Phase II of the Foley scandal is underway, as The Washington Times called for House Speaker Dennis Hastert's resignation. In the op/ed, "Resign, Mr. Speaker," Hastert was taken to task for not doing enough.
On Friday, Mr. Hastert dissembled, to put it charitably, before conceding that he, too, learned about the e-mail messages sometime earlier this year. Late yesterday afternoon, Mr. Hastert insisted that he learned of the most flagrant instant-message exchange from 2003 only last Friday, when it was reported by ABC News. This is irrelevant. The original e-mail messages were warning enough that a predator -- and, incredibly, the co-chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children -- could be prowling the halls of Congress. The matter wasn't pursued aggressively. It was barely pursued at all. Moreover, all available evidence suggests that the Republican leadership did not share anything related to this matter with any Democrat.
A startling charge from the Moonie paper, known for its hard right stance and lover of all things Republican. Perhaps, it took the stance to uphold a moral exemplar? More likely, the op/ed board sees the political poison that the scandal is causing and is looking to amputate all the gangrenous limbs.
Now the scandal must unfold on the front pages of the newspapers and on the television screens, as transcripts of lewd messages emerge and doubts are rightly raised about the forthrightness of the Republican stewards of the 109th Congress. Some Democrats are attempting to make this "a Republican scandal," and they shouldn't; Democrats have contributed more than their share of characters in the tawdry history of congressional sexual scandals. Sexual predators come in all shapes, sizes and partisan hues, in institutions within and without government. When predators are found they must be dealt with, forcefully and swiftly. This time the offender is a Republican, and Republicans can't simply "get ahead" of the scandal by competing to make the most noise in calls for a full investigation. The time for that is long past.
While the right is performing damage control, the left is seizing on the scandal, looking to keep the wound festering.
The New York Times Op/ed sees the scandal a part of a larger pattern: "That House leaders knew Representative Mark Foley had been sending inappropriate e-mail to Capitol pages and did little about it is terrible. It is also the latest in a long, depressing pattern: When there is a choice between the right thing to do and the easiest route to perpetuation of power, top Republicans always pick wrong."
The Times was not amiss to the hypocrisy. "It’s astonishing behavior for a party that sold itself as the champion of conservative social values. But then so was the fact that a party that prides itself on fiscal conservatism managed to roll up record-breaking deficits, featuring large amounts of wasteful pork earmarked to the districts of powerful legislators or the profit sheets of generous campaign contributors."
All of this posturing with midterm elections right around the corner.
Conor R. Friedersdorf (not verified) @ October 3, 2006 - 3:27pm
Meanwhile the Wall Street Journal is defending Hastert:
Which right of center editorial board will prevail?
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