Because cutting corners always works so well in the Don Rumsfeld Pentagon?

According to statistics obtained by The Associated Press, 3.8 percent of the first-time recruits scored below certain aptitude levels. In previous years, the Army had allowed only 2 percent of its recruits to have low aptitude scores. That limit was increased last year to 4 percent, the maximum allowed by the Defense Department.

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Man that was a busy day for a holiday. Read the rest of this post...