The Flashlight, Sept. 29 -- Oct. 6, 2006
THE FLASHLIGHT, September 29 – October 6, 2006
UNITED STATES NEWS
The Foley Scandal
The resignation of Rep. Mark Foley, and the probable loss of his Florida seat by the Republicans, was only the beginning of a scandal that extended throughout the week and may continue longer, for it was a story with legs.
Although it was generally known on Capitol Hill that Foley was gay, his pedophile proclivities toward congressional pages were secret. House Speaker Hastert claimed that he first knew of them on Friday, 9-29, when he saw an Instant Message exchange from ABC between Foley and a page which was sexually explicit, not just overly friendly
. [For full text see Slate.com. Foley and a page, in separate locations, masturbated and talked about it over Instant Messaging. They expressed pleasure that the page’s mother was “computer dumb.”]
In the opinion of veteran David Gergen on CNN, the Republicans handled the scandal clumsily.
10-2. NY Times. The FBI was called in to study the case. As early as 2003 there was evidence against Foley, but he was allowed to remain Chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children’s Caucus.” Mark Foley was a sponsor of anti-pedophile legislation. CNN. New York Times ethicist Randy Cohen said, “Anyone who gets no pleasure from seeing the downfall of a hypocrite has lost his zest for life
The Republicans notified only the Republican chairman of the page oversight committee, and not its Democratic member. 10-3. NY Times. A Committee for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington” (linked to Democrats) obtained incriminating material from the Internet and sent it to the FBI last July.
Washington Post. The Post said that the scandal would probably depress the turnout of Conservative voters for the Republicans. Republican House leaders John Boehner and Tom Reynolds said that they had told Hastert of Foley’s suspicious behavior, but the Speaker simply told Foley to stop and did not pursue the matter. The President distanced himself by saying he was “dismayed, shocked and disgusted” by Foley’s behavior.
Washington Times. An editorial in this conservative journal asked Denny Hastert to resign as Speaker of the House.
PBS/CNN. Foley checked into an alcoholism rehab center. His attorney said that he was molested between the ages of thirteen and fifteen by a clergyman.
10-4. CNN. Republican candidates all over the US were being bombarded with questions about the case by their constituents. The latter were not interested in any other issues.
CNN. Kirk Fordham, former chief of staff of Foley, resigned as chief of staff for Tom Reynolds and testified that he had informed the senior staff in Hastert’s office three years before about Foley’s behavior with pages. Hastert denied this.
James Carville said that in Washington a man could be the toast of the town one week and become toast the next. He predicted Hastert’s imminent resignation.
It was revealed that Foley gave $100,000 recently to the Congressional Campaign Committee headed by Reynolds.
Two former pages testified on camera that Foley had invited them to his house and made sexual overtures to them, which they refused.
10-5. Washington Post. The Post obtained dozens of additional messages sent from Dec. 2002 to Oc. 2003 which illustrated Foley’s attempts to lure pages into sexual encounters. He promised professional advancement in exchange for sex.
CNN. Hastert announced that he was taking full responsibility for the affair and that he was not going to resign. He said he had not done anything wrong. He tried to blame the scandal on the Democrats and ABC. He appointed the Ethics Committee to investigate the matter further.
Randy Cohen, the ethicist, commented that he had little confidence in the latter investigation. He said the gay/straight issue was irrelevant, but that the different age between Foley and the pages was the issue. He said that secrecy and cover-up are incompatible with democracy.
In the afternoon letters to CNN were overwhelmingly critical of Hastert and the Republicans. Many said they were going to vote for Democrats.
Bob Woodward’s book, State of Denial
9-29. CNN. David Gergen said this book would help the Democrats in the election. Woodward said that the Bush Administration had lied about the amount of violence in Iraq, and that it was increasing. He said that Henry Kissinger was now advising the White House and that he urged Bush to go for victory only. He said that Bush does not welcome any pessimistic assessment of the situation in Iraq.
The Election Campaign
9-29 PBS. All incumbent Democratic Senators are ahead of their Republican challengers.
10-2. New York Times. Paul Krugman wrote that the right-wing alliance of preachers and plutocrats was breaking up. He cited as issues the failure of Social Security privatization, the disgust of Republicans for religious bullies, and the Foley scandal. 10-3 CNN. Conservatives were angry at not being appointed to important offices in the Administration and its failure to pass bills that they wanted. Only 40% of Republicans are looking forward to voting in November.
10-5. CNN. Bill Schneider said moderates favor the Democrats 2 to 1. More congressional seats are now in play. In House: 28 Republican seats are in jeopardy and in the Senate, 7 Republican seats. [The Dems need to take 15 more House seats and 6 more Senate seats to take control.] The Virginia Senate seat, contested by George Allen (R) and James Webb (D) is very close.
Iraq
9-29 PBS. There have now been more deaths of Americans in Iraq than those on 9/11 in the US.
10-4 CNN Death squads are running out of control in Baghdad. Unless the US changes course, the forces of Iran and al-Qaida will get stronger.
Major Gen. Evan Caldwell said the strategy is failing. In the first five days of October, 20 US troops were killed.
10-5. CNN. Of returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq, 63% said that troops were overextended, and 42% said that their equipment was inadequate.
UNITED STATES NEWS
The Foley Scandal
The resignation of Rep. Mark Foley, and the probable loss of his Florida seat by the Republicans, was only the beginning of a scandal that extended throughout the week and may continue longer, for it was a story with legs.
Although it was generally known on Capitol Hill that Foley was gay, his pedophile proclivities toward congressional pages were secret. House Speaker Hastert claimed that he first knew of them on Friday, 9-29, when he saw an Instant Message exchange from ABC between Foley and a page which was sexually explicit, not just overly friendly
. [For full text see Slate.com. Foley and a page, in separate locations, masturbated and talked about it over Instant Messaging. They expressed pleasure that the page’s mother was “computer dumb.”]
In the opinion of veteran David Gergen on CNN, the Republicans handled the scandal clumsily.
10-2. NY Times. The FBI was called in to study the case. As early as 2003 there was evidence against Foley, but he was allowed to remain Chairman of the Congressional Missing and Exploited Children’s Caucus.” Mark Foley was a sponsor of anti-pedophile legislation. CNN. New York Times ethicist Randy Cohen said, “Anyone who gets no pleasure from seeing the downfall of a hypocrite has lost his zest for life
The Republicans notified only the Republican chairman of the page oversight committee, and not its Democratic member. 10-3. NY Times. A Committee for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington” (linked to Democrats) obtained incriminating material from the Internet and sent it to the FBI last July.
Washington Post. The Post said that the scandal would probably depress the turnout of Conservative voters for the Republicans. Republican House leaders John Boehner and Tom Reynolds said that they had told Hastert of Foley’s suspicious behavior, but the Speaker simply told Foley to stop and did not pursue the matter. The President distanced himself by saying he was “dismayed, shocked and disgusted” by Foley’s behavior.
Washington Times. An editorial in this conservative journal asked Denny Hastert to resign as Speaker of the House.
PBS/CNN. Foley checked into an alcoholism rehab center. His attorney said that he was molested between the ages of thirteen and fifteen by a clergyman.
10-4. CNN. Republican candidates all over the US were being bombarded with questions about the case by their constituents. The latter were not interested in any other issues.
CNN. Kirk Fordham, former chief of staff of Foley, resigned as chief of staff for Tom Reynolds and testified that he had informed the senior staff in Hastert’s office three years before about Foley’s behavior with pages. Hastert denied this.
James Carville said that in Washington a man could be the toast of the town one week and become toast the next. He predicted Hastert’s imminent resignation.
It was revealed that Foley gave $100,000 recently to the Congressional Campaign Committee headed by Reynolds.
Two former pages testified on camera that Foley had invited them to his house and made sexual overtures to them, which they refused.
10-5. Washington Post. The Post obtained dozens of additional messages sent from Dec. 2002 to Oc. 2003 which illustrated Foley’s attempts to lure pages into sexual encounters. He promised professional advancement in exchange for sex.
CNN. Hastert announced that he was taking full responsibility for the affair and that he was not going to resign. He said he had not done anything wrong. He tried to blame the scandal on the Democrats and ABC. He appointed the Ethics Committee to investigate the matter further.
Randy Cohen, the ethicist, commented that he had little confidence in the latter investigation. He said the gay/straight issue was irrelevant, but that the different age between Foley and the pages was the issue. He said that secrecy and cover-up are incompatible with democracy.
In the afternoon letters to CNN were overwhelmingly critical of Hastert and the Republicans. Many said they were going to vote for Democrats.
Bob Woodward’s book, State of Denial
9-29. CNN. David Gergen said this book would help the Democrats in the election. Woodward said that the Bush Administration had lied about the amount of violence in Iraq, and that it was increasing. He said that Henry Kissinger was now advising the White House and that he urged Bush to go for victory only. He said that Bush does not welcome any pessimistic assessment of the situation in Iraq.
The Election Campaign
9-29 PBS. All incumbent Democratic Senators are ahead of their Republican challengers.
10-2. New York Times. Paul Krugman wrote that the right-wing alliance of preachers and plutocrats was breaking up. He cited as issues the failure of Social Security privatization, the disgust of Republicans for religious bullies, and the Foley scandal. 10-3 CNN. Conservatives were angry at not being appointed to important offices in the Administration and its failure to pass bills that they wanted. Only 40% of Republicans are looking forward to voting in November.
10-5. CNN. Bill Schneider said moderates favor the Democrats 2 to 1. More congressional seats are now in play. In House: 28 Republican seats are in jeopardy and in the Senate, 7 Republican seats. [The Dems need to take 15 more House seats and 6 more Senate seats to take control.] The Virginia Senate seat, contested by George Allen (R) and James Webb (D) is very close.
Iraq
9-29 PBS. There have now been more deaths of Americans in Iraq than those on 9/11 in the US.
10-4 CNN Death squads are running out of control in Baghdad. Unless the US changes course, the forces of Iran and al-Qaida will get stronger.
Major Gen. Evan Caldwell said the strategy is failing. In the first five days of October, 20 US troops were killed.
10-5. CNN. Of returning veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq, 63% said that troops were overextended, and 42% said that their equipment was inadequate.
posted by THE FLASHLIGHT at 12:38 PM
1 Comments:
Why would a Quaker blog pay such attention to partisan politics? Nations pass away. Political parties are even more transient, and politicians are men of convenience who can not be trusted regardless of party.
So why would one devoted to being centered in that which does not pass away pay such attention to these things? Neither party are particularly devoted to Christ or continuing Christ's ministry on the earth.
In the Light of Christ,
~ Charles Rathmann
http://john4-14.blogspot.com
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