Poll: Majority Thinks GOP Leaders Protected Foley "For Two Years"
A majority of Americans — 61 percent — believe the GOP leadership knew about Mark Foley and protected him for two years, new Rasmussen Reports poll has found. Only 21% of respondents are accepting the GOP's cliam that the leadership only just found out about Foley's page problem. And Independents? Even worse: Sixty-nine percent believe the leadership has protected Foley versus a mere nine percent who believe the leadership's explanation.
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Yes; but the scandal -- Repug Leadership protecting Foley (covering up his immorality?) -- will likely have little political consequences. The independent voter, that well-known thinking man's skeptic and/or cynic, will merely presume that's how politicians -- all politicians -- always act -- protecting one of their own.
That the Leadership protected Foley because -- and solely because -- he came from a wealthy Repug district and was a proven money raiser and that the Leadership did what it did for purely craven self-interested reasons will escape the notice of the independent voter, entirely.
October 5, 2006 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would like to know more about the phone number that Hastert has been giving our for people to call in with information about page issues. Are the people listening to those calls Republican (Rove Jr.) Staffers who are trying to direct the scandal into their control and do more covering up? Or is the information going to the Ethics committee with staffers from both parties listening to the calls?
October 5, 2006 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kudos to Nancy Pelosi for putting the kibosh on the suggestion that Louie Freeh head an investigation of the PageF**k scandal.
Freeh, the lowlife little weasel, would have spent all of his time investigating the Clintons and what had they had to with the revelations about Foley.
I did an "expose" of Louie Freeh in June here in the TPM Cafe in which I explained how I knew Freeh quashed the FBI's investigation of Senator Alphonse D'Amato.
I'm sure Nancy Pelosi knows just how corrupt Louie Freeh really is.
October 5, 2006 4:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hastert himself said in an interview that the reason he had forgotten about being told about the Page Problem was that it was brought up as one of a number of other things that might potentially crop up as a problem in upcoming election campaigns, NOT as a separate ethical violation and child endangerment activity demanding immediate investigation!
That was an incredibly revealing remark, one of the most shocking things I've heard in all this mess - it's a window into the amoral inner workings of the Party. It makes you wonder what else was brought up as potential problems Republicans might have to do damage control on if the public finds out.
When Hastert said that, it was clear that he still views this as strictly a political problem, at worst a misjudgement on his part about how much damage control it would require.
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MSNBC COUNTDOWN October 4, 2006
OLBERMANN: On the issue of how they viewed it before last week, Hastert is clear. He may not remember if Reynolds told him about Foley last spring, but he does remember whether the context was about protecting children, or protecting someone else.
HASTERT: He would have told me that, or told me that in the context, maybe a half a dozen or a dozen other things. I dont remember that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, other allegations of improper e-mails?
HASTERT: No, just other things that what might have affected campaigns. Its probably a whole stack of political things that we were going through at the time.
OLBERMANN: Needless to say, politicians are spinning this like workmen at a Fiberglas factory.
October 5, 2006 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink