In case anyone missed it this weekend, CNN reported that Rahm Emanuel, former head of the DCCC and now designated to chair the House Democratic Caucus, was aware of suspicious Mark Foley emails to pages in 2005. Justin Rood at TPM Muckracker says:
"A 16-year-old kid was entrusted by his parents to the U.S. House of Representatives, and Congress has a responsibility," Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.), chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told the Chicago Tribune in October.
"The most important questions are, 'What did the Republican leadership know, when did they know it and, if they knew something, why didn't they do anything to protect the child?'"
Now, Emanuel's questions are boomeranging back on him and his Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
So far, Emanuel's office can't be reached for any statements, according to Rood. Glenn Greenwald performs a vivisection of Emanuel's past appearance on This Week with Georgie Stephanopoulis from back during the height of the Foley scandal. During that interview, Emanuel donned his ballet togs to dance around the issue of his familiarity with the emails to say he "never saw" them.
Our own Blue America candidate researcher Howie Klein has suspicions about Emanuel's foreknowledge of the Foley ticking time bombs based on Emanuel's early efforts to recruit a former Republican to run as a "Democrat" for Foley's very red district seat, sleezily pushing out a fine local progressive in Dave Lutrin. Why was Emanuel so interested in this race so early, when no signs publicly available pointed to any Foley vulnerability?
Not many people know a lot about the inside machine illegality and thuggery brought to bear to get Emanuel into his congressional seat in the first place. Don Tomczak, whose illegal efforts on behalf of his campaign Emanuel denies all knowledge of, is headed to prison in the wake of Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation of the corrupt Daley machine in Chicago. "Tomczak ran trucks on water projects, took at least $400,000 in bribes and commanded armies of political patronage workers hired in violation of federal court decree":
But if City Hall had not sent Don Tomczak, the corrupt city water department boss, to Emanuel's congressional campaign in 2002–and Tomczak's political army of hundreds of city workers who stumped the precincts with the promise of overtime–then Emanuel wouldn't have narrowly defeated a local grass-roots Democrat.
In 2002, Emanuel beat a fine grassroots progressive with the help of all this machine campaign illegality, and Emanuel would have us all believe he knew nothing about it.
Speaker Elect Pelosi, Rahm Emanuel is corrupt. It's very probable he knew about these suspicious Foley emails well in advance, and rather than initiate an immediate Ethics Committee review or take responsibility to ensure the FBI was informed right away – as Melanie Sloan of CREW did when she received information about Foley - then he consciously chose to keep kids at risk for the sake of dirty insider power politics.
Rahm Emanuel does not belong in a leadership position in the House. Voters cited corruption as their top issue in this election, along with Iraq. Democrats need to be better than Republicans to sustain any governing majority, and more importantly, to change the direction of our country. If Rahm Emanuel won't resign his leadership position, Speaker Elect Pelosi, then he should be removed.
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This man is outdoing Dan Rostenkowski… the corrupt pol who used to own that seat.
Rahm is not fit to lead for a variety of reasons.
Amen! Rahm Emanuel is an ass. If he had foreknowledge of Mark Foley’s activities and did nothing about it, he MUST GO!
Based upon Hillary’s position on the Middle East, the Senator is not fit to lead either.
It seems as if Illinois Democrats just can’t avoid the taint of corruption. Every damn last one of them breaks my heart, including Senator Obama.
My rep is Jan Schakowsky… corrupt.
My governor is Rod Blagojevich… corrupt.
My mayor is Richard Daley… corrupt.
My county president is Todd Stroger… feh.
Dick Durbin still remains in good standing, and I kind of like Lisa Madigan. But that is it.
Oh, please. You’re going to have to find better reasons to hate Emanuel.
He “was aware” of emails. Sheesh. And someone corrupt in Chicago (!) helped him get elected. Mercy me.
An informed electorate is the answer to most of our ills. If the CM won’t step up, then the netroots will.
Time to clean house Pelosi.
As to John Boehner–we call him “Boner” here in Ohio–if there is any evidence he had knowledge of Foley’s acitivities and did nothing about it, didn’t report it, he should go, too.
When Boehner was elected as House GOP leader, his family hired a huge crane and had a giant canvas saying “Congratulations Rep. Boehner, Our Republican Leader” installed on the front of his former high school, Moeller High School in Cincinnati. Talk about no separation of Church and State!
Yeah, Pach!
When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.
I’m just sayin’.
Oilfieldguy: Your teachers taught you well!
I am sensing that Pelosi will do nothing about this. This really makes me sick. I didn’t like Rahm anyway, kinda thought he was a snake. My suspicions are confirmed.
So, it is time for the blogosphere to do its’ job.
Get the fax machines out. If this can be proven, I will be the first in line to do my duty.
Corrupt, complicit and ethically challenged – GET OUT. We not gonna take this shit anymore.
Absolutely.
I just posted the sam in Balloon Juice’s comments.
I had some interesting conversations on Friday and today. I live in PA and began calling the PA reps who signed off on this.
Mike Doyle is a Democrat from Pittsburg. His staff had the nerve to tell me I needed to read the whole report. Doyle, who’s only 53, has 3 sons and 2 daughters: I aksed what would have happened if it had been HIS kids that Foley went after. No one had a good response except to tell me to read the whole report, that I didn’t know what i was talking about.
Melissa Hart (R-PA) was even better. Her staff guy told me he had no idea the report was released, and that he;d had jury duty all last week. However, after admitting the he himself had kids, I asked him what if it was his kids that Foley was after. “Would it be OK if it was your son’s penis that Foley wanted to measure?” “hell no, was his response. After the rest of my diatribe (I was so mad I was actually screaming) he told me he was going to pass my message along to Hart. “i don;’t want to hear anymore family values speeches from that one,” I said. “not one more word about values, or children, or anything: your boss and everyone else in Congress knew since at least 2001 about Foley abnd deliberately did NOTHING.
And by th way, there are laws in ALL FIFTY states that mandate reporting child abuse, including sexual abuse. You can argue that because the kids were 16, no harm no foul, but that would be wrong: foley broke laws that HE HIMSELF HELPED PASS, and to pretend that this was just negligence is bullshit.
As for Rahm Emmanuel, that is just the typical manipulative behavior I have come to expect from him, ever since Hackett.
Fuck him. I’d like to throw him under the bus personally. Shit, I’ll DRIVE the frikkin’ thing.
it’s “bouquet” not “bucket” !
I think you are being too harsh. I guess he probably knew about them around the time CREW crew found out – around July/Aug time frame.
There was nothing he could have done then, since CREW refered the matter to FBI. No pages were in danger at that point in time. Rahm knew it would come out and he positioned himself to take advantage of that. What is so wrong about that? Remember, no pages were in jeopardy at the time.
ecoast: What’s your documentation that no pages were in jeopardy?
Tim @
14
yes, Hyacinth!
My comment got epu-ed.
I will write more later about my conversations with Democrat Mike Doyle’s office and Republican Melissa Hart’s office: both signed off on the foley report.
Instead, I’ll link to myselfOther People’s Kids
Y’know, I am really fucking pissed about this. Not only am i a parent, but when I was a boy scout one of my fellow scouts tried to get touchy-feely with me on a camping trip: I was 12, he was 17. I made a lot of noise and the scoutmaster came running before anything happened other than me socking him in his face, but I was too embarrassed to say anything.
This shit just pisses me off, and Rahm deserves to be thrown under the bus. Hell’ I’ll DRIVE the damn bus!
Based on his conspicuously parsed non-answers in the interview, this didn’t surprise me in the slightest.
And yes, Rahm. Must. Go. He is utterly unprincipled, and is dragging the Democrats down in multiple ways.
And, besides, Rahm always has the other job to fall back on. That of the ballerina. Or is it ballerino?
Rahm is a shahm.
Liar.
Buh-bye, I hope.
Assuming Rahm won’t go voluntarily, and that the Democratic leadership won’t do squat about him… how vulnerable is he to a strong primary challenger (I remember seeing Chris Cegelis’s name floated several times)?
And would his knowledge of Foley contribute to a primary defeat? Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be fatal to Hastert or Reynolds.
Paul Hackett, an outstanding candidate, was running for Senator of Ohio this year. Rahm stopped Hackett’s candidacy in its tracks by deliberately withholding all DSCC funding from him.
Rahm ruined the political career of a shining Democratic candidate. Because he didn’t like Hackett. However, the voters did.
karen allen @ 23
I thought it was Schumer?
Not that Rahm wouldn’t have done the exact same thing.
Eli: My understanding was Emanuel and Schumer teamed up on this.
Eli: We’ll be looking for a primary challenger regardless and the process has in fact already begun, in small ways. I don’t know if Cegelis is an option, but the more the record on Emanuel gets out there, the more likely talent is to surface.
karen allen @ 25
Fair enough. Sounds plausible to me.
I really hope Pelosi gets the point here – we expect Ds to demonstrate standup ethics – no quibbling, no nonsense. And Rahm has none. Endangering kids so you can manuever a republican into a democratic race – how low can you go?
Rahm’s guaranteed to go much lower– he’s like one of my adolescent university friends–
“watch this and am I not wonderful?”
NO………….!
Dammit — I get in my car, drive to DC, stop at an outlet mall…and a Libby decisions hits the wires. No thought for MY needs, I tell you.
Just got to my hotel. If anyone has pulled the Libby decision already — could you please take pity on a tired ReddHedd and e-mail it to my ReddHedd at firedoglake dot com addy so that I can take a peek before my brain explodes? Thanks much!
Emanuel is noted for his strong partisan style and his fundraising prowess.
***He is the co-author, with current Democratic Leadership Council President Bruce Reed, of the 2006 book The Plan: Big Ideas for America.
Oh — and how awesome is Mr. ReddHedd? I have a bouquet of flowers that were waiting for me in my room when I checked in…I am a lucky woman. :)
Christy Hardin Smith @ 31
Hiya Christy, did you have fun today and are you pleased?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 30
So you definitely haven’t had a chance to read it…
Christy,
For old times’ sake and since ’tis the season and all that, I posted last years’ Fitzmas Carols on my site (link above) under “Fun Files.” That’s IF you need a break from reading the Fitz file. They are still a lot of fun and laughs.
Had to catch my breath on this one until I saw Durbin was reprieved.
dannyM @ 5
Durbin is good. Lisa Madigan is good. Her old man… not so good.
May I ask who was the good grassroots candidate running against Rahm in ‘02. I sure don’t remember any primary.
oddball @ 12
The guy is ambitious slime, to be sure, but he’s our slime. I would give Nancy the benefit of the doubt on this one. He raised a lot of money for us, put a lot of it where it didn’t do us any good. But the kid’s got talent. Let’s give him two years to see how he runs.
Oh, and Christy,
pow wow had a comment on the last thread that you might want to look at here.
I see . . . it was RAHM’S responsibility to deal with Foley. Not Hastert or any other Republican, it’s RAHM’S fault.
Be serious. I might be disturbed to learn that Rahm knew that William Jefferson had bribe money in his freezer, but this is simply ridiculous. Parachutec, go form your circular firing squad somewhere else.
Brenda– Rahm LIED.
He is not worthy.
Knut Wicksell @ 37 Let’s give him two years to see how he runs.
We know how he runs.
That skunk won’t change his stripes.
angie @ 40
Plus he looked the other way when informed of the Foley e-mails. Either because he figured it was the Republicans’ mess to clean up, or because it would pay off at election time – neither of these possibilities is particularly noble.
One wonders why it’s not a leader’s responsibility to act on information affecting both a national institution and the potential sexual exploitation of minors in that institution’s care.
I think Rahm’s own quote at the head of the post as taken from Justin Rood frames the issues rather well.
Granted that I have been around more sparsely lately, but the names of people who are standing up for Rahm do not look like familiar names at the Lake.
Anybody?
Can anyone please explain to me what it is exactly that the Democratic Leadership Council does.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 45
Turns Democrats into Republicans.
Rahm’s responsibility here is no different from a teacher’s or a doctor’s – or a neighbor’s – who suspects child abuse and calls Child Services. Playing this for gain – even democratic political gain – is out of bounds. That’s the bottom line.
Let me just say Redd, a bouquet of flowers sounds about right for being selected to the conference on poverty.
I was going to mention back then that some flowers for the kitchen table wouldn’t kill him… ;-)
My cynicism leads me to guess that Rahm is one of the “protected” folks in the Dem leadership.
His meteoric rise in the 3 years he has been in Congress is based upon one thing and one thing only, he’s da Moneyman!.
He has no legislation of any significance that bears his name, his wisdom or his probity. His only claim to “fame” is as a bagman (i.e. bags of money).
That is not an inconsequential “virtue” with his congressional colleagues. A politico who brings principled positions to bear is awarded a modicum of respect for the principles, but a politico who brings the cash is revered as a superstar, a go-to titan, a master among minions.
No, I’m afraid that unless Rahm is caught in bed with the proverbial “dead girl or live boy”, he’s golden with the DC power elites. Money talks and bullshit walks.
For the time being, Rahm appears “untouchable”. In DC, nobody bets against da Moneyman.
For the record, Rahm ain’t on our side. He’s on his side!
Eli @ 43
Big Ditto.
Rahm is the Big Dawg’s boy, the same Big Dawg that stole the CT Senate race away from Ned.
I think the only way we can get Rahm to resign, is if we get one of the most conservative dailies in the nation, the Chicago Tribune, to dig in on this.
“This episode kept popping into my head when I was reading about President Bush and the Baker-Hamilton commission. Bush is the president of the United States, which therefore gives him enormous power, but he is treated by everybody around him as if he were a child.” Johnathan Chait, LA Times yesterday.
http://www.latimes.com/news/op…..columnists
John Casper @ 50
Of course, the problem is, that this won’t be just about Rahm – this will be about the *Democrats* in general. Which is why Rahm is such a stupid shit for doing this in the fisrt place.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 45
Triangulate rightward with every lurch of the Republican party, waiting for that one jump to the left that would bring the hoards of K-Street to the whores of the DLC.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 51
Has Jonathan Chait never seen the “It’s A Good Life” episode of Twilight Zone?
Eli: We’ll be looking for a primary challenger regardless and the process has in fact already begun, in small ways. I don’t know if Cegelis is an option, but the more the record on Emanuel gets out there, the more likely talent is to surface.
A commentadore on MyDD had an eenteresting suggestion recently:
Why not start an Actblue page (or sometheeng similar) to raise money specifically to be used against a sitting rep een a primary, rather than waiting for someone to declare and than sending heem/her money.
Just theenk how much more attractive a primary challenge would be eef someone saw that he or she had some dolares already raised, just waiting for them to declare.
so.
Mad Dogs at 6:04 pm, completely agree.
Even if we don’t “win”, the more we get the facts out, the less influence Rahm will have. We’re bringing civility back, holding predators and those who shield them accountable for their actions and in this case for their massive
fuckingnegligence.!El Gato Negro! @ 55
Draft Not-Rahm!
brendan,
That sounds like some comments I made to a caller for the DCCC.
I saw this story at newsweek via msnbc.com over the weekend and was all set to make a big fuss about it.
but then read these comments below the story and backed off:
now? confused.
Eli @
47
Eli, good to see your snarky self back here!
It’s good that the “Jane Hamshers of the left” are not mindless sheeple that merely bleat the party line.
We are the rabid lambs, never forget.
!El Gato Negro! @ 56
Capital idea!
punaise @ 59
The fact that Rahm knew and did nothing does not make the Republicans less culpable in any way.
But it still makes him an unethical asshole.
Or more of one.
Thanks, Margot!
punaise: Check out Glenn Greenwald’s link with his analysis. I did not want to get that deep in the weeds with this post, but Glenn has more detail.
Eli @ 55
“THERE IS a famous “Twilight Zone” episode about a little boy in a small town who has fantastical powers. Through the misuse of his powers, the little boy has ruined the lives of everybody in the town — for instance, teleporting them into a cornfield, or summoning a snowstorm that destroys their crops. Because anyone who thinks an unhappy thought will be banished, the adults around him can do nothing but cheerfully praise his decisions while they try to nudge him in a less destructive direction.” Johnathan Chait.
The Big Dog should have told everybody to STFU and he should have never lied.
Rahm should have said STFU and “go ask a republican.” He chose to lie.
Lies do damage and Rahm has done damage to us.
Time to fish or cut bait.
done.
If someone smells like a skunk getting a perm in a slaughterhouse septic tank it is safe to assume they are dirty.
Circumstantial that the evidence is.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 66
Ah, excellent. The Bush administration has reminded me of that episode for quote a long while now.
Did you see this
Pachacutec @ 65
I had a comment there. I knew FDL would take the high road.
scout prime @ 70
Because there’s no-one I would rather have as the face of the Democratic Party than… Rahm Emanuel.
Hi scout!
What about Bill Clinton?
Clinton is one of the smartest guys ever to sit in the oval office.
While one can be sure that he did not have direct knowledge of corruption, my guess would be that he have to know that Emmanuel was pond scum.
Clinton has hired pond scum before (Dick Morris), and I’m wondering if we are going to see more of this from ex-Clintonistas.
That twilight episode, was that the one with the kid from Lost In Space? Will?
Hi Eli
Yup won’t it be grand to have that…ugh
scout prime @ 71
Nope, and thanks, scout prime.
Nooooooooooooo!
I have your communication right here.
Oilfieldguy @ 75
Billy Mumy.
As much as I dislike Rahm (and as someone who’s familiar with what Rahm did to Jerry McNerney, there’s a lot to dislike), I think Pach is way off on this one.
It’s worth remembering Abe Vigota’s character’s last line in the Godfather — “Tell Michael it was only business.”
It makes no sense to do the GOP’s work for them, and chasing after Rahm Emanual on “corruption” for this charge is really pushing it. First, even if you can prove the guy is dirty in other ways (and yeah, he is from IL), the problem with the pages really was the Majority’s (and Hastert’s) problem to deal with. Imagine if Rahm had come forward, and imagine how the GOP would have spun it. It would have given them cover, and more to the point, it would have helped them evade their very real accountibility.
Second, there really is a difference between the Democrats and the GOP on corruption, and it’s important to stress that to ourselves and to the public. It’s both stupid and reckless to help the GOP spin this (”everybody’s corrupt! they’re all bums!”) especially just to slam Ramh Emanual.
Rahm deserves slamming, but not in a way that sabotages the incoming majority. Take your time, damn yeh all… there will be plenty of time to take him on then.
There are people who think netroots people are hot heads with no political sense. Why help that meme along through stupid, futile, self-defeating and hot headed nonsense that isn’t going to help progressives going forward?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 77
Also on Babylon 5.
Pachacutec @ 66
thanks – I’ll check it out.
Matthew Saroff @ 73
Weren’t ISG members Panetta and Jordan Clinton guys?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 77
Is that the episode you refer too? Because I remember that one. Whatta brat.
I dislike Rahm as much as any progressive, but I see no story here. Give me some facts. Not a witch hunt based on rumors. Our side is better than this.
You make an important point, as per usual. I say let’s push it as far as we can via the media, not Pelosi. If there are reliable sources about what Rahm knew and when he knew it, there will also be a lot of pressure on Rahm to “take one for the team.” The other issue is, unless Rahm has email or something similar, who will take Rahm’s word for what year it is? Putting the pressure on Rahm, also hits even harder at
BonerBoehner, Hastert, Reynolds, and Shimkus and jesus knows how many more. Maybe we lose Rahm and a few more, but I bet the GOP loses double in the House. Plus the netroots show we don’t give a shit if your hiding predators.FWIW, I’m not pushing the FEC to aggressively investigate Lieberman4Lieberman’s petty cash disbursements in the primary. Rahm, however, doesn’t have that kind of leverage.
I try most days not to cut off my nose to spite my face. If Rahm will enthusiastically support publicly funding all national elections, I’ll seriously reconsider.
Rob – protecting kids from predators is more important that political machinations – and the american people are looking for leadership, not more of the same.
Oilfieldguy @ 83
Yes. Mumy is a musician and song writer. Has been for years. I believe.
Rob From Santa Cruz @ 79
I prefer to think of it not as “helping that meme” but rather as trying to improve the Democratic party by asking tough and appropriate questions about the ethics of our party’s leaders.
Repeat for Christy:
Today’s Order in full (the accompanying Opinion is fully sealed until 12/22):
From the CNN report linked at the head of the main post:
People with questions about the story, I recommend trying out the links.
Pachacutec @
27
This needs doing. But an extraordinary amount of due diligence is also needed before attempting anything in Chicago. That and savvy insiders in the organization. It isn’t readily apparent from the outside just how closed off the place actually is.
scout prime @ 71
Oh HELL no.
Rob From Santa Cruz @ 79– I kinda, sorta understand what you are saying, but I want nothing to do with the “business” in my lifetime during this time when the loss of life is so huge and ugly.
(I do like the Godfather movies, though)
We actually have a good team of Chicago based folks and the conversation is happening … identifying the right candidate will take some doing but we’re lucky to have some very good folks here to work on it.
I feel like we’ll be seeing some rapid response real soon. It may already have begun.
If my party, the Dems, cannot clean up their own house, then we have no business pointing fingers at the Republicans.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 95
And *that* is what it is about. If the Democrats want to establish themselves as the moral party, and the Republicans as the corrupt party, then they have to *be* the moral party.
Eli @ 97
bingo!
Eli @ 97
OK, I’m on board now. Rahm lied.
Rob From Santa Cruz @ 78
There are people who think netroots people are hot heads with no political sense.
The Rahms and Tauschers are the people selling that idea, because it suits their purposes. We aren’t going to win by letting them call the shots.
The public voted for change, on corruption and on Iraq. Rahm and Tauscher want to play Republican lite. That’s going to lead to disaster in 2008, just as it has for the Democratic party since 1994.
We need to dare to stand for something. Is it so hard?
I know next to nothing about Rahm- wouldn’t recognize him if I saw him on the street- but before lynching him- I’d probably like some- well you know- evidence- and shit like that.
Hmmm. Emanuel wasn’t the biggest story from Friday’s dump, in my opinion. Kolbe was. If you read all the sleazy IMs that Congress published (http://www.house.gov/ethics/Page_PDFs/Exhibit 13.pdf), you’ll see more than one reference to Kolbe. It’s as though Foley saw Kolbe as his competitor for the pages affections. If we didn’t know any better…oh wait, we DO know better. What ever happened to that story of Kolbe going camping with the former page? There’re still more shoes to drop here, folks.
rwcole @ 100
I recall mentioning him to you, back on one of Howie’s Act Blue Saturdays. Want me to look it up?
RevDeb @ 45: I was wondering the same thing. These unknown castigators suddenly jump on as commenters defending Rahm. Who are these people?
sorry for being dense here: I still don’t get why Rahm sat on the story. motive?
Rob from SC
No.
We expect elected officials to have a “true north” about corruption, whether with fraudulent use of tax dollars or a documented pattern of workplace harassment, possibly with minors. If Rahm’s strategy was what you said, he was obviously wrong. If the story had broken sooner, and by Dems standing up for what was right, it would have helped us even more.
Rob, until we get publicly funded elections we’re
fuckedwithout a government that is connected to the people. A lot of Vichy Dems don’t appear to want to move in that direction. As far as I’m concerned, they are just second rate fund raisers, trying to get money from us instead of the top tax brackets.“Take our time?” Tell that to our service men and women in Iraq and their families. I agree we have to move with purpose and intelligently, but you’re the first I’ve heard say that we “have time.” Obviously, you’re not a “green,” and you’re not concerned about our trade imbalance and deficit.
What people think of netroots is relatively irrelevant. Taking out (in a political sense) a Vichy Dem like Rahm confirms that we’re Americans first, Democrats second.
ecoast @
15
Yeah, Rahm should keep the serial child molester’s secret.
As this appears to be the best the DLC can offer for spin control, this is yet another reason why
WE HAVE HAD ENOUGH – AND MORE – OF SUFFERING AND DEATH FROM THE DLC CORPORATE WHORES AND THEIR SPIN MACHINE
The DLC can’t even do spin control on a cover-up – and with sleaze balls like Rahm and Stenny, they’ve had lots of practice opportunites.
{Apologies to the Lake for the bold rant; but apologists for those who abet child sexual molestation don’t get no slack from this mandated reporter.}
John Casper @
85
Here I think you’re just wrong. If you want accountability — and you should — you really don’t want to equate Rahm with the above “Gang of Four”. My suspicion is that a lot of people had an inkling that Foley had a thing for teenagers (BTW — I won’t say pedophilia, since it looks like the kids were of “the age of consent” in DC. Sleazy and inappropriate, absolutely. But let’s save the word pedophilia for, well, pedophiles, rather than just creeps). Slamming Rahm doesn’t get at the people who were responsible — it only lets these bastards slip away.
Again, disagree here. Buying voters is a serious crime, and it seems likely that Lieberman did exactly that. This is a bigger scandal than what Rahm’s being accused of here. And more to the point: if you’re going to make an example out of somebody via the press, this is the guy to go for.
Well on the other hand- If yer gonna lynch him- use a good rope- and read him his rights first..
Ah, so this is why he took credit for all the seats that were really won by Dean’s 50-State Strategy.
He made sure Foley wouldn’t break too soon. Cute.
But a corrupt jerk. Heave-ho.
Amen!!! And while you got the door open- Can someone give Mr Jefferson of LA a swift kick also??
Eli @
82
Panetta was Clinton’s chief of staff. Vernon Jordan was a golf buddy who liked talking “pussy” with Clinton. I’d say they qualify as insiders.
-GSD
Oh. please.
Foley was grooming kids for his future dalliances.
Do not defend this creep from his own creepiness and illegal behavior as a master hunter and pedophile.
Rob From Santa Cruz at 6:42 pm
If you know that workplace harrassment is taking place in a Federal environment, there are rules and laws that apply. If you’ve got a link that Federal regs or laws mandate that only the majority party in the House has responsibility, please by all means link to it. I will view it with great interest.
OT, if you want to go after Lieberman4Liberman for buying votes so you can make DeadEye Cheney the deciding vote in the U.S. Senate, be my
fuckingguest. I’m just not going to help.New thread.
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 102
Well this is the thread. It was a contest for people to get their Act Blue candidate a last minute media buy. And anyone who had been a regular on Howie’s Act Blue posts would have known just what Rahmbo had done for us.
rw, you might want to consider using the term “lynch.”
John Casper – The Lieberman missing campaign cash should be fully investigated.
Gawd I hope the FEC is, you know, doing their job.
Rahm helped to defeat several great Progressive candidates by omission while supporting machine pols who vote with the Republicans.
He paid for incumbents to fight against progressive candidates when he should have stayed out of the primaries and saved the war chest for the Republicans.
I hope he gets what he deserves for protecting a sexual predator for political reasons.
He should bow down before Howard Dean for giving him a victory to celebrate.
ifthethunderdontgetya @ 100
There’s a big difference between standing for something of principle, and using stupid, futile tactics against people we dislike on our own side.
The solution for both Emanuel and Tauscher is to organize primary challenges in their district. That keeps them honest, and if we play our cards right, it gets them the hell out of Congress. That sounds like standing up for something to me.
But playing stupid games with the press to force Pelosi to isolate the SOB? It makes the entire delegation look bad, and it takes pressure off the GOP. That’s great if you’re into intraparty warfare, and you don’t give a shit about passing things like health care, getting us out of Iraq, or doing something for the working poor.
Stand up for something? Loud and proud. But let’s defeat the really bad guys on the GOP side before we waste much time on the mearly contemptible folks like Emanuel.
John- Thought I did- did I mispell it?
Eureka, CT has a REPUBLICAN governor. If Joe leaves office for any reason she appoints his successor. Once she appoints a Republican, the Dems lose control and DeadEye is the deciding vote. I have Joezoe, but not as much as DeadEye.
My hope is Dem control will increase after 08 and then I’ll push for that investigation.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 78
that name seems familiar – did he play “Lanier” (?sp) on Babylon 5?
Brownstown Bill @ 118
And instead of doing just that, he and Tauscher brought out the long knives on their own grassroots, EVEN BEFORE NOVEMBER 7.
John Casper @ 121
Needless to say, if Joe decides to caucus with the Republicans, the gloves should be off, yes?
John- Yep- that was the risk all along with the Lamont challenge–looks as if dems ducked the bullet- but it’s not over yet- two more years.
kirk murphy @ 122
Yes. (”Lennier”, I think)
Stand up for something? Loud and proud. But let’s defeat the really bad guys on the GOP side before we waste much time on the mearly contemptible folks like Emanuel.
You said a mouthful.
I just wish he didn’t get away with claiming credit for the victory of America over Bush.
Your spelling isn’t the problem.
lynching
As far as I’m concerned, it’s an insult to every African American to dilute that word of its historical significance by applying it, where it so obviously doesn’t belong.
I just want to take a moment to welcome our new commenters. We’re glad to have your points of view and hope to see you with us for other discussions as well.
John- I wasn’t aware that “lynching” was an activity exclusive to African American victims..not sure what other word to use- do you have a sugguestion?
“Rush to Judgement” is OK- but it doesn’t capture the emotion of the thing as well.
Well apparently the wiki defines pedophilia as being sexually attracted primarily or exclusively to prepubescent or peripubescent children. However, I believe that Foley is a predator in that he gets his rocks off by seducing young people, particularly those that are (or feel) subordinate to him. While this may not be a crime (in some states) it does show a level of pathology that should NOT have been ignored by anyone. In my town we had a school board member that for years was known to “date” high schoolers. Finally, as the truth came out, he killed himself in one of our parks. Some folks still don’t believe he was an offender. Very sad.
Rob, you want stupid games with the press?
We had our election with the GOP on November 7. Right now, there’s a lot of inside the Beltway types who want to use it for their own gain. It’s two years before we get to vote against Republicans again.
Eli @ 125
Abso
fuckinglutely.I haven’t heard anyone say, however, that that’s really a possibility. I know Joe’s been taunting Dems, but I think there would be enormous pushback if he did, especially given how tepid the Dems are on Iraq. Also, the circle-the-drain in Baghdad doesn’t appear to be support such a move. Other issue is GOP has to defend a lot more seats, 23 – 9 or something like that in 08. Most people figure Dem majority will increase then. Is Joe going to make a move that will only help him for two years?
karen allen @
104
Some of us are lurkers who spent a lot of time working for candidates like Jerry McNerney, and who hate Rahm Emanual’s sorry ass. I read FDL several times a day, and like it lot. Good nuf’ for you?
Rather than suggest folks like us are plants, fifth-columnists, spies for the DLC, or whatever, you might welcome some of us to the discussion.
I just want to take a moment to welcome our new commenters. We’re glad to have your points of view and hope to see you with us for other discussions as well.
Thanks for the welcome!
See ya next post!?
John Casper @ 133
Oh, I know it – I’ve been one of the people pointing that out (I think the balance is 21 to 12). But Joe might think this is his ticket to the White House, or at least the Naval Observatory.
John Casper – I understand but (if something criminal happened) to darn bad. And I hope you believe me when I say I loathe and fear Cheney.
Aside from all things I despise about Lieberman that campaign was run like a mafia operation and should be held under a microscope (Just like Cheney should be for so many reasons) wherever possible.
If Joe were to be examined and found to be as dirty as we suspect. Many an investigation of Rethugs would be taken much more seriously from the get go, jmho.
interesting times…
John- Maybe “stoning” is better- I prefer the old testament to the wild west anyway.
pow wow at 89 — thanks much — I was having trouble finding anything of use on PACER, because all they have up at the moment is a blank page with case number. Much appreciated (although I must say, I am mightily impressed with your research skills and/or sources — kudos!)
Rob – I believe Pach just did precisely that.
And thanks for your work on those campaigns.
rwcole @ 131
Of course you’re not rw aware. You’re European American.
LMAO.
rw, words have different meanings in different communities. Since not everyone at FDL is European American, I’m just helping you out a little, broadening your cultural horizons.
Brownstown Bill @ 119
Agreed, Brownstone Bill!
Hmm – even in the 109th Congress, playing mum for the child molester was not part of offical duties – so no official immunity for Rahm.
Sorry Rahm – but your K street buddies will “pony up” for the defense fund.
Wonder what the District criminal and civil code have to say about Emmanueal’s immaculate record of willful concealment and deception? How about the Federal and state statutes? – that Foley sure got around (or tried to).
Can “obstruction of justice” encompass willful concealment, or is Rahm merely an accessory to repeated child sexual abuse?
Enjoy the new digs, Emmanuel.
Think of the child sexual abuse you helped along as your down payment.
The negative amortization is on the way.
I want Joe’s campaign checked out because it’s the right thing to do.
oh my…
If he were tossed Lamont could run in two years!!!
Brownstown Bill @ 128
But hopefully a tasty mouthful!
Yeah, he’s a SOB, and I was livid when he stood up on election night pretending Dean’s 50 State strategy wasn’t largely responsible for the win. Or that the netroots were better recruiters than he was (re: Cegalis vs. Duckworth, Filson vs. McNerney, and the woman who came out of nowhere to get the second seat out of NH. We picked the winners, and not Rahm).
He’s been better, though, since Carville stepped in it and got his head shot off :-)
Some of us are lurkers … who hate Rahm Emanual’s sorry ass.
Guilty…
I gave money and a little time to PDAmerica.org
Eureka Springs, AR @ 138
Thanks Eureka. You may well be correct. I’m not proud of my position on it, but I’ll stick with it for now.
RevDeb @
36
OT dear Rev. Deb – thank you for all the fabulous Fitz Carols – we’ll be doing them justice in a special pre-Christmas Fitz Caroling party next weekend. Can’t believe I missed them earlier.
I also gave to the individual campaigns of great pregressives that mostly lost while being completely ignored by the Rahm.
Disgusting.
OT CHS, some sadly typical news on the bird front.
But hopefully a tasty mouthful!
LOLOTF!
Thanks, Christy – glad to be of help. Here’s a repeat of a comment I just posted at the end of the last thread, also FYI, to be sure that you and Jane see it:
With regard to the government’s pending CIPA Section 6(a) appeal (noted @ #101 on the previous thread), it appears that unless the appeal is dropped, or the Appeals Court moves mighty quickly, the trial is likely to be delayed. Because as part of the “expedited” interlocutory appeal provided for in CIPA, Section 7(b) states:
I’d overlooked that provision earlier. Thus, the timing of the Libby trial very much depends on the status of the government’s CIPA Section 6(a) appeal.
I cna’t spell for beans -
“Emanuel” not “Emmanuel”
[sigh]
waste of a perfectly good rant….
[sniffle]
——
Esteemed mods -
would it be out of line to ask if you can rid a commenter of this meddlesome typo?
!El Gato Negro! @
56
Hola El Gato, sounds like a good idea. I assume it’s legal. Anyone think it wouldn’t be?
Also, where can we see results for the TX 23 run-off? I want to root for my Ciro.
Rahm needs to learn a lesson –
Let’s do some teachin’
Time for a book report:
Rahm – we’ll send you Loilita – lots of copies.
Lots and lots of copies.
You report on the theme of “Bad things happen to child molesters”.
(epu’d before gametogenesis)
GSD @
112
Panetta was our congress-critter before Clinton tapped him for the WH. He began his political career as a young Republican inside the Nixon White House. After switching to the Democratic Party he served in Congress – conservative but generally humanist. Wildly popular throughout the central CA coast. Devout Catholic upbringing and way too cautious and smart to cozy up to Vernon Jordan IMHO. My own experience with Panetta revealed him to be a remarkably good loser when our local grassroots coalitions beat him soundly on two major campaigns: Federalization of Big Sur and PG&E’s proposed supertanker port at the far eastern shore of Monterey Bay. His wife Sylvia deserves far more credit for his succcess than she generally receives.
John Casper @
147
Sorry I don’t know if firefox froze up or the servers.
I can easily live with that. :)
(A lot of Comcast problems tonight! Well over an hour later …)
punaise said,
sorry for being dense here: I still don’t get why Rahm sat on the story. motive?
Motive is not ours to know, I suspect. Silence and little covering lies like this are political capital, after all.
prostratedragon @ 158
Covering for his buds on the other team in exchange for an unknown benefit. Working both sides against the middle.
dannyM @
5
I’ve gotta defend Rep. Schakowsky here. I know Jan personally, though not terribly well, and I know someone who used to work for her who speaks very highly of her. She is an outstanding, principled, progressive representative.
Her husband was convicted of check kiting (he was head of a nonprofit, and I think the charges had to do with that), but Jan was never accused of any wrongdoing at all.
Her campaign slogan is “I’m a Jan fan!” (She even hands out paper fans bearing the slogan at the Pride parade, 4th of July parades, etc.)
I also know Rep. Emanuel slightly.
I’m not a Rahm fan.
Good one, Pach.
Move On regularly circulated Rahm’s e-pistles to us. I wrote to inform them they must now disassociate from this guy, or I’m moving on away from them. I think it would be effective if others did too.
Let’s see the evidence for every assertion made here. Announcing that Mr. Emanuel is corrupt does not make it so.
Emanuel is a crybaby with a big sense of self-importance. He is unfit for any leadership position in the democratic party. But if you’re expecting any resignation, or step down from him, you’re barking up the wrong tree. He needs to be REMOVED from his position. He, like Lieberman, is missing his moral compasss.
ifthethunderdontgetya @
133
Thank you for posting this link. I missed it earlier. This helps answer the questions I had for Christy yesterday morning. The wisdom of Jane in that post tells me that I am in the right place here in the lake. Rock on, Henry, rock on.
Jonathan Schwarz over at A Tiny Revolution has a marvelous post on the power of the lie (read coverup) in high circles.
I no longer post comments over at DailyKos because of the flame wars from other posters.
Opposing points of view, if not spam or from trolls, should certainly be welcome, and although clearly not a member of the majority here, I have been flamed privately only on one occasion – when I suggested that NARAL should stay out of the Ciro-Cuellar thing way back – because Mexican-Americans are not generally for the no-hold-barred access to abortion – and yes, the NARAL endorsement hurt and hurt bad.
You know, silence and lies are complicit partners.
I take it that Emanuel publicly denied knowledge of the situation. If so, this should be publicized using every available resource. And yes, he should be forced from office. A popular blog in Texas – Pink Dome – has a link to the e-mails (scroll down to “I can’t believe I read the whole thing” and read the e-mails, and then consider keeping this pile of corrupt crap in high office.
Emmanuel, Schumer, Hillary…they all make me sick!
they’re not for you and me! they’re Corporatists…into money and power. They’re better than the Rethugs but not by much.
it’s more than Rahm. It’s time to ‘clean house’; the longer Democrats wait, the closer it gets to 08 the more damage it will do to other candidates.
William Jefferson isn’t the only one that needs to be purged.
Rahm and Schumer are the self annointed gatekeepers of dems in DC….for their self interests…not the interests of the country…I live in Rahm’s district and would love to see him go…cronyism needs to go on every level of government..local, state and national before we get our country back
Me a bit surprised by the vituperative ‘dogs. Yes i want the Dems to represent the party of accountability, in my best hippie purity sense. Yes i want to man a united front against the unbelievable horrors of the rethugs.
But that’s not the reality we face. Our system itself is so broken we can not expect politics to be clean except in the visionary dream sense. The reality is that corruption is so deep in the murkin system, we should perhaps take solace in the few victories already under our belts!
We barely control one-third of checks and balances. Actually, not yet, we haven’t even tasted our first steps forward. We don’t live in parliamentary Europe, we live in a (corrupt) two party system.
That means we have to tolerate (not accept, but tolerate) Dems from Emmanuel to McKinney, or Maxine Waters for that matter, from pragmatic Greens to triangulating dogs. We barely have a handle on stopping the 4th Reich, and we’re already eating those on the same team.
And based on pretty flimsy evidence at this point.
Let me tell you, watching amurka from europe, the sickness across my former land that’s affecting the rest of the world is real bad, and really DARK. And if Rahmen Noodle only gets a 40% score on my Gandhi-meter, that’s way better than the minus two thousand of the last six years.
Maybe a two party system is better than coalition governments of the parliamentary system, maybe not. But this Dem v.Thug system is all we’ve got… we haven’t yet got to 1st base and we’re already sacrificing the batter.
and if anyone here thinks i’m apologizing for Rahm emmanuel, try thinking.
Mary @
168
Mary – agreed!
and welcome back!
Randy, it’s not about Rahm being Ghandi. It’s about him being a Democrat.
Hflash — My point was that there is a difference between the Dems in our desires and the Dems on the ground. Reality says that we have to hold the ground we’ve won and try to move forward. If i had seen that the dem side of the murkan people took to the streets and left their jobs to stop the war, then i could also believe our dreams of a “real” Democratic Party would still hold water.
But we don’t have the balls of, say, the french people, who do take to the streets and leave their jobs when something goes awry. Clear, Rahmen noodle is not a part of a progressive strategy, but he ain’t the short term enemy.
(Neither am i, and this discussion is the wonder of FDL.)
Put another way, the top-down reThugs want us to splinter into our factions. do you?
Yes… It appears that Emanuel may have lied. BUT Remember this:
Why did he back off? Do you wonder if maybe, just maybe, Emanuel knew this day of reckoning was coming? He wanted to distance himself from the DCCC. Take the demotion and get the fuck out of there. Regardless, this sort of political hackery cannot be tollerated from the Democratic party anymore than from the Republicans.
Drinking Liberally in New Milford