ANYTHING.  But I have been unable to.  Foleygate has made me the most disgusted I have been to date with Republicans and their "I support my President and all Republicans, I have to look the other way" voters.  This is an enormous catastrophe that could have been avoided with good leadership.  The Republican side of the aisle is in complete and total disarry, and there is only so much I can say without feeling ill or so angry it doesn't feel safe or healthy. 

This recent slam against the Democratic party (bc you DO know that today, all day, Fox news and the AP were calling Foley a DEMOCRAT from Forida, right?  Assholes.) and the homosexual community has floored me.  I am in shock and I am so disheartened by their complete willingness to, no; sheer joy in blaming someone(s) else entirely for their lack of foresight and ability to do things the right way.  I am appalled and disguested, and every damn one of them that had anything to do with this atrocity on America's children should go down in shame and be forced to resign themselves from any part of the governmental process.

Today, I am truly afraid for our children and for the preservation of honesty in our government.

"Blame the Catholics!"
"Blame the booze!"
"Blame the gays!"
"Blame the Democrats!"
"Blame the pages!"

It's so disgusting.  Well, it'coming out now that some pages were warned of Foley eleven years ago.  ELEVEN YEARS AGO.

But it's not Hastert's fault.  And it's not Foley's fault.  How could it be?  One of them did it, and one of them covered it up.  So, it must the gays and the Democrats.

Oh, I could just throw up.

Even though Bush was the President, had been the President for 8 months, and completely ignored warnings like "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US."  Too subtle, maybe?

This is a witch hunt. 

Cowards. Sexual predators like CHILDREN.  Boys and girls.  Go watch Dateline. 

Chicken shit spineless self-centered Fred Phelps wannabees running the country.

Hunter has a diary on Kos that basically points out that if you can't tell the difference between a straight man, a gay man, and a sexual predator who is a danger to children, then you're pretty much an idiot.

Just erased a page of snark.

Let them hunt the witches, because they're gonna get burned even worse!

People are not going to put up with this "blame the gays" bullshit anymore.....and this is going to f-ing backfire on these m-fers like there's never been a backfire before.

These people really make me want to say it.

Fucking assholes!!!!

As a gay man- not closeted- - this whole thing is so weird.

First- The gay men I know, despise sexual predators. However they self-identify, they are dangerous and should be stopped. They should be stopped by law enforcement, and peer intervention.

It worries me that badly behaving gays gets mixed up with gay men in general. When pedophiles assault girls, we don't damn straight men. (well mostly not).

On the subject of gay men working for Allen and Sanatorium. No explanation will ever make sense to me. Perhaps for Rep Harris that office is such a circus one can forget she occasionally votes and just enjoy the party :(

Nevertheless, I suspect that this story is going to get broader, weirder and more consuming over the next few weeks.

from the real story.  Mr. Foley behaved inappropriately and committed a crime according to the very law that he put forth. Republican leaders covered it up by placing party and power over the well-being of teens in their charge.

Meanwhile we send other young people, some just a few years older than the pages victimized by Foley, to risk and sacrifice their lives in a misguided war based on lies.

Period.

End of story.

All the rest is bread and circuses.

Chris Matthews had on John Laesch who is running against Hastert and, completely serious, asked him 'Should gay people serve in Congress?'. He says that Pat Buchanan and Tony Perkins have raised the issue.

THIS GUY IS SUPPOSED TO BE A JOURNALIST? C'MON!!!

Go to the MSNBC SHOWS PAGE and choose 'Hastert's Opponent Speaks Out' from the Hardball dropdown list in the left navigator.

Unbelievable...

...is that Olbermann reported today that Fox News labeled Foley as a Democrat from Florida and never retracted that little "missnake". Yeah, that's what they are....snakes.

Here you have a high school wrestling coach (Dennyboy) who can't speak never mind breath (love the pic) or speak without Cheney or Rove or Bush at his side and they disrepect Pelosi?  Pelosi is an orator compared to the likes of these clowns.

This story has been going on for years.  Friday's disclosure was only the crack in their ivory tower. Keep the gays in the closet, keep the missionary position status quo (and only if married), keep the money flowing to Iraq WITHOUT question, keep the insanity at 100% or you are not a patriot.

No wonder everyone needed a drink.  Fat and happy, aka dumb and stupid.

Well the house of bush/cards is toppling down. They, like Allen, only have themselves to blame.

I briefly put up a diary with a link and the list of the two key Allen staffers on it, but deleted the diary.  Unless and until I would see that these two gentlemen were being hypocritical it becomes hard to justify participating in such an "outing" -  and these seems to be a deliberate gay-bashing on the part of whoever put out the list.

But the list is all of DC and the blogosphere already, and may soon be the subject of direct news stories and questions.

I hope Foley is just low hanging fruit and that there will be more will come out about people in the White House. I have read rumors that people in the White House requested videos of Iraqi children being molested.

The whole government is nothing but a cesspool. The only problem is that once the really big news comes out we will probably be in a war with Iran since we have a fleet of battle ships on their way to the country as we write.

The funny thing about power is that the harder you try to hold on to it, the slippier it gets, like an ice cube melting in your fist. Th firestorm of scandal will continue to consume the forest of weeds that the republican congress and senate have become. They need to cut a firebreak{ Can Hastert} and  clear the air, or else by this time next week,  more than one fall guy will fall.

The republicans have reaped the  fruit of total control. Without  teh mixture of parties in control of congress,  bad things happen and are covered up. When the dems get the house{98% chance} and senate(66%}  Bush will becomne a better
presendent!!!!

...Bush will no longer have the ability or opportunity to be as bad a pesident.

Here is another example of closet Gay's bashing their own kind with anti Gay marraige laws, etc. etc. etc. Is the same closet people in The Virginia legislature writing the Gay Amendment law for Virginia. Another source of calling the kettle black, blue, pink. Call it anything but what it is. A means to hide their true identity and trying to lift themselves up.
Hey I have gay and lesbian friends. In fact my neighbors had a marraige a few years back. What do I care what they are, but don't try to write laws to hide that fact.
What will the religious right do with all this new information? Are they still going to support these self rightoues law makers?

See here:
Tony

I would have guessed it. And me, hire a queer? Not on your life. I'm an upstanding, rightwing, confederate flag waving, Virginian.

Because anyone who has been on the Hill or in gov't at an upper level for some time knows dirty secrets, ongoing law violations, etc.  So if the higher ups start trying to pin it on groups of staffers, it will result in a circular gunfight.

I wish this had not been a gay pedophile case.  I don't want the religious right to use this as ammunition against gays.

I think in a few days clearer heads may prevail and people like Hastert will step down.

However that should not end the investigation.  I think, as Rebecca suggests, there is a much deeper problem here. 

This is disgusting and ugly.

It would surprise me to see them try such f'd-up tactics at all.  The pundits who tried to stress the "gay pedophile" theory after the Foley story broke REALLY pissed me off as a gay person.  News flash to media whore assholes:  gay people are JUST AS PISSED about your failure to protect kids, and we are NOT PEDOPHILES.  In fact, apparently, Foley may not be either.  He is a predator.

Second, what gives that so many self-loathing staffers who are gay could even get out of bed every day to work for the kind of people who want to legislate their lives back into the closet, and worse.

Dear God, this country has come so far, and yet it still has so far to go.

Jesus would be appalled.

that should be "wouldN'T surprise"

Expect these to be blocked shortly after they are posted:

Foley Welcomes Senior Citizen Intern to Washington

May 25, 2000

The Stuart News

WOMAN 80, GETS INSIDE LOOK AT D.C.
Myrtle Jackson of Port St. Lucie served as "intern" for a day with Rep. Mark Foley.

Myrtle Jackson, 80, of Port St. Lucie, was happy to oblige.

"It's quite interesting," she said of the debate she had just watched from the gallery above the House chamber. "I have mixed emotions on it."

Jackson was in Washington as part of a program for senior citizens run by the Close Up Foundation, which regularly brings groups of seniors and high school students through the city to show them how the government operates. Jackson, who is in Washington for a week, worked in Foley's office as an "intern" for a day.

Mark Foley: Committed to Protecting our Children and Improving our Schools - 08/05/01

Helped found the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children's Caucus which works closely with law enforcement officials and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on legislation to protect children from child molestation and abuse.

Getting Results for Florida - 08/23/01

I successfully passed a measure to allow youth organizations access to FBI files to conduct background checks on volunteers who will have unsupervised interaction with children.

Foley Launches Partnership Program to Search for Missing Kids

U.S. Newswire
March 29, 2002 Friday

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) today announced a partnership with Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) to launch a program in Florida's 16th Congressional District to assist law enforcement officials in the search for missing children. The program, called the Lost Child Alert Technology Resource (LOCATER), will create an instant, nationwide electronic network for finding missing children.

Thank you for your support

May 23, 2002

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (561) 630-0777 or E-mail me at foleycamp@aol.com.

CONFERENCE EMPHASIZES PROTECTION FOR CHILDREN

June 6, 2004

The Sun-Sentinel

There was no Amber Alert, no center for missing children when someone snatched 6-year-old Adam Walsh 23 years ago.

Getting help from police was virtually impossible, said John Walsh, Adam's father and host of America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back.

Things could have been so much different. But Adam, abducted in Hollywood, was found killed, leaving Walsh and his wife devastated and turning the TV host's life mission into fighting for missing and exploited children.

On Saturday, Walsh spoke briefly to a small crowd of parents and kids at the first Southeast Conference on Missing and Exploited Children in the Palm Beach County Convention Center. U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Palm Beach Gardens, organized the conference to educate parents and law enforcement officers on protecting children in the community and on the Internet.

Mark Foley: Protecting our Children - 11/08/02

Mark Foley: Protecting our Children - 10/21/04

The Child Modeling Exploitation Prevention Act would ban adults from selling child erotica that exploit children who are 13 and 14 and as young as 4, 5 and 6 years old. These sites, often billed as "modeling sites," are geared towards pedophiles and are really softcore child porn sites with children dressed scantily and posing in sexually suggestive ways wearing next to nothing.

The Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act tightens the definitions of child pornography and assures that pedophiles can still be prosecuted even if it is not known whether the materials they are viewing are real photographs or virtual composed images.
--------------------
It is interesting that the legislation pertained to "children who are 13 and 14 and as young as 4, 5 and 6 years old."  Yet, it makes no mention of children who are 15 and 16, the age group Foley preyed upon.  It reminds me of Bill Bennett's Book of Virtues which neglected to mention gambling as a vice.

TRANSCRIPT: Mark Foley and Clint Eastwood on the O'Reilly Factor

what's interesting is to see some of the most rabidly anti-gay lawmakers, including George Allen, working with gay staffers on a day-to-day basis.

"Interesting", maybe. Surprising? Not at all. The "don't ask, don't tell" principle operates outside the Army too. Foley didn't "come out" till yesterday, yet everyone sort-of-knew about his being gay for years (OTOH, nobody knew -- and nobody believes his excuses -- about being a victim of childhood molestation or being an alcoholic)

As long as they (gays) don't want to get married or to burn the flag, who the eff cares, right?

It's really not about gays (all the gays I know barf at the idea of soliciting kids. OTOH, I do not consort with perverts). It's not even about who employs gays (though it's a nice "gotcha" point. Maybe).

It's all about not taking long-term responsibility because of a short-term gain (apparently, Foley did not want to run this term. Reynolds pushed him into running in '06, because Foley brought so much money into the coffers of the Republigoons). There's lots and lots of people (Hastert is but the nearest target) which need to be nailed to the wall for that; Foley, disgusting as he may be, has already began to pay his dues.

An interesting point was raised on one of the blogs I read (can't remember where or by whom, by now): *all of the leadership now indelibly stained by the scandal is *male*. The sole Dem on the Page Board was not the only person who wasn't told about the e-mails; the sole woman on the board -- although a Repub -- wasn't told, either. The writers conclusion was that, possibly, she would have had a different "take" on Foley's "peccadilloes" and might not have been willing to conspire in the cover-up. I agree with that conclusion, up to the point, but would like to extend it a bit.

It seems to me that the entire philosophy of the Christofascist wing of Republicans rests on the "don't worry your little brain; daddy knows best" principle. The people in power *have to be* male and women are belittled without so much as a second thought.

And, come to think of it... Gays are often marginalised much on the same basis. You talk to a tried and true homophobe, and, sooner or later, you'll hear that "gays are just women with a dick".

This won't go away until someone with real authority steps up to the plate and takes personal responsibility.