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The Republican coverup for La Cage Aux Foley has put all the tentacles of the Mighty Wurlitzer into overdrive. Did you ever wonder how low they could go to keep themselves in power? Wonder no more! Making excuses for sexual predators who abuse their authority as elected officials and prey on kids online? No problem!
On MSNBC we learn from Mike Viqueria that it's all just the Democrats trying to use this as an election stunt and kids were routinely warned about LOTS of Congressmen, Tony Snow says on behalf of the President it's nothing more than a few off-color emails, Dennis Hastert thinks the important thing to investigate is who leaked the IMs in the first place (probably a danger to national security), and now Matt Drudge says -- yes, wait for it -- it's the kid's fault for (I kid you not) "Egging the Congressman On" (says the Eggman).
No surprised here really; as Atrios noted this morning, even the NYT is being remarkably compliant, featuring the one article that promoted Foley as a poor, sick fellow and back paging everything about the coverup. Well, it's all about the coverup. Just ask Richard Nixon.
Please please listen to these Matt Drudge radio clips at Crooks & Liars, because this is where the GOP Protection Racket that Hastert has run for years is going with this. Drudge is, after all, their flagship:
Clip #1: And if anything, these kids are less innocent -- these 16 and 17 year-old beasts...and I've seen what they're doing on YouTube and I've seen what they're doing all over the internet -- oh yeah -- you just have to tune into any part of their pop culture. You're not going to tell me these are innocent babies. Have you read the transcripts that ABC posted going into the weekend of these instant messages, back and forth? The kids are egging the Congressman on! The kids are trying to get this out of him. We haven't got the whole story on this.
I'm sorry but this really does take the cake for just about the worst thing I've ever seen the right wing try to apologize for. Isn't that what pedophiles always say? It's the kid's fault for seducing them? Right. And it gets better. Back to you Matt:
Clip #2: You could say "well Drudge, it's abuse of power, a congressman abusing these impressionable, young 17 year-old beasts, talking about their sex lives with a grown man, on the internet." Because you have to remember, those of us who have seen some of the transcripts of these nasty instant messages. This was two ways, ladies and gentlemen. These kids were playing Foley for everything he was worth. Oh yeah. Oh, I haven't...they were talking about how many times they'd masturbated, how many times they'd done it with their girlfriends this weekend...all these things and these "innocent children." And this "poor" congressman sitting there typing, "oh am I going to get any," you know?
I swear I am not making this up. Listen to it. Drudge is so fucking sick it's really, really disturbing, but to know he's doing it on behalf of the official Bush-Hastert-Boehner-Reynolds GOP coverup is the truly demented part.
No limits to how low they will go. Absolutely no limits.
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Fitz (and the coveted zero)
Is The Eggman saying that the virtuous Republican offspring of GOP-connected parents are sex fiends? What does that say about their upbring? Should Republicans be allowed to marry and/or reproduce? Inquiring minds want to know!
Can Pelosi introduce an Anti-GOP-Marriage Amendment?
I am so tired of hearing it is the rape victim who is responsible for the attack. Just by breathing, the victim caused the rape.
It is always the victim’s fault didn’t you know?
Just because you are standing on the street corner and someone attacks you, it is the victims fault just because they were standing there.
THESE are children, CHILDREN…. they cannot vote, they cannot serve in the military, they have to be emancipated to be able to make decisions for themselves. YEEE GOD…. CHILDREN!
(Screen save it, windje, for your scrapbook. ;-)
For what it is worth:
Foley did not suddenly develop a shine for sex with young boys out of the blue.
He has been a perpetrator for years.
There is worse to come out.
Fist, pickel and eggs - GOP family values!
Kobe!
And Drudge’s logic is inescapable. Because the kid allegedly reciprocated, that therefore relieves an adult of any and all responsiblity for his behavior.
Right…
EPU’d
Q. What did Matt Drudge IM Mark Foley?
A. I’m returning your page.
Drudge fancies hisself a hard-boiled journalist, but I think he’s cracking up.
(apologies to punaise)
This behavior is appalling.It must stop.
Thank you Jane Harmon! and our Jane for bringing it up~
And, to be clear, I haven’t seen anything that indicates that the victim was ‘reciprocating.’ Just quoting my man, Drudgie.
Just like women are begging to be raped because they have breast.
Unreal. Wonder how the parents of those “beasts” feel about it? How about their brothers and sisters? Were these “beasts” sold into the trade?
what a pig drudge is.
CAPTION CONTEST
Foley had me measure it. What is the big deal?
ok: WHITE HOUSE PAGES HATE OUR FREEDOM!!!!
Funny - all of these same people were intent on portraying Monica “Earning my Presidential Knee Pads” Lewinsky as the innocent victim of a horrific, fiendish CHILD MOLESTER, even though she was over 21!
Amazing how the standards change, depending on party affiliation.
coo coo cachoo
(see how they run)
Froggermarch @ 8, Great pun!
Moon @ 12
I prefer breasteses!
:-)
Moon @ 12: Actually, each woman has two.
Based on the photo, can we get Quentin Tarantino to play Drudge in the movie version?
oh and why is drudge checking out child porn anyway???
And never forget they fucking IMPEACHED Clinton
It looks as if Foley’s former chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, who is Reynolds’ current chief of staff, attempted to cover up the publication of the IMs:
via Americablog
this howie kurtz story:
(scroll down)
Foley’s Showdown With ABC
On Friday afternoon, a strategist for Rep. Mark Foley tried to cut a deal with ABC’s Brian Ross.
The correspondent, who had dozens of instant messages that Foley sent to teenage House pages, had asked to interview the Florida Republican. Foley’s former chief of staff said the congressman was quitting and that Ross could have that information exclusively if he agreed not to publish the raw, sexually explicit messages.
“I said we’re not making any deals,” Ross recalls.
If, as has been reported elsewhere, that “former chief of staff” is Kirk Fordham, Tom Reynolds’ current chief of staff, he has to resign immediately, for attempting to cover up Foley’s despicable, and possibly criminal, actions.
Drudge was eating breakfast while reading the paper, and got egg all over the page.
FTucker of msgop just said that everyone on the hill knew that FOLEY was too freiendly with Pages!!!ha ha ha . . .
katymine @ 3
And in two years, at 18, they can put on uniforms, military this time, and get shipped over to Iraq and BushCo’s endless war to get killed or get their legs blown off because the Republicans don’t care about properly safeguarding them, either…. Oh, Wait…that’s somebody else’s children….
I love watching them try to spin the unspinnable.
Drudge is the beast here.
Old Sow @ 3
And how are things in New England, I believe?
the booty and the beast
Through out all of this I am reminded of instances where ADULT law enforcement officer PRETEND to be underage individuals and the initiator of the lewd conversations, IM etc. are always busted..and the entrapment defense is always rejected….
What makes Drudge’s attempt all the more feeble is that it wouldn’t look any better even if what he says were true. Grownups are supposed to act responsibly regardless of the circumstances.
But I must say, Mr. Drudge, you’re doing yeoman’s work out there. Hung out to dry on this one, with absolutely nothing to work with. Why should you have to clean up all these messes? I am sure Karl isn’t paying you enough for this.
two beers @ 23
Methinks they all have egg on their faces - maybe Matt can tell them how it got there
Not that it matters, but the young “beasts” Drudge condemns would be, erm, Republicans, after all. If you take his argument (and I don’t, by any means) it follows that these Republican-raised kids strayed fairly quickly from “traditional values.”
Personally, I think it was not a failure of the children or even of their parents in raising them, but a failure of Mark Foley and the enablers in the leadership of his party.
Do you prefer your goopers poached, boiled fried or sunny-side up? Don’t answer that, Matt.
Matt “Blame the victim” Drudge?
-GSD
When do we get to “They were asking for it.”
http://www.drunkduck.com/Taking_Stock
It reminds me of our saying, “I’m from Montana where the men are men and the sheep are dirty, lying little tramps.”
Christ on a pogo stick!
I’m not even sure if I can listen to that. He actually refers to these kids, these generally honor-student-all-round-squeaky-cleaners as beasts? (Not to mention all Republicans…)
I am still wondering about the blog where this originated. The reason I bring it up now is that the impetus for starting the blog in the first place was disgust at the articles about ’skinterns’ Just seemed like the salacious angle Drudge is selling, and also struck me as a bit of a sparse site, if you know what I mean…
http://stopsexpredators.blogspot.com/
Looks like this “October Surprise” is over-easy.
-GSD
WWJD?
if you haven’t already seen it, Josh has a good take on the political picture:
oh my. scarborough’s telling dems to stfu:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15106507/from/RS.1/
meltdown.
Along @ 23 - good catch, but don’t stop there!
What if the GOP managed to get ABC News to delay this story, even by just a couple of days? That’s all they needed to pass the torture bill.
Oh, and ABC News had an awful love letter to the Eggman in yesterday’s broadcast.
wow. what an asshole.
Good God. What next — the claim that some of them are Clinton loyalists?
Outrageous and incredible, but who will cover my bet that they get away with it, and NO ONE does the jail time they deserve?
dont forget to help that cute progressive Democratic opponent of Hasterts :: John Laesch via http://www.actblue.com/page/blueamerica
Howie Klein at DWT really lets these wacko’s have it.
Q: Why don’t Republican congressmen use bookmarks?
A: They simply bend their pages over!
But in all seriousness, Sludge is apparently a chickenhawk in both meanings of that wonderful phrase, eh? This spin won’t work unless the media completely drops the story, as pederasty is simply not tolerated in this country by anyone, except apparently the majority party at the WH and Congress.
Raoul
and there’s nothing funny going on with that ‘page’ in the above address, either!
So is Scarborough dredging up the Congressman Gerry Studds story from 1973 or is this a new scandal that he is exposing in an attempt to blackmail Democrats?
I knew this election was going to be ugly, didn’t know it was going to cause the federal government to melt down en mass.
-GSD
unbefuckinglievable.
sin verguenza
Hmmmm, Doro Bush-Koch is on Imus tomorrow morning. A Book push? Or another woman coming out for Bushie to hide behind?
Sure would be nice if Imus gave her the same kind of greeting she gave Tipper Gore from the streets outside the VP residence during the Florida recount debacle.
Got a question for Doro? Maybe about her brother Neil and the Asian hotel hospitality? Bush family values? Or closer to home, the Foley coverup… Or how many Bush kids have enlisted for George’s war?
imus@msnbc.com
Steve @ 47–what is DWT?
-GSD
immanentize @ 51
shameless too !
Wow! I’m stunned.
Bay Buchanan slamming the House leadership, saying everything we are about how much of a red flag indicating grooming of a kid.
She says the GOP leadership failed.
Flat out. Stunning.
Begala and Bay Buchanan hammering Hastert all together now.
Sure seems to follow the Repug playbook to the letter:
1. Never fess up.
2. Lie.
3. Blame the victim.
4. Blame Democrats.
5. Hide in Rehab.
“Btw, Sludge quit drooling over those IMs. You’re blowing our cover”.
Karl “Well blow me” Rove
Oh, sorry.
Should say that’s Bay Buchanan on CNN.
*ilson46201 @ 53
HA!
Mrs. K8 @ 54
Heh Heh, WOW!!!!
How long before the parents of one or more of the victims go ballistic at this “blame the victim” strategy? If it were my child, I don’t know that I would be able to restrain myself from giving these dirtbags a piece of my mind. I might possibly be sitting in a lawyer’s office, exploring my options for legal action, among other things.
And how long before they realize this is the world’s stupidest strategy, doing more to alienate people with real values, and guaranteeing that more people either vote Democratic, or just stay home in disgust? Is their “base” actually willing to demonize the pages on the assumption that these kids were or are gay, and gay people are fair game no matter how young? Is that the message? Is this dog whistle stuff?
Jesus, this all makes me want to take a shower.
Jane, if you need a photo of Mark Foley with Tom Reynolds, here’s an odd one of them “holding each others’ swords” at “the Rough Rider Awards Ceremony.” Courtesy of RochesterTurning courtesy of somebody else.
Bay says what the thugs said to the pages was: “fend for yourselves.”
Mad Dogs @
57
Indeed… no shame whatsoever.
uh…Oh… they lost Michael Reagon!
O.M.G. Who the hell ARE these people???
I hope to God this gets heard by as many as possible because I think it will tank Mr. Drudge for good. He sounds as sick as Foley. Seriously, I’m sitting here in shock from listening to that. A few folks I know actually read his site and I’m going to make sure they hear this. Unbelievable. These people are truly depraved.
When does Barbara Bush give her, “Well, these kids were gay anyway, so that worked out quite well for them” speech?
Bay is PISSED OFF big time!
Anne @ 60
Great question — these parents are generally well-connected donors in the party. If I were a parent of a young man — straight or gay — who was a page in the last three years, I would take a month off of work to sink these mofos.
GSD @
39
It also looks as if some congressmen are scrambling.
GSD @ 53
down with tyranny (Howie Klein on the blogroll)
I realize that there is nothing funny about this situation, I was just reminded of that old joke. I don’t tolerate pederasts at all, I believe it is the one crime that should be ranked only with first degree murder, because when children are molested it murders their soul.
If the moderators here want to delete or edit the post, they have my permission (as if they need it, I just like to have the illusion of control-lol). We need to hang this issue around the neck of every Republican like the albatross it is.
Raoul
Help me understand.
The parents were told. They said they didn’t want it getting out.
I did not know that parents were allowed to ‘legally’ stop an investigation.
I wonder if the parents were staunch Repugs or if they were coerced into compliance (much like their children).
Where is the law on this?
Yes, yes, yes! Matt Drudge for P R E S I D E N T ! ! ! All I want for Hanukkah is a great big Republican PR campaign about how America’s sex-crazed children are seducing our angelic Congressman. It could be like that movie Reefer Madness:
“See little Johnny…he used to a good kid. Not anymore. It started with a few innocent peeks at YouTube, a few hours volunteering for Howard Dean. Sure…go ahead, Johnny. Try it out. Nothing’s going to happen to you, right? You’re not like those other kids. Ah, that’s what he thought. But it was all down hill from there. Now, look at him. Little Johnny spends all his time trolling the internet for innocent members of the House of Representatives. He even applied to be a Congressional page so he could get closer to his prey. And at 16–oh, yeah, 16–he knows just how to lure those doe-eyed Congressmen into his trap. That Little Johnny–he’s no innocent baby, no ma’am. That cute little freckled boy you used to tuck into bed at night–he’s turned into America’s #1 menace to society: a sex-crazed CONGRESSMAN-O-PHILE. And there’ll be alot more like Johnny if the Democrats are elected…”
It’s almost too surreal for words…worse than Coulter attacking the 9/11 widows.
When does Barbara Bush give her, “Well, these kids were gay anyway, so that worked out quite well for them” speech?
Solid snark.
Anne @
67
Oh that is friggin’ brilliant.
GSD@53 Howie’s web-site..downwithtyranny.blogspot.com
(I’m still learning on my new Mac)
Anne @ 66
ouch, nice barb
Hmmmm.
Is Bay Buchanan plugged into the Rove blast fax system, or is she an “independent,” freelancing wingnut?
If she’s plugged in, I would think that means Hastert (and others?) is being made to walk the plank.
Jane Hamsher @ 75
Wait for it! It should be coming down the road real soon!
op99 @
62
Thanks, Op99. That’s a good one. “Holding each others’ swords” indeed.
oddball @ 73
Regardless of the legality, the appropriate response to the parents should have been, “We’ll do everything we can to keep your child’s name out of this, but we have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that the other kids participating in this program have not been harmed, and to ensure that they are protected from any future harm.”
Redstaters are spinning this yarn - can you say “desperate?”
On the subject of when Foley became Chair of the Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children…
Here’s what I’ve found:
During 108th Congress according to the Committee on House Administration site the Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children was led by Nick Lampson and Bud Cramer.http://cha.house.gov/oversight/108cmo.htm
With Lampson out…the 109th has Mark Foley and Bud Cramer listed as Chairmen http://cha.house.gov/oversight/109cmo.htm
That would mean he began to lead the caucus after the IMs and the warnings in 2001/2.
Ok, it is now the official Hastert resignation watch. Let the pile-on begin!
I can understand this. They’re probably trying to do damage control with their kids. Being molested or singled out by a pedophile is bad enough, the fall out afterwards can be just as bad. Think how humiliating it must be for these poor kids to have these emails public.
I’m sure the parents do want the pedophile stopped, and want him in jail. But their first concern, I’m sure, is for the emotional well being of their child, who has already been harmed.
The only way that this plays out for the majority of the public is that repugs wind up reinforcing their well earned reputation for lying, corruption, hypocrisy…..oh, and not really giving a shit about governing. The public isn’t dumb - or if you happen to think it is dumb, they’re not that dumb.
It doesn’t matter how loudly they shout, or even what they shout, there is NO WAY for it to play out but badly for them.
And the more they talk the worse it will get - they’re trying to defend the indefensible - whether it was legal or not - which, b/c its indefensible, can’t be defensed. So, as usual, I say we sit back and simply watch them dig their ever deeper (proverbial) grave.
punaise @
17
Like pigs from a gun?
katymine @ 65
katymine –
Where does this quote come from? “Part of child pornography“?!?
WTF?!?!?!
Maybe some of those posts over at Rigorous Intuition about child sex rings are not so far off the mark.
Er Matt Drudge. What a creep. I am reading some other posts and I get a strong feeling that Foley wasn’t interested in consensual stuff. It just seems like he was more into cornering kids.
Anne @ 60
I think it’s stupidity, not dog whistle stuff.
From what I gathered when this first broke, the family of the page wanted his name kept out of it, which is part of the rationale Hastert & Co. gave for saying “we kept things quiet”. It’s a fairly typical reaction by the family - though not the healthiest thing for them, their kid, and all the other pages in the program. If you add in the political component to getting an appointment to be a page, and you can figure that there’s a decent likelihood that the family are supporters of their local rep.
That good feeling isn’t going to last, though, if these kinds of comments keep on coming from GOPer talking heads. Watch the local papers in FL, LA, and elsewhere. Once the first family speaks out against these vile comments, there’s going to be a flood. The Jersey Girls proved what a group of angry citizens filled with moral outrage can accomplish, even against the political winds that wanted no accountability.
Hastert and the GOP better watch out if/when the page families start pushing back. The perpetrators of 9-11 were foreign terrorists; the fiends in this drama were the Distinguished Gentleman from Florida and his Distinguished Colleagues in the Republican Leadership that appear to have covered for him (or at least looked the other way).
oddball @ 73
I’d really like it if someone could get a look at their bank deposit statements during/after the relevant time period.
TPMmuckraker gossip..Foley may be at a Scientology de-tox center in Clearwater Fl. jebus!!!
Is Drudge jealous or what?
sofistic @ 85
see how they fly.
I’m crying.
Scarborough isn’t one to talk, after all he had the other half of the dead girl, live boy problem.
hastert insists he heard only on friday in new interview with koppel on cnn just now.
Mrs. K8 @ 87
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/.....rt-resign/
ThinkProgress
op99 @62
Is that a calvary sword, or are you just happy to see me?
hey Foley: IM the Eggman
Thanks Sparcatus - you got further on the research than I did. That timing (post 2001 and IMS) is nothing but damning for whoever approved/nominated Foley’s Committee chairmanship!
Sparcatus @ 82
angie @ 95
Anybody wanna bet when the first person will step forward (even if as an “anonymous” source for a newspaper article) to put the lie to this notion?
It does seems the the leadership was foolish enough to believe the Foley actions were not going to see the light of day. Since nothing had happened since first being told about it they must of thought it was a non-issue. That said, they simply didn’t care about the young people.
Drudge is a bigger fool. Most of America will be in total disagreement with his attitude. Not only is he hurting the young people involved he being stupid by not watching his own ass. But since he is one that doesn’t matter. But blaming the victims is sorid to say the least.
Thanks, katymine!
Jane, plese watch the words very carefully in Hasterts’ press conference. I’m pulling my hair out, they are NOT going to investigate previous emails, ONLY Instant Text Messages. IT’s such new technology, it limits the investigation to very recent exchanges.This is how they’re going to plead ignorance, both Hastert and Shimkus were very, very careful with their words, NOT a mention of emails.
These guys are so slick.
What’s the difference between Democrats and Republicans?
Demoncrats want to down in the pages of history, while Republicans just want to go down on the pages.
Notice how the egg sludge slides the ages of the pages to 17, then repeats the new, revised age along with snide accusations. Soon I suppose he’ll say they’re 18, etc. I wonder how he’ll finish with them. Enquiring minds…
punaise, good to see you back! Hope your sabbatical was productive.
And now you’ve got so much to work with . . .
Mrs. K8 @ 100
soon, very soon.
More of the interview coming up in the next hour acc. to John King…
uh Democrats. My freudian typos are misfiring…
With Brian Doyle and now Foley, I am sensing a ring of this in D.C. that should take many out. That is, if any investigation is alowed to proceed unimpeded.
And let us not be too smug. Dems will be caught up, too, I reckon.
I guess this is the 16-yr old male version of
“She was dressed like a slut, she was asking for it”
Good Frame of the Issue — Breach of Trust
Can’t trust them on:
* Homeland Security
* Executing a War
* Planning for Victory
* Secure the borders
* Keep our childre safe
* Disaster recovery
Hastert says: I only found out about the INSTANT TEXT MESSAGES on Friday. We can’t let them get away with semantics here, they are not going to investigate EMAILS.
This is a huge difference, just the one phrase can limit the investigation to very recently, help me watch, but my guess is they will NOT use the word email again.
sofistic @ 85
DRUDGE IS THE EGGMAN!!!!
The kind of rehab he really needs is the kind where he gets zapped in his schmeckel every time they put up a slide of a boy’s bare bottom. In other words, this kind of rehab: http://www-tc.pbs.org/wgbh/cul......jpg?mii=1