BWAH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!! Oh, this is just TOO RICH!!!

[WilliamPitt]

You want desperate? Try this bag of swill from resident NYT wingnut Jihn Tierney:

Your Page, M’Lord
JOHN TIERNEY

Congress sees nothing strange about dragging teenagers from their families and schools to become pages, one step below a squire in the feudal food chain.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2006/10/03/opinion/03tierney.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=6da7ce73Q2F8Q27R-8Q23PQ5EkkQ238Q24Q7DQ7Dh8Q5CQ7D8Q7Dl8kun!nk!8Q7DlQ23nRQ5E!RNGQ3CQ23JQ7B

This is a Times Select article, so I can't see the rest, but the gist is impossible to miss.

So let's recap.

First it was "Clinton did it!" That didn't fly.

Then it was "Frank and Studds!" No traction there.

Then we had "This is the Dems fault! They exposed this for political gain!" Too stupid to even comment upon.

Now we have Tierney, describing the page system in congress as it it were some sort of torture chamber. Children stripped from their homes, stolen from their families, made to serve evil feudal lords like some kind of latter-day pissboys.

Wow.

From the LA Times:

Q: Who is eligible to be a House page?

A: Pages must be at least 16 years old and have at least a B grade point average.

Q: How are House pages selected?

A: The application process to become a page is competitive. Prospective pages first must apply to their individual congressman. From there, finalists' names are submitted to congressional leaders who pick the final pages.

Q: How many pages are there?

A: The House of Representatives has 72 pages at a time -- two-thirds of whom are appointed by the majority party, in this case, Republicans. In the Senate, 20 students serve as pages.

Q: How long do students work as pages?

A: In the House of Representatives, pages can work for several weeks in the summer, a semester, or a full school year.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-congressional-pages-qa,1,3380680.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

...so that means the page selection process is highly competitive, and something students have to actively seek and earn.

It is to laugh.

To laugh, I say.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

1. According to one email from a guy who served as a page his

father gave tons of money to the repugs so that the son could serve as a page in Congress. Ack. Giving money to a party that then overlooks the abuse of your child at the hands of leadership.

Smarmy doesn't begin to describe this bunch of assholes.

[nashville_brook]

2. indoctrinate them into the Culture of Retaliation early (and often)

[DemoTex]

3. By Tierney's logic, a Boy Scout troop doing a public service project is ..

INDENTURED SERVITUDE. It is not and Tierney is wrong.

Mac

[Ian David]

4. It was Foley who inserted the swimsuit competition into the process

But according to the ABC Docudrama, "The Path to PageGate," it was Clinton who had the opportunity to hit Mark Foley with a missile, but refused to take the shot.

[robinlynne]

11. i love "the path to pagegate" hilarious.

[tblue37]

16. I would call that "Pedagate."

[SlavesandBulldozers]

13. its true. Hastert offered him up

but Clinton refused adamantly, against the suggestions of everybody. . . i saw it on teeeeeveeeee.

[Lasher]

5. Thanks for the yuks, and especially for the link.

So, 24 pages working for House Democrats and 48 for House pukes. 20 Senate pages but it doesn't specify the allocation to each party there.

Gonna save this link. The subject might come up later a time or two, ya think?

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. What I can find of his article makes sense to me

What lesson has the page learned? That Congress is the closest thing in modern America to a medieval court: an enclave governed by arcane ancient rules of seniority, a gathering of nobles who spend their days accepting praise and dispensing favors to supplicants.
...
Unlike previous scandals, in which members were censured for having sex with pages, the current one so far doesn’t involve physical contact. But it features lewd messages from Representative Mark Foley to a teenager asking about his sex life and requesting a picture. When you are chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children, as Foley was, this does not qualify as research for your job.

Even if you could somehow quell Congressional libidos, even if this scandal taught members of Congress not to hit on teenagers, the page program still wouldn’t be worth paying for. It should be eliminated, as Representative Ray LaHood has proposed, for the sake of both Congress and the pages. They need to be spared not just from lustful congressmen but from the chief lesson taught by the program: that success is all about making the right connections.

To get into the program, you (or your parents or their well-connected friends) have to find a member of Congress to sponsor you. Once in, the supreme goal is to ingratiate yourself with someone powerful enough to help you move up the Washington hierarchy. As Rachel Swarns reported in The Times, Foley was a favorite of the pages because he offered them the gift of access.

http://www.b12partners.net/mt/archives/2006/10/your_page_m_lord.html

Why does Congress still have unpaid skivvies? 'Tradition'?

[midnight]

23. Foley let the children of privilege have more access to the

powerful in return for inappropriate behavior...Yuk

[lapislzi]

7. Reminds me of Otter's speech in Animal House

To wit:

"But you can't hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn't we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn't this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn't this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we're not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!"

[BootinUp]

9. you nailed it. n/t

[Danascot]

12. Otter was a Republican?

All my illusions are shattered...

[lapislzi]

14. Doubtful

Isn't Otter the one who went on to become the public defender? Or did he become the gynecologist?

[formercia]

17. Public Servant and amateur gynecologist. n/t

:evilgrin:

[Recursion]

8. When I did it you had to be in student gov't and have good grades

It's pretty much up to the Congressman how he appoints pages; my Congressman wanted nerds to go into politics so he picked kids with good grades and some student government experience.

And, honestly, it is a good program. It gets high schoolers interested in politics and public service and shows them DC. I still have a lot of friends and contacts from doing it and I'm glad I was a page.

[K8-EEE]

10. The Freepers Now Think It's "Asking For Trouble"

To have pages mix with "adults." YEAH IF THEY'RE FREAKAZOID GOP PEDOPHILE ADULTS THAT IS!!

[SlavesandBulldozers]

15. hahaha. LOLLLL

i wouldn't put it past them to say that. I'll believe ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING nowadays when it comes to these sick fucks.

[Laurab]

19. Yep, nothing wrong with having PEDOPHILES in Congress

it's those damn pages causing the trouble. Family Values!!!

[glitch]

20. Apparently the freepers know you can't trust republicans with children

first hand experience, no doubt.

[Danascot]

18. You think that's rich, look at this:

The liberals started us down the slippery slope of tolerance and diversity that leads to congessmen chasing pages down the halls of the Capitol:

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/10/03/perkins-ethics-fole... /

... and the Republican leadership were afaid to say anything about Foley because they'd be seen as gay bashing

BWahahahahhahahahaha!!!!!

[K8-EEE]

21. OH YEAH THEY'RE ALWAYS SOOOO AFRAID OF GAY BASHING!

Um, a constitutional amendment restricting gays from marriage, they aren't worried about that being seen as gay bashing.

Riiiiiiight.

[lies and propaganda]

22. fuedal food chain? thats not yanking at all...

i would have done anything to have been a page. i guess i was too busy enjoying life under Bill Clinton to realize that one days I was going to become obsessed with politics.