Posted on 10/10/2006 11:30:29 AM PDT by Lando Lincoln
Talk to rank-and-file conservatives anywhere in America on any issue on any day, and their number-one complaint is always this: “the Republicans don’t stand up for themselves the way Democrats do.”
They’re right. The Mark Foley case proves it.
When the maybe-a-pedophile-maybe-just-a-sicko Foley scandal broke, Speaker Hastert’s troops all went on defense. They explained (convincingly to some) that it’s not reasonable to assume from an email asking what a page wants for his birthday that a Congressman is a pervert who ought to be in jail. They also noted (correctly) that if they had gone after him on such scanty evidence, the media would have annihilated them for “homophobia.”
But as usual, they completely missed the one, the only point that matters.
When Democrats had a known pedophile, Massachusetts’ Gerry Studds, in their midst -- one who really did it, and actually confessed -- they did nothing. And then they re-elected him not once but six more times.
When Republicans found Foley’s IMs, he was gone within a day.
That’s the difference. Republicans clean their house. Democrats don’t. And that should be the TV ad everywhere the Foley case is an issue.
Democrats will scream bloody murder. So what? They never miss a chance to play this sort of hardball. Everyone knows it. Framing the issue is the name of the game. Everything else is just losing. And when all Republicans can ask -- year after year -- is some variant of “why are our leaders so spineless and stupid?” you’d think they might catch on.
In Studds’ case (and yes that’s actually his name), the Democrat-controlled House literally wanted to do nothing, even after the predator confessed to the House Ethics Committee. What did they know and when did they know it? Everything, and early! They simply didn’t care. It took a rabble-rouser named Newt Gingrich to shame them enough publicly even to get Studds censured, a “punishment” which carried no penalty.
Years later, when a Republican Senator named Bob Packwood was caught fondling staffers, Republicans forced him out of their majority-controlled Senate; but not before every feminist in America went on the warpath, asserting (correctly) the evils of using a position of power to gain sexual favors from underlings (pardon the term), and (not so correctly) that “the mere allegation is enough” to end a man’s career, never mind evidence or trial.
Three years later, all these same feminists claimed that what Bill Clinton did in the Oval Office with an impressionable 21 year old intern was “private” and that everyone ought to just “move on.”
Let us not even speak of Democrat Representative Barney Frank, who in 1989 was caught running an entire gay prostitution ring out of the basement of his home. He will become Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee if Democrats win this fall.
Oh, and whatever happened to Gingrich? He too was run out of Congress -- by Republicans -- in part for a “scandal” involving a charity he ran. The Ethics Committee -- at Republicans’ request -- levied a $300,000 fine against him, the largest in the history of Congress, which he paid. And then, after all the damage was done, the Internal Revenue Service cleared him of any and all wrongdoing.
The Republicans of South Succotash, Alabama understand what the Republicans of Capitol Hill do not: (1) the Democrats always defend their guys no matter what, and (2) the Republican leadership always caves. The Democrats can always get Republicans to do their dirty work for them. Those same Democrats will never harm one of their own. And the double standard runs far beyond pedophilia, to every policy issue in the world.
But however stupid Hastert’s bunch may be, they are at least half right: they do get rid of their bad guys. Meanwhile, the Democrats promote them.
So when Speaker-wannabe Nancy Pelosi -- who represents the lawbreaking homosexual activist Gavin Newsom’s San Francisco -- says “it may take a woman to clean up this House,” isn’t it time for Republicans to take her on? Wouldn’t it even be germane to point out -- yea, actively campaign against -- her recent participation in a gay pride parade that went out of its way to honor one of America’s leading advocates of pedophilia?
Democrats would never miss such a chance. And they shouldn’t.
But this isn’t even a cheap shot: it’s just the truth. And until Republicans learn to take the offensive on a contrast as blatant as this -- not to mention on the real issues of the campaign -- the agenda will continue to languish as they stay on defense forever and ever and ever.
Enough.
The subject was changed to the media talking about nukes - so this morning Hastert has a press conference about Foley!! What a nerd.
We need to be setting the agenda back to what is important now - not sex scandals.
I think people see the big difference that Foley is gone. The story now needs to go away. Hastert was being stuipid today and just gave the media more opportunities to keep the story going for another few days.
Wrong. Laura Ingram was right. As she said, the subject has changed now with the North Korean nuclear test so why do Republicans like Hastert continue to drag the subject back to Foley? We need to forget this and move on. Investigations are underway, 'nuff said. Time to get back to what we're facing as a nation, terrorists determined to destroy us including a top Al Qaeda leader today calling for attacks on the White House itself and rogue states determined to acquire WMD. Too much is at stake in this election and in the world to continue talking about Foley. The GOP will do itself no good to let the subject of this election be Foley. We have to show them what the alternative is, a party determined to stand firm against terrorism and confronting the nihilist beasts who want to destroy us as well as denying rogues and tyrannts WMD, while Democrats want "strategic redeployments" from fighting terrorism and a policy of paying protection money to rogues to get them to stop building nukes ala Clinton/Albright/Carter's idiotic scheme in 1994 to pay off NK. No, THIS is the subject we need to be on the offensive on, not the sex lives of politicians.
I agree.... (also with post #2). If it comes up, the 'Pubs should go on the offensive. But they're gutless when it comes to fighting back. You touched on it: the Democrats will scream bloody murder. And do will the press. The 'Pubs need to accept the fact that no matter what they do, the press will never like them and will follow the Dems lead, so get over it and play hardball.
OK Folks,
Here's a challenge I got from a Dimocrat.
His thesis is this --- Yes, both parties have shown corruption but when you compare the SCALE of corruption between these two parties, Republicans have shown GREATER CORRUPTION than Democrats.
Therefore, on November 2006, vote the lesser evil.
Any source to show me how he is wrong ?
Exactly... The Republicans aren't going to throw a party on the front lawn of the White House if Foley is cleared of criminal charges - Like the DemocRATS did for Clinton after he was let off by the Senate.
Call a press conference and say all degenerate gay politicians will be EXTRACTED. That would get em going.
It's his statement make HIM back it up. I don't accept the premise.
Sorry but the media brought up Foley again and Hastert had to answer or they'd be saying it was a cover up and he was trying to dodge their questions. This Foley thing isn't gone, I have still been hearing it and it has nothing to do with Hastert's press conference. The Dims want this story to stay out there and the MSM is obliging them.
Any source to show he is right?
Hastert should have issued a statement NOT a press conference. Now the media has video to run and lots of sound bites.
The G.O.P. attempting to take the moral highground on this would be laughable if the situation wasn't so damning and repugnant.
So the Left are collectively a immoral, pernicious group. Does it exonerate the G.O.P. when they allow the same, only to don the cloak of revulsion when it's made public?
Wait a sec... that's OUR line!
We have the moral highground. Foley is gone.
The Bible.
It's the patriots in their party that get kicked to the curb...LIEberman comes to mind.
What was actually done? Even those facts are muddled. Is there any evidence it was allowed? What was allowed? There is an ongoing investigation, is there not?
Stop blaming our guys for everything.
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