Foley: Page Prank Gone Bad?

I think the key to this whole mess is "enemy political operatives". I guess since it is coming out that the page in question was 18 years old, Democrats will rally around Foley, like they did Clinton? Yeah right!

Translation: Democrats can't win on the issues and have become desperate.

Right now I am waiting for the Democrats to "out" a Republican.

But, I thought gays where a major part of the Dem's voter base? Wouldn't that offend them? I guess it doesn't matter as long as it hurts Republicans.

Originally posted by RRconservative
Right now I am waiting for the Democrats to "out" a Republican.

Are you aware that Foley is a Republican?

en.wikipedia.org...

Of course Foley is a Republican, if he were a Democrat, this wouldn't be a big deal. It would be expected.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
... but Foley has fallen on his sword, politically, and has entered rehab and has alleged that he was the victim of a pedophelic priest.

Ah, yes, the haven of the rich and famous.
Enter rehab, where the media has no access to you
I loved the remarks made on Keith Olbermann the other night. Comments on how these "rehab" stays are more spas--anything to get the offending person off the front page.

And, let's blame a pedophile priest who may or may not exist.
Not saying he himself wasn't abused, but does that excuse HIS behavior today.


Let's keep the waters muddied, it just won't do the allow the truth out.
*mutters about the state of affairs in politics today*



[edit on 5-10-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
I loved the remarks made on Keith Olbermann the other night. Comments on how these "rehab" stays are more spas--anything to get the offending person off the front page.

Certainly, the rehab centers that the wealthy attend are posh and the main purpose of any substance abuse rehabilitation is to detox and educate the client, so it's not going to be too demanding. For those with genuine substance abuse problems, they are anything but "a walk in the park," though.

We shouldn't blame rehab centers for being what they are. In the forties or fifties, Foley would have checked himself into an asylum for "exhaustion" or a "nervous breakdown." Today, rehab is chic and no one needs to hide behind vague diagnoses, unless you consider substance abuse to be a vague diagnosis.

I suspect he needs treatment, but he's in for much more, I feel. Sooner or later, he must emerge from therapy and it probably won't be pretty.

Maybe he can stay until after October 13th and no one will notice or care.

its too late for foley his career is smeared now, so he will most likely try to fade away. Another casualty of war i'm afraid

Okay, lets make a list of all the "Damage Control" stuff that have the Republicans burning the midnight oil.

1. Democrats "Setup" Foley (Limbaugh)

2. The Democrats Sat on the story (Malkin)

3. MSM Releasing it near the election (Hannity)

4. Societies Tolerance and Diversity is to blame (Malkin)

5. The Pages Themselves are at fault (Limbaugh)

6. Comparing this act to Lewinsky "Scandal" (Fox news, not sure who said that)

7. A Prank

Anyone got anymore?

So blaming everyone from the Democrats to the victims themselves.

[edit on 5-10-2006 by sardion2000]

I like Drudge and I read his site all the time, he always has the news before anybody else does.

However he IS about as Republican as Rush Limbaugh, so I have to take this 'report' with a grain of salt... Would love to see this from another source.

Dont forget the fact that as soon as this broke his lawyer made statements that he was a gay man and also was molested by a clergyman as a young teenager. How are either of those things even relevant? Of course, being molested is a mentally damaging incident and could explain why Representative Foley made the choices he did, but bringing in his sexuality to me in blatantly trying to control the damage and doing so in a very horrible way. It blows my mind that human beings can't set aside the fact that they are 'Republican' or 'Democrat' and face the facts. I do not know if Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh have children, but why can't they understand how wrong this is? And why try and defend someone who has done something like this, just because you are affiliated with the same party?

According to two people close to former congressional page Jordan Edmund, the now famous lurid AOL Instant Message exchanges that led to the resignation of Mark Foley were part of an online prank that by mistake got into the hands of enemy political operatives, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal.

Is that where we are as a nation? We call our fellow Americans who don't share our political party the "enemy"?

On another point, how was such a "mistake" made? I'm talking about the one that refers to the IMs getting into the hands of the enemy?

Even if it was a prank, what difference does that make? The fact that it worked (so to speak) proves there was a need for the Republican leadership to address the Foley problem when they first learned of it...BUT THEY DIDN"T!.

What a pathetic attempt to distract from the real issue of their incompetency or their naked lust for retaining power.


[edit on 6-10-2006 by loam]

GradyPhilpott said:
I also don't think that the public is so dumb as to forget the real issues because of a stupid Congressman--the press maybe, the public never.

You mean the same public that ignored every real issue on the planet in 2000 and voted based on nothing more than a "family values" perception of the Democrats forged by the Lewinski scandal, which in the grand scheme is a lesser scandal than this because it never invovled any possible "criminal activity" until Clinton lied under oath? That public? I think the public as whole is about as smart as a bag of hammers.

Rockpuck said:
He has never had nor approached a page to make a suggestion to have sex with any of them.

Well. I think a drunken "panty raid" on the page dorms and illusions to "miss you since San Diego" leave the door open for the possibility that you're wrong.

I don't see where the "prank scenario" makes any difference whatsoever. Wouldn't the "prank scenario" be the equivalent of Dateline:To Catch a Predator? Should those guys be let off because they were "set up" the way they were? There's no way out of this one for Foley. And depending on the investigation there may be no way out for Hastert.

It seems a bit hypocritical of the Republicans to be trying to sweep this under the rug and claim it's no big deal and the media is just making a mountain out of a mole hill when the same Republicans impeached a sitting president for less. At the time many of the Democrats warned that "lowering the bar" for this sort of thing was dangerous, and now the chickens are on their way home.

I'm an independent voter, and my voting strategy is to vote out all incumbents regardless of party, and this year that seems the best plan all around.

I seem to remember a talkshow host that talked about the details of this story in 2003 and it cost him his spot on that radio broadcast as a result.

I however would have no idea who that would be and no can prove a thing

Ye who laughs first laugh's last.

Get yourself's out of this one.



Falcon


[edit on 6-10-2006 by falcon]

I just don't see how this is some kind of prank by a page. If that were true, why have so many other pages come forward with e-mails from Foley? If it is a distraction from real issues, I have to ask what do you consider to be a real issue? Wouldn’t alleged pedophiles representing us in the government count? It seams that it was a big deal when it involved Clinton and a 22 year old intern.

And for those that think this was leaked by Democrats right before the elections, you can thank a GOP aide for the leak.

Paid Republican tipped off Foley e-mail

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

Originally posted by RRconservative
Right now I am waiting for the Democrats to "out" a Republican.

Are you aware that Foley is a Republican?

en.wikipedia.org...

Doesn't matter to Fox, they say hes a Democrat anyways ...

www.youtube.com...

www.youtube.com...

www.dailykos.com... (nice satire piece on the subject :p)

[edit on 6/10/06 by thematrix]

I said this in another thread on the topic of foley and the im's but I'll repeat it. The fact that this kid was having these types of conversations with Foley is kinda strange. He's supposedly a straight teenager and he's talking monkey spank and hot guys at lacrosse practice? I don't condone the actions of Foley but it is obvious this kid was up to something. If I received messages from anyone that were of a homosexual nature and were not being made in complete jest, I doubt if I would continue the line of conversation. How many times have any of you men/boys ever spoke about how you masturbate with another guy? We all admit to doing it but do we talk about grinding into a bed, using a towel etc? Nope.

With regards to the rehab stint, that is fast becoming the get out of jail free card for people in the public eye. No matter what the public offense, you check into rehab for something, admit to a problem and the public feels your pain and forgives you. I wouldn't be surprised if Robin Williams' recent stint in rehab (for alcohol abuse) was a proactive step in the event some story was leaked.

I knew I heard the painful whir of an juggernaut trying to avert an impending disaster.

Honestly, this all just shows the level that the Noise Machine will stoop. Blaming the "enemy operatives (read: "Vast left wing conspiracy"), blame homosexuality, blame alcohol and, oh yea, don't forget to blame the minors.

Drudge is a hack, Rush is a goof and the noise machine in general is giving me a headache just thinking about anyone who might be buying into this drivel. "The Grand Old Party" indeed.

On another note, I personally believe it's all contrived; From the Lewinsky scandal to this final nail in the coffin for the "party of values". Everything is a giant play for your benefit. An orchestrated "dance" to help this country pick it's next leaders. It is my firm beliefe that if Republicans or Democrats were to be in power for too long we would be reduced to twitching, ranting lunatics and this would put all the plans into jeopardy.

So, when Clinton was "busted" with an intern it was then time for the country to "throw off" the current rule and move to another end of the spectrum that might allow certain goals to be attained. And now Foley and the rest of the scandals (yes, there are more than just the one "scandal" in progress - think of NATO taking over control of US forces in Afghanistan to reference just one. That means we've failed there. And you were distracted by Foley while that little news ditty floated by virtually unnoticed - YESTERDAY. Good job, America!)

It's all a play for your benefit. The left/right paradigm is a lie.

deluded, howdy neighbor.

Is this really all just a show, or is the current 2 party system just plain busted? I know the trends are cyclical, but it is my opinion that the PTB that really control the country will get their way regardless of what party is dominant. Overall I think a scandal like this is bad for America in general, and there are other ways than this to change the dominant party.


[edit on 10/6/2006 by Hal9000]

Originally posted by deluded
The left/right paradigm is a lie.

Not truer statement could be made.

What's even more disturbing is that the cartoon characterizations of either side seem to nonetheless work.

Why is this being even considered news? Alex Jones reported that senior members of the US political and business elite were engaged in sex with male prostitutes at least 3-4 years ago? This is just another diverison by the corporate media to keep the voting public's attention off the real crimes of the Bush Administration and its real purpose of stripping us of our Constituitional rights.

Originally posted by Hal9000
deluded, howdy neighbor.

Is this really all just a show, or is the current 2 party system just plain busted? I know the trends are cyclical, but it is my opinion that the PTB that really control the country will get their way regardless of what party is dominant. Overall I think a scandal like this is bad for America in general, and there are other ways than this to change the dominant party.


[edit on 10/6/2006 by Hal9000]

Howdy yourself and thanks for the response.

I heard yesterday on the radio (looking for a link to the source. Will update when I find it.) that the two dominant parties had "rigged" the system way back to only really allow the two parties. This is not shocking to me but lends credance to your thoughts that it may "just be broken". Unfortuantely, I must stand by my opinion of greater forces at work.

I realize that my view, while not unique by any stretch" sounds a little William-Cooper-Tin-Hat-ish but I ask if all this signs do not indeed point in that direction. I agree that "they" get what they want regardless of the party in power but my point led more towards control of the populace as opposed to control over the system. My position remains that it's just a play to ease the outrage. Outrage over clearly gutting the constitution via our own system of three brach government. outrage over indefinite detainment and torture of humans (be they terrorists or otherwise or even, yes there are also these, American citizens who had brown skin). And finally the outrage that Hypocracy runs deep in the rich ruling class who sit up on high and speak down to us as if we had never elected them in the first place, as if they were entitled to be there forever. Outrage that makes me red in the face and anxious for action.

If the Dems win it back we get nothing more than a rest from the anxiety and that will only be a small rest that ends up being not so restful after all.