Of course there is no functional ethics committee. If public officials were held publicly accountable, how could they be blackmailed into submission?
Posted by brisa at December 8, 2006 12:11 PMthis was a patently phony inquiry from the start -foxes judging foxes for breaking into the henhouse. The sole reason this "decision" was delayed a month was to spare the GOP even further losses in the election due to the transparently fake "inquiry" and what had to be, given the clear facts on the table, a terrible breach of trust, both with the Page corps and the American people who understand the real danger the GOP House members placed these teens for crass political purposes. At least the report makes it plain that House GOP Leadership (Dennis Hastert) was the culprit here. They should all be censured ( the ones that haven't been voted out already) at the least, and prosecuted where possible.
Posted by T2 at December 8, 2006 12:26 PMDemocrats must play hardball and make sure prosecutions hit Republicans hard on this one. Otherwise, GOP operatives will consider how weak the Dems seem.
Kneecaps need to be shattered.
Posted by Slothrop at December 8, 2006 12:42 PMOh thank goodness, the ethics committee found that no one broke any house rules...yet none involved the proper authorities in order to protect the children/teens from this sexual predator...yeah that's ethical alright.
Proven beyond all shadow of a doubt, repukes and some foolish dems can't protect anyone except their own backsides. The good ole boys congressional protection racket club doesn't need no stinkin ethics committee or rules. At this point I'd be happy with just some plain ole common sense, human decency, and a innate sense of basic right from wrong...but that's too much to ask from our congresscritters.
And after bs reports like this, they wonder why most Americans are cynical, distrust/despise politicians and why they have 19% approval ratings. What a joke the 109th institute of Congress is/was...a sick and cruel farce.
I heard a rumor about Foley.
He was at Promises in Malibu, CA, allegedly doing rehab. He was asked to leave by the management because he was hitting on the male staff.
Posted by Christopher at December 8, 2006 02:25 PM"Oh thank goodness, the ethics committee found that no one broke any house rules...yet none involved the proper authorities in order to protect the children/teens from this sexual predator..."
Actually, the precedent was set in '86 when Representative Gerry Studds (D - MA) left his little swimmers in the rear aspect of a 17 male page and was subsequently elected to six more terms in the House of Representatives, with the support of the Democratic Party.
Of course, the difference here is that Foley resigned in disgrace and actually did not engage in sex with any of the involved parties....
....Gerry Studds (D - MA) turned his back on members of the House when the vote to censure was conducted (again, prior to his being elected to six more terms with the support of the Democratic Party): but I am sure that Representative Studds had long experience turning his back to large groups of men in "chambers."
Posted by Bagley at December 8, 2006 09:23 PMAs usual, the Right declares that an incident of 23 years ago warrants turning away from any indictment of one of their own today. Bagley does leave out the part where Studds was censured for having an affair with one 17 year old page who came forth at the age of 27. If that helps you get through the night Bagley, then go for it. Two wrongs have never, that I know of, made anything right.
Posted by Judith at December 9, 2006 12:41 AMBy-the-way, Studds died in October of this year. Oops, Bagley did mention that Studds was censured.
Posted by Judith at December 9, 2006 12:48 AMSpeaking of scandals, Rummy's defense team was in court yesterday defending Rummy against criminal charges in the torture scandal.
Posted by Judith at December 9, 2006 01:15 AMSpeaking of scandals:
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/01/18/scandal/index.html
Posted by phidipides at December 9, 2006 07:22 AMBagley, what is it with you wrong-wing creeps and homosexuality? How much time did you spend thinking about and writing up your lewd description of the act, instead of just saying 'had sex with a minor?'
You must be tempted by 'the dark side' more than you admit in public, so maybe you should find out where they're keeping Ted Haggard and go join him...
Posted by cheSF at December 9, 2006 09:57 AMBaggy is homosexual, but is in the closet.
Posted by at December 9, 2006 08:11 PM