According to The Hill newspaper:
The source who in July gave news media Rep. Mark FoleyGÇÖs (R-Fla.) suspect e-mails to a former House page says the documents came to him from a House GOP aide.[...]
The source bolstered the claim by sharing un-redacted e-mails in which the former page first alerted his congressional sponsorGÇÖs office of FoleyGÇÖs attentions...]
So much for desperate Republican attempts to blame the Democrats (!) for their own nasty, spiraling-out-of-control scandal. Time to blame someone else - gays, the media, the blogs, ANYONE but themselves. Remember, this is the party of PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Hahahahahahahaha.
By the way, for more evidence that this is an All-Republican-Hypocrisy, All-The-Time scandal, see conservative columnist George Will's column in today's Washington Post, "What Goeth Before the Fall." The key lines:
To a Republican Party increasingly defined by the ascendancy of the religious right, the Foley episode is doubly deadly. His behavior was disgusting, and some Republican reactions seem more calculating than indignant.
Also, see partisan Republican/arch-consrvative columnist Robert Novak, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times:
[...this week, Republicans were turning on their own leaders with difficult questions. Why did the unusual attention paid to teenage boys by a homosexual man not flash warning signals? Why did Shimkus not alert his Democratic counterpart on the page board, Rep. Dale Kildee of Michigan? Above all, why was Foley urged to run again?
These questions are being asked by not only rank-and-file House members but by elected members of the leadership. Indeed, Hastert, Majority Leader John Boehner and Majority Whip Roy Blunt all were acting disjointedly as the scandal broke this week (with Boehner publicly declaring it was the speaker's responsibility). The failure of the 109th Congress to satisfy the Republican conservative base seems linked to failure to deal effectively with Mark Foley.]
So here we are, in early October, and for Republicans, a nasty, Category 5 hurricane's a-brewin'. Unfortunately for Republicans, the current forecast is for the Hurricane to hit Washington, DC on November 7 with devestating force ("shock and awe," perhaps?). The only question is whether Hurricane Foley will swerve or lose intensity at the last minute. For beleagured Republicans, that scenario appears to be their only hope. If not, in just 33 days, Hurricane Foley - or is it Hurricane Hastert? - threatens to sweep many of them out to sea.
Please don't tell me that repulicans are lying sacks of _____.
I'm shocked!
Reactionary idealists are energized by demonizing their enemies, and by fighting. When they don't have a fight on their hands, they lose momentum. Thus they usually wind up turning on one another. That is why- in my opinion- the religious right will never be able to maintain a majority or handle power for very long.
Speaking out against them in a situation like this is like trying to intervene between a couple in a violent domestic dispute. If they get their way, they inevitably turn on each other; but if they are confronted by someone from outside their camp, they unite against them.
It's refreshing to see them exposing their own hypocrisy.
But thank god, as Hastert said, "the member is gone."
In an interview with the Tribune on Wednesday night, Hastert said that he had no thoughts of resigning and he blamed ABC News and Democratic operatives for the mushrooming scandal that threatens his tenure as speaker and Republicans' hold on power in the House."No. Look, I've talked to our members," Hastert said. "Our members are supportive. I think that [resignation] is exactly what our opponents would like to have happen—that I'd fold my tent and others would fold our tent and they would sweep the House."
When asked about a groundswell of discontent among the GOP's conservative base over his handling of the issue, Hastert said: "I think the base has to realize after awhile, who knew about it? Who knew what, when? When the base finds out who's feeding this monster, they're not going to be happy. The people who want to see this thing blow up are ABC News and a lot of Democratic operatives, people funded by George Soros."
And now the classic line:
When we found out, we dealt with it immediately and the member is gone. …
I agree. The Democrats need to respond vigorously to efforts to spin this mess on to them, but otherwise let the Republicans self-destruct. Be wary, though. The spin is in. I called WTOP this morning to protest that, in their interview with a Fox News analyst, they very carefully did not give Foley's political party, and most of the interview was about how this might adversely affect Republican election hopes--- and very little about the scandal itself. So I requested that WTOP do a better job of reporting by including Foley's party affiliation. I also commented that AP and Fox had falsely called Foley a Democrat for an entire day and that WTOP needed to do a better job of balanced news and not condone lying or "mis-reporting" by omitting pertinent facts.
I would hope the same would be done no matter what party the suspect activity was attached to.