NYT: A Scandal-Scarred GOP Asks 'What Next?' (Oh, This Is Delicious...)

[Hissyspit]

Read the whole thing!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/29/us/politics/29repubs.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

Political Memo
A Scandal-Scarred G.O.P. Asks, ‘What Next?’

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published: August 29, 2007
WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 — Scott Reed, a Republican strategist, was at a dinner in Philadelphia on Monday night when his cellphone and Internet pager began beeping like crazy. Only later did he learn why. His party was buzzing with news of a sex scandal involving a Republican United States senator — again.

Just when Republicans thought things could not get any worse, Senator Larry E. Craig of Idaho confirmed that he had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct after an undercover police officer accused him of soliciting sex in June in a Minneapolis airport restroom. On Tuesday, Mr. Craig, 62, held a news conference to defend himself, calling the guilty plea “a mistake” and declaring, “I am not gay” — even as the Senate Republican leadership asked for an Ethics Committee review.

It was a bizarre spectacle, and only the latest in a string of accusations of sexual foibles and financial misdeeds that have landed Republicans in the political equivalent of purgatory, the realm of late-night comic television.

Forget Mark Foley of Florida, who quit the House last year after exchanging sexually explicit e-mail messages with under-age male pages, or Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist whose dealings with the old Republican Congress landed him in prison. They are old news, replaced by a fresh crop of scandal-plagued Republicans, men like Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, whose phone number turned up on the list of the so-called D.C. Madam, or Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska and Representative Rick Renzi of Arizona, both caught up in F.B.I. corruption investigations.

- snip -

“The real question for Republicans in Washington is how low can you go, because we are approaching a level of ridiculousness,” said Mr. Reed, sounding exasperated in an interview on Tuesday morning. “You can’t make this stuff up. And the impact this is having on the grass-roots around the country is devastating. Republicans think the governing class in Washington are a bunch of buffoons who have total disregard for the principles of the party, the law of the land and the future of the country.”

Then again, Washington does not have a monopoly on the latest trend among Republicans. Just ask Thomas Ravenel, the state treasurer of South Carolina, who had to step down as state chairman of Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign after he was indicted on cocaine charges in June.

Or Bob Allen, a state representative in Florida who was jettisoned from the John McCain campaign last month after he was arrested on charges of soliciting sex in a public restroom.

MORE

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

1. "Republicans think the governing class in Washington are a bunch of buffoons who have total

disregard for the principles of the party, the law of the land and the future of the country.”

Ya think?

[Skittles]

8. I think they very much exemplify the principles of their party

a bunch of sickening hypocrites

[bananarepublican]

21. Could it be that all neocons are closeted homosexuals?

Quite possibly the suppression of their sexuality could be the motivation behind them wanting to attack 'the weak' - from the poor to practically defenseless, resource rich, countries?

[Atman]

2. Something tells me this won't make it to the "Best Of DU" page

on that other slimey site.

I wonder why not?

.

[Hissyspit]

7. LOL

[in_cog_ni_to]

3. 2 words:

LARRY FLYNT!!!!


:rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Olney Blue]

4. I would hate to be a Republican strategist right now!

[napi21]

11. And I'd hate to be a Pub candidate, incumbant or new, for anything!

I know how hurt I felt when BC was going through the Monica thing. I felt sorrow, anger, and disappointment all at once. He was such a smart man, good President, and all around nice guy, yet he did something soooo stupid I couldn't believe it!

But THAT was only ONE incident.

How the hell would you feel if you were a Pub and there was a new scandal almost every week!!!!!!

[knight_of_the_star]

19. I think I know what their strategy would be

Something along the lines of sticking your fingers in your ears while you whistle past the graveyard

[Cha]

5. Or roger stone that had to

resign after allegations of threatening Spitzer’s Father.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/22/nyregion/22stone.html?ref=nyregion

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/nyregion/23stone.html

[Lifelong Protester]

6. "we are approaching a level of ridiculousness"

Oh honey, you blew well past 'ridiculousness' MILES ago...

[rodeodance]

9. “I’m hoping it’s a big mistake,” said........ Senator Lamar Alexa

Still, there is a sort of “here we go again” sense among Republicans these days, especially since news of the Craig arrest broke on Monday afternoon. It is tough enough being in the minority, weighed down by the burden of the war in Iraq. Now Republicans have an even more pressing task: keeping their party from being portrayed not just as hypocritical and out of touch with the values of people they represent, but also as a laughingstock — amid headlines like “Senator’s Bathroom Bust,” which ran all Tuesday afternoon on CNN. The story also ran at the top of all the network evening newscasts on Tuesday.

“I’m hoping it’s a big mistake,” said one of Mr. Craig’s Republican colleagues, Senator Lamar Alexander, traveling Tuesday in Tennessee, his home state. “But it certainly does nothing to increase confidence in the United States Senate.”

With President Bush hobbled by his own political difficulties, the party can hardly look to him to lead them out of the morass. “If we had a coach,” said John Feehery, who was press secretary to Representative J. Dennis Hastert when Mr. Hastert was the House speaker, “the coach would take us in the locker room and scream at us.”

Some Republicans are indeed screaming, particularly the party’s social conservative wing, which places a high priority on ethics and family values. Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, a conservative advocacy group in Washington, said the elections of November 2006, in which Republicans lost control of the House and the Senate, proved that voters want politicians in Washington to clean up their act.

[WCGreen]

14. Notice how Lamar! said the US Senate, not the republicans in

the Senate...

Since the Dem's are in charge, that plants a seed that it's the democrats fault that the Senate has fallen so far...

Piece of Shit...

[Fly by night]

23. Ever since his exclamation point implant, Lamar! has been a dick with ears

Lamar! was actually not a bad governor back in the day. He was the first of a very few Republicans I have ever voted for. Of course, back then, he was running against Ray Blanton, an alcoholic incumbent Democrat who was selling pardons from state prison out of his office. Lamar! didn't do a bad job as governor and seemed to recruit some pretty bright folks around him.

But ever since leaving the state house, Lamar! has increasingly kow-towed to the religious right and has fallen in lock-step with the rest of the Rethugligan rabble. I hope that lock-step leads them all off a public bathroom cliff -- the sooner, the better.

Closeted Rethugligans give self-respecting GLBT folks a bad name.

[mcscajun]

10. Here's a whopping big order of schadenfreude

with a side of lightly grilled Repubs. :evilgrin:

[Purveyor]

12. Nothing a 'Reichstagg moment' wouldn't cure... n/t

[Venus Dog]

13. "Repukes Gone Wild"

Is it on Netflix yet?

[radfringe]

22. I think I saw a commerical for it last night....

big splashy graphics of men's room signs.... ominous music in the background, and a gravely voice saying... "Just when you thought it was safe to go to the bathroom....."

but it's not his fault - he's victim....

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/08/28/sen.craig.statement/

snippets:

While I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct at the Minneapolis airport or anywhere else, I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in the hope of making it go away. I did not seek any counsel, either from an attorney, staff, friends, or family. That was a mistake, and I deeply regret it. Because of that, I have now retained counsel and I am asking my counsel to review this matter and to advise me on how to proceed.

---------

"Still, without a shred of truth or evidence to the contrary, the Statesman has engaged in this witch hunt. In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis, because of the stress of the Idaho Statesman's investigation and the rumors it has fueled around Idaho. Again, that overreaction was a mistake, and I apologize for my misjudgment. Furthermore, I should not have kept this arrest to myself, and should have told my family and friends about it. I wasn't eager to share this failure, but I should have done so anyway.

---------

"As an elected official, I fully realize that my life is open for public criticism and scrutiny, and I take full responsibility for the mistake in judgment I made in attempting to handle this matter myself.

=====

the only thing he admits to is NOT lawyering-up. He's been a Senator since being elected in 1991, so it's not like he's a rookie to fallout from DC sex scandals. I'm sure he did plead guilty to lesser charges in hopes of making this seem like a nothing incident. Which means he was aware of the larger implications and what it would mean for his career.

When's the photo op of him standing with his family while holding a bible? he should be finding Jesus in the next couple of days...or is that only done after entering rehab?

[onewholaughsatfools]

33. i am having so much fun with this

Of course everyone has heard Gannon has a new book out........more laughs to cum

[tridim]

15. I can't wait to see the editorial cartoons this week.

Gonzo. Whack!

Craig. Thwap!

The GOP. Smack!

[radfringe]

34. Craig toon

Don't miss a toon - sign up for a FREE SUBSCRIPTION or E-MAIL A TOON TO SOMEONE Radical Fringe on Comics Sherpa

[BlooInBloo]

16. You heard it here first: Literally every republican is gay.

:rofl:

[Hissyspit]

17. .

[Swamp Rat]

18. LOLOLOL!!! "how low can you go"

:rofl:

[knight_of_the_star]

20. They know something is coming

Look at the last line:

“I’m a little afraid to say anything, because you don’t know what happens tomorrow,” Mr. Reed said. “That Vitter thing, that’s like ancient history now.”

[Hissyspit]

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[Hissyspit]

31. .

[huskerlaw]

27. I love the smell of hypocrisy in the morning.

It smells a LOT like horse shit, actually. Or is that elephant shit?

No matter.

This couldn't happen to a more deserving group of people.

[calimary]

29. How low can you go, mr. reed? How many you got?

How I LOVE the smell of republi-CON hypocrites self-immolating in the morning...

:rofl:

[progressoid]

30. "Republicans think the governing class in Washington are a bunch of buffoons"

Not quite right.

Actually it's, "The governing class in Washington are a bunch of Republican buffoons".

[L. Coyote]

32. Beyond DeLay and Abramoff: 20 Most Corrupt. Imagine if the DoJ was Working!!

http://www.beyonddelay.org/

Report: http://www.beyonddelay.org/report