How Much More Straw Can This Camel Take?
Above: The Republican Party, circa October 2006.
The Washington Post brings us today’s good news:
Republican strategists said yesterday that public revulsion over the sexually graphic online conversations between Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and former House pages could compound the party’s problems enough to tip the House to the Democrats in November — and could jeopardize the party’s hold on the Senate as well.
That made my nipples get wicked hahd right there. Let’s continue:
As House GOP leaders defended their role in handling revelations that forced Foley on Friday to give up his House seat, party strategists said the scandal threatens to depress turnout among Christian conservatives and could hamper efforts to convince undecided and swing voters that Republicans deserve to remain in the majority.
“The Republican Congress: Two More Years, Hundreds More Molested Teens.”
There was intense anger among social conservative activists in Washington yesterday, and some called for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to resign.
Republican operatives closely following the battle for the House and Senate said that they are virtually ready to concede nearly a third of the 15 seats the Democrats need to recapture control of the House, and that they will spend the next five weeks trying to shelter other vulnerable incumbents from the fallout of the Foley scandal in hopes of salvaging a slender majority.
Dear Democrats: I’m glad you are politicizing this scandal. Do not listen to Gary Ruppert. Go after these bastards. They completely deserve it.
Districts in which Republicans have effectively walked off the field include Foley’s own in South Florida. House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a radio interview with conservative commentator Sean Hannity that the party’s replacement candidate is all but doomed.
I wonder if, now that they’re reeling from a sex scandal, the Republicans regret choosing someone named “Boehner” to be their House Majority Leader.
Because of ballot procedures in Florida, “to vote for this candidate, you have to vote for Mark Foley,” Boehner said. “How many people are going to hold their nose to do that?”
Hmm. Do y’think the GOP has a turnout operation for registered sex offenders?
By yesterday, a number of GOP strategists reported widespread gloom about the party’s prospects, combined with intense anger at the House leadership.
Joe Gaylord, who was the top adviser to Newt Gingrich (Ga.) when Republicans seized control of the House in 1994, was pessimistic about the party’s midterm prospects.
Joe Gaylord, eh? I wonder how well he’d do if the GOP ran him in Foley’s seat?
He said the fallout from Foley’s resignation comes “very close” to ensuring a Democratic victory in November.
“The part that causes the greatest fallout is the obvious kind of pall that an incident like this would put on our hardest-core voters, who are evangelical Christians,” he said. “The thing I have said almost since this cycle began is the real worry you have is that [Republicans] just won’t turn out. This is one more nail in that coffin.”
Hey Democrats! Y’see this thing here?
Yep, that’s right, it’s a silver platter. The Republicans are using it to hand you the election. Please have the good sense to accept it. I mean look, the GOP has even lost The King of the Wingnuts:
Leaders from about six dozen socially conservative groups held a conference call late yesterday afternoon, and participants were described as livid with House GOP leaders.
“They are outraged by how Hastert handled this,” said Paul M. Weyrich, a conservative activist who participated in the call. “They feel let down, left aside. How can they allow a guy like [Foley] to remain chairman of the committee on missing and exploited children when there is any question about e-mails?”
I’m sure Sensible Voices like the Bullshit Moose will caution the Donkey not to make too much about this scandal. Again, don’t listen to them. Hammer the bastards on this. Go for the kill.
Indeed. Perhaps now, FINALLY, the Congressional Democrats will feel they have an issue that is safe enough to push back with.
Anti-pedophile safe enough for ya, gentle Congresscritters?
The only thing better than this would be if the Republicans run Gaylord-Boehner in 2008.
Considering the Abramoff emails that are coming out now, I wonder if the Republicans actually wanted “predatorgate” on the front pages. A juicy pedophile story will always get more play than questions about why a lobbyist knew in March 2004 that we’d be attacking Iraq. It’s a strategic retreat.
Damn! I’ve got even more cynical. And I’m assuming that besides being evil incarnate, the Republican leadership is also smart.
oops, March 2002 that Abramoff knew.
Time till Gary Rupert comes and tries to threadjack, in 4… 3… 2…1…
Is this the October surprise that Karl Rove was talking about? Maybe he was so pissed off at the cannon fodder in the House and Senate that he thought screw them
When even Michelle Malkin is pissed off with the Republicans in the House and Senate, then you know they are fucked.
The weirdest thing is that this demonstrates just how perverse American politics is. Lie your way into a war which kills hundreds of thousands of civilians and costs billions of dollars and the conservatives will continue to support. Make “inappropriate” comments to a page boy and they will turn on you.
I wouldn’t want to be living in Tehran about now.
Kill ’em with teh funny.
The Washington Times is just trying to cozy up to the Dems, while ignoring a lot of the facts on this matter.
Hastert doesn’t have any reason to resign, because if he does, that will be appeasing the same people who ran Michael Brown out of town.
Hastert has handled this scandal very well. Despite the fact that the media covered up a lot of this information for political reasons, he was able to get as much done as possible.
Welcome, Gary. We, the People ran Brownie out of town, and if Congressional Leadership decides not to appease We, the People, they will soon be Leading the parade of Republican operatives to Kinko’s (appropriately!) to make copies of their resumes.
Foley’s lawyer apparently had this to say about the Great Man in a press conference:
“He is absolutely, positively not a pedophile.�
My idea: let’s get together and buy TV ads for all Republican candidates. The whole thing will consist of a picture of the candidate and a voiceover of James Earl Jones intoning, “He is absolutely, positively not a pedophile.”
It’s positive, isn’t it? Just doing our part to ensure that each and every candidate’s name is cleared–a public service.
Gary – where is your “The fact is…”? The “Despite the fact…” just isn’t the same.
Wasn’t Michael Brown forced to fall on his sword to cover up for The Deciders incompetence?
That’s the kind of silver salver you demand heads on, no?
The Washington Times is just trying to cozy up to the Dems, while ignoring a lot of the facts on this matter.
OK but, um, why?
Hastert doesn’t have any reason to resign, because if he does, that will be appeasing the same people who ran Michael Brown out of town.
And which people would that be? Citizens United for Oh, What the Hell, We’ll Settle for Just the Appearance of Integrity?
Hastert has handled this scandal very well. Despite the fact that the media covered up a lot of this information for political reasons, he was able to get as much done as possible.
Ow! Dammit, I sprained a lobe. Cut it out, Gary.
The fact is I’m calling fake Gary.
“The Washington Times is just trying to cozy up to the Dems”
If this true, it would, indeed, be a sign that the worm has turned.
sheesh…”If this IS true…”
The important thing to remember is that the GOP is simply a group of criminals. Every Republican politician, their staff, and the staff of the RNC should resign immmediately. America depends on it. The world depends on it.
Foley is apparently turning to Scientology to cure him of teh gay.
Doc. I love it.
I don’t think that was a Garybot
it’s just that in the deluge of increasingly bad news for the Republicans, all of it self-generated, the effort to recycle talking points is getting wearying. And to top it off, when he’s got to slag the Wash Times as in bed with the libruls….
What’s a rightie troll to do? It’s just not his week.
Buck up, Gary. I’m sure the R’s will do something violent and reprehensible in the near future to cheer you right the hell up.
“Hastert has handled this scandal well.” That’s damn funny right there. yesterday, it wasn’t a scandal at all, remember?
“Hastert doesn’t have any reason to resign, because if he does, that will be appeasing the same people who ran Michael Brown out of town.”
Oh ho ho! Such a lovely little nugget of wingnuttery! One little sentance, chock-full of treasure! The disconnected logic justifying “no reason to resign” with a future action yet to occur. The implied endorsement of Michael Brown — Michael Brown! of all people! Is there anyone left besides Gary who still champions Brownie? And being held accountable for incompetence and lack of concern for childrens’ safety is “appeasement”, a BAD thing, huh Gary?
In GaryWorld, a leader like Hastert should stand tall and be proud of his total lack of concern over the pages, holding leaders accountable is wrong, and Michael Brown is doing a heckuva job.
“He is absolutely, positively not a pedophile” is a nice lead-in, but I think the sign-off has to be “Don’t forget to measure!”
Foley-Ruppert: The GOP ’08 Dream Ticket
I so love Gary. The fact is there’s nothing sexier than a man who can make you laugh, and he’s got me in stitches constantly.
Sadly, I can picture Ried, Pelosi, and any number of other Democrats coming forward to publicly explain that Foley is just one man with an illness, that his actions in no way reflect on the Great Americans who are the Republican leadership, and that we should all put this behind us to concentrate on the really important matters: The economy.
Democrats: Fighting against victory since 1994!
“He is absolutely, positively not a pedophile.�
…and of course this is factually correct, however…
The Moonie Times sucking up to the Dems? I call fake Gary!
The ultimate irony is that Foley’s relationship with the page itself was not illegal on the face (ew). It may be that it was completely unethical, but the page would have to file any charges of sexual harrassment/stalking/whatever.
Foley is in trouble with the FBI is because he ran afoul of the Adam Walsh law, which makes it illegal to use the Internet to solicit anyone under the age of 18, whether or not the sex is consensual, and whether or not the minor is past the legal age of consent in their hometown.
Foley sponsored the legislation and ran it through Congress, despite warnings that it was too broad, that it didn’t take into account the relative age of the people involved (so, technically, it is illegal for a 17-year-old couple to make a date over IM). But Foley and his supporters insisted we had to pass it to PROTECT TEH CHILDREN! from SEXUAL PREDATORS!
We need to create a “petard award” for just these occasions, I think.
We need to create a “petard award� for just these occasions, I think.
Seriously. This is almost like Bush-Cheney spearheading the “Don’t Invade Countries Under False Pretenses Act of 2006”.
Just as an aside, Hastert has scrubbed his site, as well as the Speaker of the House site now, of any references to protecting children.
Pathetic bastards…
I think Gary’s getting close to blowing a gasket, like the Yul Brynner robot in “West World.”
But on point, I do think the Democrats are going to stick the knife in on this one. Atrios had a clip up yesterday of a Democratic strategist filleting a GOP counterpart over this and all the other scandals, dismissing the GOP as the “party of criminals and pedophiles.” Sounds about right.
You know, I acutally think him working the Adam Walsh law is one of those odd things that the moralists always do…they want to make laws to outlaw their behavior. I think that they honestly believe that without the laws, without the sense of being caught and violently punished, they will do whatever it is they seek to outlaw. Sexual predator? Outlaw contact with 14-18 year olds. Gay? Outlaw rights for gay people, and actively work to keep them in the closet. Divorce? Make the laws tougher to get a divorce. Abortion? Outlaw abortion. Never mind that the people who sponsor these laws are trying to diddle 16 year olds, are married men having affairs with gay men, have been remarried three or four times, or have had/paid for abortions. I mean, it could be the case that they want to appear like they’re not doing whatever thing that they think is morally wrong, so they sponsor a bill for it. Either way, it doesn’t work, because sooner or later someone’s going to tell people.
The Washington Times is just trying to cozy up to the Dems, while ignoring a lot of the facts on this matter.
Irony is dead.
Sporkey,
I think you’re absolutely right. In addition, they assume that everyone has the same urges they do, so obviously they must outlaw said behavior or else society will run amok.
Sometimes they actually let their hand slip and shop their cards. I’ve never been one to suggest that all anti-gay activists are closeted or repressed homosexuals, but when Falwell says that if we don’t outlaw homosexuality, no man will ever want to have sex with a woman again, because homosexual sex is obviously the hottest, bestest, most compelling thing ever…well, I don’t think it’s out of line to suggest therapy for him, do you?
And yes, that is the real Gary who is claiming that the FREAKING WASHINGTON TIMES is a propaganda organ for the Democratic Party. Wowsers.
C’mon Ruppert, the Yankees start their World Series march tonight and you’re spending your time defending kid-touchers? You shouldn’t be thinking about any Wang except the one that’s starting tonight!
Gary? I thought the messages were fake. Have we given up on that one? Or can we bring it out and give it another run?
Last night I saw a vid of Foley giving a speech about the legislation. He got rather wound up, and said with great conviction “If you attempt to have sexual relations with children, it’s going to ruin your life!!
You said a true word there, buddy. But blaming in on the booze is kinda cheap. Hey, you’ll get used to being a pariah…
mikey
How long until Gary starts accusing Malkin of being a leftist tool?
Take a look, Gary, and see how Katy spins it.
P.S. Brad, I think Henry the K, Hitch, and Gary should all get together for a ‘death of irony’ boozefest. Preferably with a half gallon of happy hour whiskey (the kind that comes in a plastic jug).
“Butch Manly said,
October 3, 2006 at 18:13
C’mon Ruppert, the Yankees start their World Series march tonight and you’re spending your time defending kid-touchers? You shouldn’t be thinking about any Wang except the one that’s starting tonight!”
I’m in Detroit, where we’ve suffered for 19 years, so even though Gary’s an idiot, if he’s a Tiger’s fan he’s OK with me for the next month.
This whole thing is rather interesting from a British perspective. First of all the age of consent is now (as of 6 years ago – it used to be 18 for gays) universally set at 16 in the UK so there wouldn’t be an issue of child sexual abuse here. There are quite a number of openly gay MPs these days of all parties so maybe he wouldn’t have had the pressure to repress his sexuality. It would seem to me that some of his behaviour is related to being closeted and self repressed.
On the other hand there have been periodic outbreaks of anti-paedophilic violence across the UK – usually on housing estates where there are rumours that one or more might be living. In one shameful (they’re all shameful of course but this was excessive) incidident several years ago, somewhere on the south coast, the office of a paediatrician was vandalised (including attempted arson) because well the sign started with paed,,,, You get the picture.
Hard to tell how this would play here but I think the element of an older man, with considerable power and influence, trying to take adavantage of a younger man or woman would be a major problem.
It is entertaining watching them turn on each other though.
You’re absolutely right, Gary!
Foley trying to diddle a sixteen-year-old boy isn’t nearly as bad as those damn, dirty Democrats talking about it six weeks before an election.
And it isn’t that big a deal that the Republican “leadership” in the House covered it up as long as possible. After all, it’s not like they’re Democrats or something. Republicans may try to fuck boys, but at least they are protecting them from the terrorists. So even if they’ve been molested by predatory Congressmen from the President’s Ephebophilia Party, it’s better than being killed by terrorists.
(Do I get royalties when the Repugs start using this?)
Hoosier X brings up an interesting point with the President’s Ephebophilia Party. Why isn’t either party seizing the teachable moment here? Foley isn’t a pedophile; he’s an ephebophile. And deep down, who isn’t turned on by hot, barely legal teenage studs? If loving 17-year-old beasts is wrong…
Gary, before you start acting like a crack whore you should ask yourself if you are going to get any crack out of the deal.
That makes Gary a Sun Myung Moonbat
This isn’t pedophilia (that we know of yet, anyway) but it sure as hell is sexual harassment.
And whopping hypocrisy on the part of Mark “Adam Walsh” Foley.
And a sleazy cover up by Shimkus, Hastert, etc.
Plenty of fun to go around, no matter what!
Foley is apparently turning to Scientology to cure him of teh gay. ‘
But can Little Tom’s Army cure him of teh stupid?
‘Cause, setting aside all arguments about whether 16 is ‘legal’, whether those teenage ‘beasts’ egged poor Marky on, whether it would have been better if Marky were sending ‘naughty emails’ to the page girls, not to mention the whole ‘Democrat libertines poisoned my tiny mind, and did we mention the Clenis???’ … sniffing around one’s employees, who just *happen* to be the pampered offspring of one’s most generous donors and most dedicated voters is a veritable benchmark of Teh Stupid. And if one has also loudly sponsored a bill to make one’s favorite off-hours pastime *explicitly* illegal — well, pathological or not, who wants to be associated with voting for someone suffering from a Marianas-trench-depth of Stupid?
The weirdest thing is that this demonstrates just how perverse American politics is. Lie your way into a war which kills hundreds of thousands of civilians and costs billions of dollars and the conservatives will continue to support. Make “inappropriate� comments to a page boy and they will turn on you.
It’s the little things that kill. The Iraq war is too big, too far away, and too removed from most people’s personal spheres of reference to make a huge daily impact. Pedophiles are what we’re used to seeing on the evening news. They’re who we’re afraid of at home. We know our children aren’t going to get killed in a firebomb explosion, but we don’t know who’s going to batter them with innuendo until their innocence is gone.
Foley is apparently turning to Scientology to cure him of teh gay.
Hey, they did wonders with Tom Cruise.
[…] One wonders if the GOP is here, metaphorically speaking, or will they simply steal it, or will they invade Iran hoping that actually works, which I’ve said before would be political miscalculation of epic proportions this year. […]
HA!
I’m waiting for it.
You know you’re waiting for it, too.
Next Coach Dave collum: “Why were Foley’s parents doing a better job monitoring what was on their son’s computer? It’s the liberal’s fault!”
Makes me giggle.
Many of the rats are deserting the sinking ship. We have a local “family values” nut named Steve Deace who rants and raves on the radio, and he has turned on the Republican party. It is teh hoot!
However, you can’t discount the goofball section that will try to spin it so that it’s the “Democrat Party’s” fault. There is an email going around amongst the batshit brigade blaming school shootings on the ACLU for “locking Gawd out of the schools”. It starts out, “Where were you, Gawd, when…” and names several school shootings. Then the Hallowed One replies to the effect that “I was locked out of school, so I couldn’t help the victims”. Some all-powerful god these wrongies have. They won’t accept the blame for anything… ever. The Shrub isn’t alone in that denial thing.
I finally got so disgusted with my wingnut ex-friend that I blocked her emails. I’m gonna miss the gems like the Locked out Lord one, though. It’s good to know what craziness those peeps are eating up.
It’s interesting that Hastert is being set up as the fall guy–because I suddenly remembered, back during the Gingrich/Livingston Twin Ship Abandonments, that Hastert was portrayed as Tom DeLay’s stooge. With no Hammer to protect him, Denny’s getting Nailed.
They won’t accept the blame for anything… ever.
Yep. This is fascinating. We see in in the Garybot day in and day out. Right up to Foley. I mean, come on, you can argue about some stuff, but the whole Foley thing was ugly and creepy and utterly undisputed by Foley himself. If there ever was an event that the wingnuts had to just take like a fastball in the ribs, this was it. There’s no good argument. So when they start trying to blame the kids, the dems, the clenis or a “liberal conspiracy”, they just end up looking stupid and venal. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and absorb the hit…
mikey
Candy, I’ve heard those barbaric yawps, too. “Family values” pro-school prayer Christian congressman preys on boys? Liberals’ fault! You ever notice how often killers, molesters, predators or whatever are described by shocked family and neighbors as “good Christians?” And yet it’s all the fault of liberals, the Typhoid Marys of evil.
what was that old saying…something about being caught with either a dead girl or a live boy.
Well, looks like someone’s been caught with a live boy.
It’s like my teenage son always says, “It was _________ fill in the blank with teacher’s, my friends, etc. who made me do it.” Just a variation of “teh Devil made me do it.” But my kid is 14 years old. These are supposed to be adults…
One of the Amish women being interviewed on TV today about the school shooting was saying, “They teach the kids in these public schools that lying is okay as long as you get away with it…” In her view, this was the reason this evil thing happened. It wasn’t that a lone nutcase with serious issues flipped out. No, it was the ‘secular world’. The woman was understandably in shock, but what an intuitive leap! Just kind of sums it up for me.
Yikes, I’ve gotta run. I get on here and start reading threads and time just slips away. Ben Cohen and ice cream are ahead, yay! Evil liberal peeps sure make sweet yummies.
One of the Amish women being interviewed on TV today about the school shooting was saying, “They teach the kids in these public schools that lying is okay as long as you get away with it…�
Maybe so, but Charles Carl Roberts was home schooled.
And lying apparently wasn’t his biggest problem. And no one can say that god was locked out of that particular school. It’s sad and it’s horrible and secular humanism in the public schools isn’t to blame for any of it.
Gary Ruppert said,
Hastert doesn’t have any reason to resign, because if he does, that will be appeasing the same people who ran Michael Brown out of town.
Gary, Hastert was a former wrestling coach. And as most people who have participated in the sport will attest, a hefty percentage of wrestling coaches are either closet sadists or closet queers. It seems that your boy Denny came under the same cloud of suspicion when he first ran for local political office. He dropped out of the race and didn’t run again until years later when he was appointed to fill a vacancy, and was subsequently reelected. Now is as good a time as any to determine what’s in Hastert’s closet!
Remember the last big Republican + kiddy story the Washington Times ran?
“Homosexual Prostitution Inquiry ensnares VIPs with Reagan, Bush” (Full Size Scans)
See also: Franklin Coverup Scandal
If you’ve never heard this one before, buckle up. It’s a wild freak filled ride!