A Scandal Unraveling, Betting On The Wrong Horse And An American Whorehouse
October 5, 2006
Dan Riehl has a couple of interesting posts about the Foley scandal, here and here. As is always the case, Dan has the goods. In fact, he may be ahead of the curve. The ‘sponteneous’ Foley scandal is unraveling.
Drudge is reporting that the House page referred to in the ABC News transcript of lurid electronic messages exchanged with Mark Foley, was fact 18 years old and not under age, as initially reported. News media are now reporting that Mark Foley’s repulsive behavior has been know by Democrats for quite a while.
The few Democrats that have jumped in front of the story, are in reality, a thin line. There has been no barrage of pompous, self righteous and sanctimonious remarks from Harry Reid, Teddy Kennedy, Barbara Boxer or Diane Feinstein, for example.
Not that anyone could blame them, of course. They each have a long and distinguished career of corruption and deceit. In the House of Pork (Congress), fraud, deceit and corruption are time honored traditions that cross party lines.
In fact, both Houses of Congress are not much more than a den of thieves.
Robert ‘The Klan really wan’t so bad’ Byrd, has been crowned King of Pork. The former Klan kleagle has been bringing home the bacon for decades.
Ted ‘Bridge to nowhere‘ Stevens is a close runner-up. Hillary Clinton made the list of those who best know how to scam the system. She and Tom Delay have a lot more in common than either would care to admit.
In a fine example of bipartisan unity, Republicans and Democrats are fighting transparency when it comes to exposing Congressional pork.
As documented in Citizens Against Government Waste’s 2006 Congressional Pig Book, the amount of pork in the federal budget skyrocketed from $3.1 billion in 1991 to a record $29 billion in 2006 an 835 percent increase. Beyond the obvious frivolity of projects like $500,000 for the Sparta Teapot Museum in Sparta, North Carolina, pork has also played a central role in recent ethics and lobbying scandals. It seems not a week goes by without a new revelation of earmark abuse. In late July, it was reported that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) may have to shut down scientific research at the International Space Station. Part of the reason for NASA’s budget squeeze is that, since 2001, members of Congress have earmarked $3 billion from the agency’s budget for pet projects in their home districts and states. Efforts to clean up the political process after a scandal-ridden year have yet to bear fruit. The House lobbying/earmark reform bill (H.R. 4975) sits in an empty conference room with its Senate counterpart.
The Senate has yet to vote on the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (S. 2590), introduced by Senators Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.). The “Google government” bill, as Sen. Coburn calls it, requires the Office of Management and Budget to run a single public website listing the names and locations of all individuals and groups receiving federal grants and contracts. Such a database would be an invaluable resource for watchdog groups, the media, and bloggers to expose wasteful spending, conflicts of interest, and other shenanigans. The bill has 29 co-sponsors and has been endorsed by groups from across the political spectrum.
The purpose of voting is to hold elected officials accountable. Yet Congress wants to conceal from the public, to the utmost extent possible, how their tax dollars are being spent. That may explain why S. 2590 had been put on “hold” by an anonymous senator.
Only Nancy Pelosi is front and center in excoriating not only the reprehensible acts of Mark Foley, but the entire Republican leadership as well.
Could it be that Nancy Pelosi is so pure in that whorehouse that is Congress? This morning, Ms Pelosi has been talking about ‘ethics.’
Glass houses, Nancy.
Nancy Pelosi took a risk. She thought that if she stepped out and hammered the GOP, she’s become the party ‘strongman’ and her own corruption would go away, something she desperately needs if she is to further her career. Well, she bet on the wrong horse- her fellow big name Dems have been quiet and will remain so- they understood it was their own credibility that was as stake. They will not come to her defence or rescue.
The time has come to examine Nancy Pelosi’s ethics. You wanna play, you gotta pay.
October 5, 2006 at 12:50 PM
Here’s a bit on Nancy.
October 5, 2006 at 1:18 PM
[...] Sigmund, Carl, & Alfred [...]
October 5, 2006 at 7:43 PM
Perhaps this scandal ought to unravel, but it may be too early to say that it will unravel. The “big names,” so far silent may be emboldened to jump in on the basis of the latest “Time” and AP Ipsos polls about l’affaire Foley:
http://www.pollingreport.com/congress.htm#misc
Sixty-two percent of respondents to the AP/Ipsos poll describe themselves as “dissatisfied” or “angry” with the Republican leadership while 48 percent say that the issues of scandal and corruption will be either “very important” or “extremely important” in determining their vote. Sixty-four percent of respondents to the “Time” poll believe that the Republican leadership tried to cover up the scandal, although this poll holds some comfort for Republicans in the 64% of respondents who say the Foley scandal will make no difference in their vote.
We should also note that the major media, from which most voters still get most of their news seem to have learned a dangerous lesson from the unraveling of the “Bush AWOL” scandal in 2004. They are continuing to drive the scandal and taking no notice of those who are picking it apart. This, too, may tempt the “big names” to jump in.
Once the “big names” do jump in, the remainder of the campaign will likely become an orgy – sorry, couldn’t resist – of reciprocal exposure and denunciation with control of Congress determined by whose base is more likely to “throw conscience to the Devil and stand by their party.” That may well be the Democrats.
October 5, 2006 at 8:50 PM
Grow up guys. No one takes this drudge bs seriously other than the pajamas crowd. It’s not on the public radar and if bits of it creep out parroted by right wing talking heads it will only serve to reinforce a well nigh universal public sense that the Republican party is trying to evade responsibility for actions or inactions that would have got the local high school superintendant fired. They now have three more pages talking about requests for penis photos. And Hastert blaming Clinton and Soros was going off into alien abduction land. In the real world this is the classical circular firing squad.
October 6, 2006 at 5:10 AM
Remember, a vote for the Republican party is a vote for boy buggery, and a vote for the Democratic party is a vote for criminal apathy. But what are you going to do? It’s a two party system.