The odd thing about PredatorGate (Mark Foley(R-FL)).....

This has been sitting my head for awhile .... figured I should go on and put it out there... I'm not carving anything new out of this story, and I'm only claiming to possibly check a trickle of the GOP spin machine.

Enjoy (please).

Obviously, if I were to say something like "I told you so," without having access to hard evidence, people from all sides would correctly call me a whack-nut job. Including me.

However, in a different place with a different context I think I wrote:

OK, OK,

I have no love for Tucker Carlson.

In fact, I really want to write, "Tucker Carlson is Pedophile and child molester (based on the 9/11 commission report)" and disclaim that statement by calling it a "docudrama."

Obviously, that's just an overly mean slur directed at a kinda mean (if really, really harmless) talking head. Tucker's a decent reporter, I guess, but not so good an anchor. Just search youtube for Jon Stewart on Crossfire and you'll see what I mean. (Jon's reaction is quite good!)

I was curious to see what anchor-ly indignation Tucker (bite that lip, Tuck!) might express about Mark Foley, but it wouldn't be interesting unless Mike Papantonio is involved:

"Go to the Internet, read what this Pedophile freak was saying to this child." - you won't believe the lame defense offered by the Rev. Mike Watkins, shill for Republican Jesus.

You can listen to Mike, alongside Robert Kennedy, Jr., on their weekend show, Ring of Fire. Their new book is available here:



Now, on to the Bush Administration's response to PredatorGate: it's a very similar to their response to PlameGate, and we all know how that turned out, don't we?

"I have no knowledge of who leaked the identity of a covert CIA agent, and I'll fire anyone involved" translates into:

"I am the one who authorized the leaks, and since I declassified the information it isn't a big deal. I'm not firing anybody who isn't threatened with jail time."

That's a high moral standard, don't you think?

We can see where Reps. Reynolds and Hastert got their playbook for dealing with Mark Foley -- do nothing until it becomes public and the FBI investigates. Answer no questions after your public statements, lie about that - repeatedly - and if possible, make your public statements about sexual molestation only while surrounded by children.

But we need to understand a few key concepts in this whole thing:

• There is a cover up. At some level, an elected official made decision to merely verbally warn Foley after they gained knowledge of the explicit messages to under aged kids.
• There are more than one page involved. They were underage when initially inappropriately contacted by Foley.
• Foley's contributions to the GOP were at such times they are likely bribes to buy silence regarding his behavior, and this is currently under investigation.
  

And there's one final point that must not ever be forgotten: the scandal surrounding Mark Foley (R-FL) erupted at exactly the right moment to steal the headlines from the recently passed bill that gutted the U.S. Constitution.

That's right. Because our media establishment in this country cares more for sensational titles, and the GOP loves talking about homosexuals, because they cannot admit that Habeus Corpus is fundamental to our country's sense of character.

What did my Grandfather fight for in World War II if not the basic freedoms guaranteed us by the Constitution and its first ten amendments?

If you're confused, and I know how easy it can be, watch Keith Olberman describe exactly what happened with the Military Commisisons Act of 2006. And mourn with me as Keith lays Habeus Corpus to rest.

Stephen Colbert gives away the gameplan:

Tripping through the blogosphere....

I've been up to no good lately, at least according to some folks. I'll post more on a particular feud over one comment a little later, when i can get my thoughts in order.

Around the Conservative media and blogosphere, there seems to be an uproar over a "lack of Unity" behind our President. This is of course a smear campaign against anyone who has trouble with unlimited warrant less spying, unlimited arrest and detention of any person without no evidence or criminal charges, and let's not forget the little trifling matter of outing covert agents, and then suppressing an investigation into the damage caused by such a a leak.

Be warned, that if you make any public statement questioning the validity of these acts, you will be labelled "un-American." If you're an elected Democrat, you will be called an "islamofascist" even if you're a christian minister and/or a U.S. Military reservist or retiree.

It's refreshing to know that not all conservatives are steamrolling towards the extreme right. A few cases in point:

CrooksandLiars has a post on a new book coming out, written by Sen. John Danforth, formerly a contender to be Bush's Vice-Presidential Candidate, an exclusive from Raw Story:

The former Missouri senator shortlisted to be then-Governor Bush's running mate in the 2000 presidential election -- said to have been second choice only to Vice President Cheney -- will come out vehemently against administration and Congressional Republican policy in a book to be published next week., according to an advance copy obtained by RAW STORY.

John Danforth, who retired in 1995 after four terms in the Senate, briefly served as Bush's ambassador to the United Nations but resigned after Condoleezza Rice was tapped to be Secretary of State. According to CNN, he was second on the list of Bush's potential vice presidential choices in 2000.

In Faith and Politics, to be released Tuesday, Danforth blasts the alignment of the Republican Party with the Christian right, lays out his most aggressive pro-gay stance to date and attacks the handling of the Terri Schiavo case.

See, this is what's called "thinking" for yourself, and respecting the rights of every American Citizen to do as they wish (isn't that point of Capitalism and Democracy?). It's also about principles such as small, limited government and self-determination:

Danforth calls the Terri Schiavo case -- where Congress intervened to attempt to keep a severely brain-damaged woman from being taken off life support -- "Big Brotherism."

"That the federal government could intervene in the Schiavo case was a threat to all the families that had seen their loved ones suffer through terminal illness," he writes.

It was a threat to people who were terrified that their own lives might someday be artificially extended in nightmarish circumstances. It was a threat to some of our most heartfelt values. It was Big Brotherism in the extreme, an exercise of the raw and awesome power of the federal government.
"They intervened not in the name of principle, but at the expense of principle," Danforth avers. "They abandoned principle by deciding a medical question without any firsthand knowledge of what they were doing."

So, let's add The Reverend John Danforth, an ordained Episcopal Priest, to the ranks of Colin Powell, John Dean, and other conservative who have the moral fortitude to stand up and say that they will not go blindly down this dark path.

You can pre-order Danforth's Faith and Politics

While there, why not pick up Conservatives Without Conscience by John W. Dean, White house Counsel to Richard Nixon, and self-described Barry Goldwater conservative. You might also like any of the books by or about Colin Powell.

For a more immediate fix, Crooksandliars has video of Joe Scarborough placing Principles above Partisanship or Sen. Lindsey Graham explaining the importance of the Geneva Conventions. Scarborough is a former Republican congressman from Florida, and Sen. Graham is a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command.