FYI -- FOLEY: Who knew and the excuses so far

[radfringe]

The spin is running at full throttle, so I've started a few lists to keep track

List of who knew, the excuses, and who the repugs are blaming:

Other than Foley and Hastert - the following are reported to have known about the e-mails/IM's:

Kirk Fordham, chief of staff to Rep. Tom Reynolds (formerly Foley's Chief of Staff)
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill), chairman of the House Page Board
Jeff Trandahl, Former Clerk of the House of Representatives
John Boehner (R-OH), Majority Leader
Rep. Tom Reynolds, (R-NY) Chairman of the House Republican Campaign Committee
Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-LA)
Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ)
Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH)
Scott Palmer, Rep. Hastert’s Chief of Staff
Mike Stokke, Rep. Hastert's Deputy Chief of Staff
Ted Van Der Meid, the Counsel to Rep. Hastert

question: With so many people aware of the e-mail/IM's how could Hastert and other Repug leaders NOT know?

The Spin to date:

The Excuses:
-- Foley had a drinking problem
-- Foley was abused
-- GOP Leadership didn't know
-- E-mail and Instant Messages were just "overly friendly"
-- Democrats did it too (i.e. had sex scandals)
-- Political Ploy by the Democrats
-- Distracted by the Abramoff Scandal
-- Going after Foley woho have been depicted as Gay Bashing

Placing the Blame:
-- It's the Democrats Fault
-- Clinton's Fault
-- Richard Morris (Clinton advisor)
-- George Soros
-- CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington)
-- ABC News
-- Permissive and Tolerant attitude towards Gays and Lesbians
-- Intolerant attitude towards Gays and Lesbians
-- Partisan atmosphere of Washington Politics
-- D.C.'s Age of consent laws
-- Liberals

[MrScorpio]

1. Doesn't add up, does it?

More par for the republican private country club course

[Erika]

2. Remember, the right wing religious groups are blaming

the democrats, completely excusing the GOP for Foley.

Please contact them:

Jerry Falwell at www.falwell.com
American Family Association at www.afa.net
James Dobson at www.family.org
Perkins at www.frc.org

[Chipper Chat]

3. Dont forget Drudge.

According to him the "beasty" pages are to blame. How dare these teenage pages come up with a plot to entrap Foley? They wont get away with it. Republicans will prevail. Yeah, right Sludge.

[Erika]

4. Good point

Drudge is gay himself and must have some kind of self hatred to go along with it. He blames the kids?

[maddezmom]

5. Elizabeth Nicolson: was at the meeting with foley, Trandahl and Shimkus

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/sixteenyearold_.html
Elizabeth Nicolson, Foley's Chief of Staff, said they believe the e-mail exchange began when the page asked Foley for a recommendation and that the subsequent exchange was totally innocent. She said Foley's office believes the e-mails were released by the opposition as part of an "ugly smear campaign."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeff Trandahl, the clerk of the House, and Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., who leads the board overseeing the congressional page program, had come from the House floor to confront Foley, a Florida congressman, about reports that he had been exchanging e-mail messages with a Louisiana teenager who had worked as a page on Capitol Hill.

When they arrived in Room 104 of the Cannon House Building that day, Foley was in his office. Elizabeth Nicolson, a longtime aide who had recently been named chief of staff, joined Foley for a meeting that lasted no more than 30 minutes.

What took place at this meeting -- only four people were present -- holds the answers to at least some of the pertinent questions in the case of Foley, who abruptly resigned from Congress late last month after learning that a series of sexually explicit messages had landed in the hands of ABC News.

"It was a brief meeting," said a senior Republican congressional aide who is familiar with the session and spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is under investigation. "Looking back, it was probably far too brief of a meeting."

more: http://www.startribune.com/587/story/729813.html

[maddezmom]

6. Danielle Savoy, Alexander's cheif of staff knew

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/you_decide_were.html

[radfringe]

7. thanks will update my list to include those names

and added to the list of who the republicans blame:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
Mass media in general (except for Faux spews)

[maddezmom]

9. The WaPo had a chart on all the people that were involved

but I didn't bookmark it and now I can't find it. :(

[Philosoraptor]

8. The wheel of blame, round and round and round she goes

[radfringe]

10. regarding DC's age of consent

according to various reports - DC's age of consent is 16

the reich-wing spin maintains since DC's age of consent is 16, and the original page involved was 16 - there is no crime of pedophilia

which brings up a couple of other questions:

if the age of consent is higher in the state in which the page received the IMs/e-mails - is it still pedophilia? or do DC's laws have jurisdiction in determining whether or not there was a crime of pedophilia?

assuming for a moment that it's determined pedophilia was not committed due to the age of consent - couldn't these e-mails/IMs be seen as sexual harrasment and/or stalking?

[radfringe]

11. too early in the morning to let the post fade into the archives n/t

[cynatnite]

12. You forgot one...It's the pages fault n/t

[radfringe]

13. ahhhh yes, blaming the victims... but coming soon

it's North Korea's fault so bush will be invading Iran

[Jeanette in FL]

14. We should all call our Representatives and ask them point blank

"What knowledge did you have about Mark Foley's involvement with the congressional pages?"

Then report back here with their answers.

[ecstatic]

15. "Didn't want to be accused of Gay Bashing"

I was stunned when they were throwing that excuse around, and worse yet, Wallace did not take them to task! The party who actually wants to AMEND THE CONSTITUTION to discriminate against gays didn't want to be accused of gay bashing?! And furthermore, it would NOT have been GAY BASHING!! The problem was Foley was going after underaged pages, their genders and his sexual preference had absolutely no relevance!

[The Count]

17. "Political correctness" stoped Clinton from catching OBL - they said

and then immediately fired all gay Arab translators from anti-terroristm jobs... It's the MO.

[The Count]

16. Nice score card - we need it! Abramoff excuse? Funny!

Sorry I was accomplice to a crime, I was involved in another crime at the time and didn't focus enough - Hastert should do well on this one.