jeudi 2 novembre 2006

Oh, man, does the fun ever stop?

Put on the Jiffy-Pop now, my friends, because if this keeps up, my innate compassion is going to have me feeling sorry for these guys.

Naah. Now pass me the Raisinets, willya?

Can you remember a time with so many scandals involving one party at the same time? I mean, Dan Rostenkowski had to resign because of using the office postage meter, and these guys, well, they make you wonder what's next.

In case you weren't getting enough entertainment value from Don Sherwood and John Sweeney and Jim Gibbons and Ted Haggard and have I left anyone out? Well, just when you thought it was safe to send your kids to be pages, the Mark Foley page predator scandal is back:

Two senior aides to National Republican Campaign Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds participated in “damage control” conference calls concerning correspondence between Congressman Mark Foley and a former congressional page -- two days before the scandal became public, and earlier than previously reported.

NRCC Communications Director Carl Forti and Reynolds then chief-of-staff Kirk Fordham both took part in the first call the evening of Wednesday, September 27, and one call the next day, Forti and other sources familiar with the call confirmed. Forti's involvement and the NRCC's role in the run-up to the Foley scandal add another link between the disgraced former congressman and Reynolds, who has said he knew only indirectly of questionable emails, and that he reported them to his House superiors. They also reflect another moment at which House GOP leadership was aware of concerns about Foley and pages.

Foley resigned Friday, September 29, soon after ABCNews presented him with a sexually explicit instant message correspondence with a page.

But ABCNews first approached the Foley campaign that Tuesday, with more ambiguous correspondence in which Foley asked the former page for his photograph(.pdf).

The conference call, described by a Hill staffer familiar with its contents as focused on “damage control,” also included Foley’s Florida-based political consultant, Richard Johnston, and his communications director, Jason Kello, according to two people familiar with the call. The participants were unaware of the explicit instant messages that would force Foley's resignation two days later.

Foley’s aides were “seeking [Forti’s] advice and keeping him abreast of” the ABCNews inquiry, said the Hill staffer.

Forti said his participation was routine.

“The NRCC helps members all the time with things that are problems and could be problems – that’s what we do,” he said.


Think about that: The National Republican Campaign Committee's JOB is to provide damage control. That's what they do. So when your Republican friends give money to the NRCC, they're paying for hush money and spin and damage control for pedophiles and other sexual predators.

Nice. And this is the party of values.

Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire