If, as appears highly likely, the "former chief of staff" who tried to cut this deal for Mark Foley is Kirk Fordham, then it means that Tom Reynolds' current Chief of Staff tried to suppress the release of the IMs by ABC and thereby deprive the American public of learning about the extent of Foley's conduct. That is the very definition of "cover-up."

This just keeps getting more appalling by the day. ABC is going to break the story, and the Chief of Staff for the congressman who heads the National Republican Congressional Commitee is trying to cut a deal to kill the story? There's one, and only one reason for that. They're trying to cover it up rather than throwing the guy under the bus.

And why do you cover it up? Because it's the Republicans and if they try to save their guy or make it not such a huge deal publicly, then they piss of the base for supporting a fag.

If anyone thought these guys might be able to retain a majority, that thought can be put out of your head right now. They should have tossed him under the bus. Instead, they've created a situation where guys who should have been reasonably safe in their elections (Denny for example) are now twisting in the wind when their opponant starts crowing that he tried to cover up someone going after minors.

Unclaimed Territory - by Glenn Greenwald: This needs to be investigated

"I believe I talked to the Speaker and he told me it had been taken care of," said Boehner. "And, and, and my position is it's in his corner, it's his responsibility. The Clerk of the House who runs the page program, the Page Board—all report to the Speaker. And I believe it had been dealt with."

Please note that by saying that he talked with the Speaker about Foley, Boehner is reversing course and going back to his original position.

Boehner seems to be trying to dump Foley on Denny. "it's not mine!"

Political Radar

The account by Sean McCormack came hours after Ms. Rice, the secretary of state, told reporters aboard her airplane that she did not recall the specific meeting on July 10, 2001, noting that she had met repeatedly with Mr. Tenet that summer about terrorist threats. Ms. Rice, the national security adviser at the time, said it was “incomprehensible” she ignored dire terrorist threats two months before the Sept. 11 attacks.

Maybe it wasn't memorable to Ms. Rice because she blew him off just like Woodward says. Amazing...

Records Show Tenet Briefed Rice on Al Qaeda Threat - New York Times

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. Boehner said he then told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Boehner later contacted The Post and said he could not remember whether he talked to Hastert.

More from the world of GOP scumbaggery (althouth this time it's more like buggery). The speaker and majority leader both knew for months that Foley was trying to make the page pool into his own personal stable of altar boys, but it seems they decided telling him to knock it off was enough. These are the people running the government. It's more than past time for regime change.

Rep. Foley Chases Minors. Boehner and Hastert KNEW

"We can be conquered by bombs or subversion; but we can also be conquered by neglect - by ignoring the Constitution and disregarding the principles of limited government." - Barry Goldwater

Goldwater, Leftist (haw haw haw!)

Kris Mineau — president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, which opposes gay marriage — predicted that people in other parts of the country will see Massachusetts as "the Las Vegas of gay marriage."

And this is a bad thing? Vegas brings in Billions (that's Billions, with a B) of dollars every year. But I guess it's more important make sure only straight people can commit married sodomy (except in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Caolina, Utah, Virginia and Puerto Rico where it's just plain illegal to get a blow job).

Stupid.

Mass. judge OKs marriage for R.I. gays - Yahoo! News

Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., submitted a letter of resignation from Congress on Friday in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former male page, according to a congressional official.

A thank you goes out to former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards who is reported to have said the only way he could lose is if he were "caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy." Guess which one this is?

Foley submits resignation to Congress - Yahoo! News

During an August 17 1957 game, Ashburn hit a foul ball into the stands that struck spectator Alice Roth, wife of Philadelphia Bulletin sports editor Earl Roth, breaking her nose. When play resumed, Ashburn fouled off another ball that struck Roth while she was being carried off in a stretcher.

I heard this story after Jay Gibbons hit his wife with a foul ball (bruised ribs, in the doghouse for 4-6 weeks) and had to see if I could hunt it down.

Richie Ashburn: Information From Answers.com

The legislation before the Senate today would ban torture, but let Bush define it; would allow the president to imprison indefinitely anyone he decides falls under a wide-ranging new definition of unlawful combatant; would suspend the Great Writ of habeas corpus; would immunize retroactively those who may have engaged in torture. And that's just for starters.

Walt Kelly once wrote, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." For fifty years, this country fought against what we saw as the worst countries and idealogies in the history of man, Hitler and Nazi Germany, Stalin and the Soviet Union, Mao and red China, and where force of arms was not an option did things that were pretty damn questionable in the name of the greater good, like the Somozas and the Shah for starters. But it was ostensibly in the name of the greater good.

That is not this. This is moving directly towards establishing the United States as one of those countries that we spent half a century fighting against. Now written and soon to be signed is legislation that says, "if you fall into any of these categories" you no longer exist. We can beat you, torture you, do anything we want, and you cannot challenge it in any way. You no longer have any legal standing, citizen or not, innocent or not, none of that matters.

If you should die in custody, well that's just too bad. There's no standing so they can just say anything they want and that's the end of it. George Orwell missed his date by 22 years.

Dan Froomkin - Bush Rules - washingtonpost.com

One woman was photographed partially clad in a military uniform, and a last name is visible on the blouse. Seitz said the Kentucky Guard wouldn't confirm whether a woman with that name works in the unit.

Lt. Col. Rich Steele, a spokesman for the First Army at Fort Gillem, Ga., said that if the allegations are proved, punishment could range from informal reprimands to courts-martial. He said the investigation is being conducted in Iraq.

Wait, having your picture taken naked can get you thrown out of the army? Think if they told the troops that you might see an increase in greenporn?

Louisville Paper Gets Disc With 232 Photos of Nude National Guard Women