As folks in Spokane have learned via the Catholic Church and Republican Values politicians, those who are most outraged over gays are often hiding something far worse themselves. Remember Mayor West? Former head of the Washington Republican party?
Remember all the Catholic sermons targeting gays offered by pedophile priests?
Now not all the Christian Traditional Values coalittion, Focuses on the Family, and Moral Majorities will be able to put back together their agenda again.
Republican Mark Foley authored the very legislation and headed the congressional committee that was supposed to protect kids from people like him.
Republican leadership knew about this for a year. And they did nothing.
The Democrats on the same committee were kept completely out of the loop. That's partisanship for you.
Karl Rove is strangely deer in the headlights. His long ago officially closeted but beltway outted buddy Ken Mehlman-who heads up the republican party and is also deeply associated with Jack Abramoff is equally stunned.
How deep does the Republican moral depravity and addiction to scandal go? What will the upcoming weeks reveal? How deep does this cut and run lack of accountability go?
Here's a roll call list, courtesy of Steve Anderson from the Huffington Post, of who in Republican Leadership knew and did nothing. Each of these officials should resign. ( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-anderson/who-knew-only-the-house-_b_30643.html )
"Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La) knew about this:
The congressional sponsor of the page, Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., said he was asked by the youth's parents not to pursue the matter, so he dropped it.
The congressional sponsor of the page, Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., said he was asked by the youth's parents not to pursue the matter, so he dropped it.
Rep. Thomas Reynolds (R-N.Y.) knew about this:
Alexander said that before deciding to end his involvement, he passed on what he knew to the chairman of the House Republican campaign organization, Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y. Reynolds' spokesman, Carl Forti, said the campaign chairman also took no action in deference to the parents' wishes.
Rep. John Shimkus knew about this:
Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., chairman of the Page Board that oversees the congressional work-study program for high schoolers, said he did investigate but Foley falsely assured him he was only mentoring the boy. Pages are high school students who attend classes under congressional supervision and work as messengers.
Rep. John Boehner knew about this:
House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of inappropriate "contact" between Foley and a 16-year-old page.
Denny Hastert knew about this.
Boehner said he then told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.).Who got told about this? Rep. Reynolds, head of the NRCC!
As Josh Marshall says:
Why would Alexander go to the head of the NRCC? Did anyone tell House leadership? Clearly, no one reported the exchanges to the Department of Justice -- as Foley's own laws would have required, if circumstances had been slightly different. Did anyone take internal disciplinary action? And, the biggest question of all: if others knew and did nothing -- how can they assure parents of current and future pages that nothing like this is going on now?
Why would Alexander go to the head of the NRCC? Did anyone tell House leadership? Clearly, no one reported the exchanges to the Department of Justice -- as Foley's own laws would have required, if circumstances had been slightly different. Did anyone take internal disciplinary action? And, the biggest question of all: if others knew and did nothing -- how can they assure parents of current and future pages that nothing like this is going on now?
Josh adds here:
Finally, one detail here isn't getting enough attention. Rep. Alexander (R-LA), the first member of Congress to be alerted to the problem, says he contacted the NRCC. That's the House Republicans' election committee, a political organization entirely separate from the House bureaucracy and the Congress. (The head of the NRCC this cycle is Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY).) That is, to put it mildly, not in the disciplinary and administrative chain of command of the House of Representatives.
Who didn't know? Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI), the only Democrat on the House Page Board.
Who else didn't know, until now? The House Ethics Committee.
Finally we have clear evidence of the Family Values and Ethics of the modern Republican Party.
UPDATE: From emailer IMinty: Hastert's web site:
Congressman J. Dennis Hastert brought national experts together with community leaders and parents on Tuesday for a 14th District Community Meeting to share information and insights on protecting children from Online predators.
Held at St. Charles North High School, "Keeping Kids Safe in Cyberspace," included representatives of local police agencies and a panel of national Internet and law enforcement experts highlighting efforts to make the Internet safer for children. A private question-and-answer session followed, where parents addressed specific concerns and situations with police and web providers."
Considering the well known Republican revenge machine, is it any wonder the parents were worried about the ramifications had they gone public with what their kids were subjected to? I mean seriously, when your kid is being stalked by a powerful six-term Republican Congressman,and the Speaker of the House looks the other way, who in their right mind would subject their kid to that kind of attention? Especially when their kid's future is at stake? Who wants to subject a 16 year old kid to that kind of national exposure?
Well I can think of one congressperson who didn't seem to care...
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