The news is unfolding on the Foley scandal so rapidly it’s hard to keep up. I’ll attempt to note new developments today as they come in this post. In the meantime, here’s what happened over the weekend.
The updates:
Josh Marshall: Leadership of the House GOP “decapitated” by Foley scandal.
Now, Republican member of the Page Board says she was never told of emails.
Shimkus allowed Foley to spend “a lot of time” with pages, including a private dinner, even after GOP knew he was a problem.
Conservative activists call on Hastert to resign; House speaker still excluding Democrat member of page board from meetings.
ABC: Foley sought and may have had rendezvous with page.
White House brushes off scandal as “simply naughty emails.” Snow: “Yes, look, I hate to tell you, but it’s not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill. And there have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty e-mails.” (Video) AmericaBlog: “That’s all they were says the Bush White House. Just naughty emails between a 52 year old member of Congress and some 16 and 17 year old children. Just naughty emails when a grown man asks a sixteen year old boy to measure his penis. Just naughty emails when a member of Congress asks a child to describe how he masturbates. That’s why the GOP House leadership is scrambling. That’s why they had to call in the FBI. That’s why the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating.”
Hypocrite running scared? House Speaker Dennis Hastert removes press releases on his site that detailed efforts to “Keep Kids Safe in Cyberspace”.
As could have been predicted, Christian right wingnuts already seizing on misinformed and ignorant homosexuality/pedophilia connection. Peter LaBarbera of the wingnut organization Americans for Truth: “For years, we have seen some Republican Party leaders drift in a pro-homosexual direction. Their rationale is winning the votes of ‘moderate’ swing voters, but they forget that there is a price to pay among values voters when you abandon principle on a core moral issue…Three homosexual Congressmen have been involved in sexual seductions of minor boys, yet ‘gay’ activists ridicule anyone who suggests there is a predatory component to male homosexuality.”
