Today, Dennis Hastert announced that there will be changes in the program. All well and good. But why did Hastert proclaim this decision to the press without mentioning one word about the changes to Democrat Dale Kildee, who sits the House Page Board?
This slight may seem small, but it speaks volume about Republican arrogance. Even now, on the brink of defeat, the GOP takes power for granted.
I'm still wondering about the source of the IMs. Brian Ross has told the Washington Post that he received the transcripts from the pages themselves. Could this claim be a white lie?
We also know that the IMs concern several different pages. Would the boys themselves have kept these records? Not just one boy, but several? Most people prefer not to keep logs of sexually-oriented chats, especially if they live in households where others have access to the computer. These logs, if discovered by family members, would have been particularly embarrassing.
I stress the point because if Ross received the logs from some source other than the youths, all sorts of interesting scenarios emerge. The companies providing instant messaging services -- Foley seems to have used AOL -- will make logs available to law enforcement if served with a subpoena. (The companies do not divulge the length of time that they keep these records.) If some law enforcement agency requested those chats, then we know that someone considered Foley a serious problem quite some time ago. And that would change the complexion of this tale considerably.
I haven't had an AOL account in years, but I know that in order to log IMs using AIM, one must download and install a special program. Did all the boys go to such trouble?
(Joe Scarborough makes much the same point: "Someone had these IM's and held on to them for a year so to inflict maximum damage on Mark Foley and the Republican Party.")
Ross also says he "verified" the IMs before airing them. Verified how? Well, we know that ABC confronted Foley himself, since he tried to strike a deal in order to keep the logs secret. It seems likely that the congressman, in the shock of the moment, broke down and blabbed all. Must have been quite a scene.
A Feeney connection? Another Florida Republican congressman, Tom Feeney -- now in a tightening race with vote fraud whistleblower Clint Curtis -- is a staunch opponent of internet predators. So was Foley, until the world learned that he had become what he opposed. As BradBlog points out, Feeney is a Deputy Whip as well as a fellow Republican; he may thus have had inside knowledge of Foley's problem. Foley has contributed money to Feeney. More conspiratorial minds than mine may detect the subtle, lingering odor of blackmail; I jump to no such conclusions, and merely note the sequence of events.
A Scientology connection? Justin Rood (citing Wonkette) has found an interesting tidbit:
Foley had a relationship with the Scientology community in Florida; the Scientologists have a detox center in Clearwater, Fla.; Foley's attorney David Roth faxed news of his client's treatment to a Florida TV station from a fax machine in Clearwater, Fla.; Roth's office, however, isn't in Clearwater.The relationship was one of long standing. In 1999, Foley condemned Germany's crackdown on Scientology. Foley was present at a Scientology event in Los Angeles back in 2001; in 2003, Scientologists held a benefit for Foley's abortive plans to run for Senate. The Clearwater Business Association -- a Hubbardian front group -- held a brunch for Foley in 2003; if you go here, you can see a shot of Foley holding a copy of Dianetics. Since most politicians shun the sect, this embrace seems very odd.
Clearwater is the home of the Narconon center -- another Scientology front organization. This, some suspect, is the "hotel" where the congressman has checked in, although we should quickly note that there are eight other drug rehab centers in that city.
A Foley/Scientology connection would be ironic, given Hubbard's intolerant view of homosexuality.
11 comments:
Just a note on one portion of the story. I'm getting a little bored with the "checked in to a rehab clinic" rabbit hole - a recent trend it seems. If Foely truly had an alcohol problem then it would have affected his ACTUAL job which certainly would have been noticeable and something NOT to have been as easily dismissed by his co-workers for so long. I hope?
That said, and speculating as usual, something here feels like a sting. Total speculation.
Miss P.
This, courtesy of the WPO and Howard Kurtz:
'"I said we're not making any deals," Ross recalls. He says the Internet made the story possible, because on Thursday he posted a story on his ABC Web page, the Blotter, after obtaining one milder e-mail that Foley had sent a 16-year-old page, asking for a picture. Within two hours, former pages had e-mailed Ross and provided the salacious messages. The only question then, says Ross, was "whether this could be authenticated."'
If this were untrue, the pages would no doubt be speaking out.
"If this were untrue, the pages would no doubt be speaking out."
Oh really? You are presuming that the boys feel comfortable proclaiming to the world -- and to their high school friends -- that they "cybered" with a guy in his 50s.
I read a bit on thestraights.com about Scientology in the Clearwater area. They have a bit to say about the local politicians as well.
I agree with the sting angle. The boys' comments seemed very scripted to me. They consistently kept saying just enough to keep Foley on the hook without really committing to anything terribly lurid in writing. Perhaps I'm wrong though, because all the emails haven't yet been made public. However, it seems like Foley might have caught a clue at some point, but then most Republicans these days aren't known for their keen powers of observation or insight.
...It's hard to to laugh as I write this. John Stewart is saying that the Republicans went to the Catholic Church school of crisis management. ;)
Kim in PA
It is well known that certain unelected government/political power structures in Washington have used various sexual tools to exploit whatever sexual "weakness" they may encounter in elected officials as a means of political control and blackmail. This goes back at least to Watergate, Mrs. Dean, etc.
I admit that I have taken no interest in the details of this story, and am not familiar with the content or parties involved, other than what has been printed here, however:
1. How did they manage to get so many young pages who were apparently interested in or at least willing to be passively cooperative with the homosexual interest of a politician in his 50s?
2. How did Foley manage to identify which of them would be safe to approach in this way?
What if the Republican party has become a rogue elephant in the political machinations of Washington's subterranean politics, and this tool - put in place as a means of control - was brought out because they had set themselves up in such a way that there would be no other way (politically acceptable to the corporate-fascist guardians of the gate) to take them down while maintaining tight control of who would replace them?
Speculation, of course. But in a nation where those who pursue the interests of the common man as though that was their mandate are publically executed in the most gruesome and brutal way imaginable, primary candidates are preselected for their willingness "play ball," and "the vote" is a sham designed to make sure the right pre-selected candidate wins, this scenario certainly seems plausible.
I wasn't suggesting that the pages were witting parts of a sting operation.
I think Foley did this to himself. All I'm saying is that perhaps law enforcement got wind of his behavior early on -- earlier than most accounts now suggest -- and that his internet usage was being monitored.
WOrking against this theory are several recent stories suggesting that the FBI has been pretty clueless. But maybe it was some agency other than the FBI which got access to the logs.
Or maybe it really was the young men themselves who gave this stuff to Brian Ross.
What if the sudden release of these logs is a payback from ABC for being compelled to air The Path to 9/11?
Completely OT, but did you know that the TBR blog has copied your Prophecy post, about Gabrielle and the nuking of Chicago?
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=4383
In the text conversation posted in the previous article, at the height of some er, action for Foley, the kid all of a sudden has to go because his mom is calling, then he comes back:
Xxxxxxxxx (8:15:41 PM): she couldnt figure out how to download a file from an email and open it
Maf54 (8:15:53 PM): haha
Xxxxxxxxx (8:16:14 PM): and she only does it like a million times a day
In the time he is gone, Foley has probably, er um, and when the kid comes back he immediately signs off. And Foley doesn't try to pick up again, no need I suppose.
Hard to tell if he is saying his mom is computer saavy or not. But interesting that the kid adds that his mom downloads files a million times a day.
Whoops, 6.49 is me, Miss P.
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