No Early Foley Complaints, Head of Pages Says

[DoYouEverWonder]

Oct. 13 — Representative John Shimkus, who has been chairman of the Congressional page program since 2001, said Friday that he was unaware of previous complaints about Mark Foley.

Mr. Shimkus, Republican of Illinois, said that had he known of the complaints about Mr. Foley, he would have handled concerns about Mr. Foley’s e-mail messages to a page from Louisiana differently.

“There is stuff that everybody would have done differently,” Mr. Shimkus said after testifying under oath for more than three hours before the House ethics committee. “Having 20/20 hindsight, a lot of things would have been different.”

Mr. Shimkus said that he learned of concerns about Mr. Foley last fall and that he and the clerk of the House confronted Mr. Foley at a meeting in Mr. Foley’s office.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/14/us/14foley.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[rodeodance]

1. so, none of this was documented? Just wondering as I have not heard.

...But speaking to reporters, Mr. Shimkus said, “The first time I had any indication that I needed to address Congressman Foley” was after being alerted to the e-mail exchange with the former page from Louisiana.

When asked whether Republican leaders had told him to exclude other members of the page board — a Republican, a Democrat and the House sergeant-at-arms — when ultimately confronting Mr. Foley last year, Mr. Shimkus replied, “I made the decision.”

He did not elaborate.

It is the meeting in Mr. Foley’s office late last fall, which Mr. Shimkus said ran no more than 45 minutes, that is of particular interest to the ethics committee. Mr. Shimkus said after the hearing on Friday that he and the clerk of the House, Jeff Trandhal, showed excerpts of the e-mail messages to Mr. Foley, who in Mr. Shimkus’s account recoiled and promised to stop contact with the Louisiana teenager.

[maddezmom]

2. so he made the decision not to include other members

hmmm

[Hepburn]

3. They learned of it LAST fall???

So.....that is a year ago, right? Why the hell didn't they do something about it then ~~ other than cover it up ~~ ???. I mean, excuse me...but: A delay on this is STILL a delay on this. What difference does it make if the delay was two years, three years, five years or one year? Bottom line: They knew, they covered up and they delayed anything that could bust the matter wide open.

GMAB.....that is one hell of a totally lame excuse.

[SpiralHawk]

4. Diddle-O: They learned of it last fall ? What the Hell...

These republicons are just a bunch of pervert protectors.

WHY DIDN"T THE REPUBLICONS DO ANYTHING TO PROTECT THE TEENS?

What is it with republicons and sex perversion??? Totally weird and unhealthy...

[babylonsister]

5. Seems they're spinning themselves out of this web, aren't they. nt

[Joe Bacon]

6. It must be fun to live in a LASSEIZ FAIRYLAND!

Wow, you can float up up up in the Rarefied Air where the masochists and the maiming pimps who run the Republican party live. You can do whatever you want and float around all day. Must be so nice!

[The Count]

7. But, what will we tell the children? Suddenly the GOP battle cry gets very

...ironical...Sweet karma!

[leesa]

8. "Having 20/20 hindsight"..in other words,had they known they'd get caught

They raised this Republican slime right.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

9. These FUCKERS And Their 20/20 HINDSIGHT!!!

PIECES OF SHIT!! If only we had known they would fly jets into buildings. If only we had known we'd FUCK things up in Iraq. If only we would have known the levies would fail.

IF ONLY WE HAD KNOWN HE WAS A DEGENERATE PEDOPHILE PREYING ON 16 YR OLD HOUSE PAGES.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Funny, they were such big know it alls

before these events.

[pinerow]

13. There's an old southern saying...

when you have "if" in one hand and spit in the other...what do you have the most of...:wtf:

[krkaufman]

11. So, the guy was suspected of stalking minors ...

... and you simply "confronted" him? I'm sure that's just the process taken when someone is suspected of the same thing in the real world... the cops drop by for a friendly chat with Bob Hebephile, and write-off further investigation that nothing untoward was going on and that nothing untoward activity would stop.

No mention to those responsible for the pages; no further investigation to verify the activity or determine it (depraved) depth.

Shimkus is just another negligent Republican schmuck, who needs to be sent back to their much-beloved private sector.

[Felinity]

12. Pop quiz

The soon to be former Congressman Shimkus is

A) Lying
B) Suffering Memory Loss
C) Incredibly Stupid
D) A Partisan Leming
E) Hastert's Pet Pony
F) In need of Counsel before speaking on the record again
G) In need of a two year vacation with Bob Ney

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. H) Drinking Problem

:beer:

[Felinity]

16. D'oh!!

:dunce: :toast:

:beer: :beer:


HEADLINE

Major Sociology Study Confirms:

Corruption Issues are Cause of Alcoholism Among Republicans

Indictments escalate drinking dependency

:toast:

:beer: :beer:

Who knew?

[MGKrebs]

14. Incompetent.

Not deserving of further trust with our money, our sons and daughters, or our laws.
Lacks critical judgment ability.