LEAVE NO CHILD'S BEHIND-- NEW GOP MOTTO? AND HASTERT CONTINUES THE COVER-UP

Republican Speaker Denny Hastert, Republican Majority Leader John Boehner, John Shimkus and Tom Reynolds knew Foley was a dangerous predator with a penchant for young boys for at least 11 months. And all they did was cover it up. Now we need an independent investigation, not more coverup from Hastert and Boehner.

There may also be cause to at least question another Republican member of the House for his own seedy past with underage boys: Phil English of Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, there will be a Republican running for Congress in FL-16 this November: Mark Foley. According to Section 100.111(4)(a) of the Florida Elections Code, "a party committee gets to name a replacement for Representative Foley, but Foley's name still appears on the ballot. Votes for Foley are deemed votes for his replacement. Given Foley's association with scandal, this surely will work against Republicans: voters who are more likely to have heard about Foley's scandal (and would vote against him) than have heard about the arcane Florida election law allowing votes cast for Foley to be counted for his Republican replacement."

Since the Foley scandal broke and especially since it has leaked out that Hastert has been directing a cover-up. over $7,000 has been donated to the Blue America ActBlue page, much of it to the campaign of John Laesch, the progressive running against Hastert and a young man who was raised by missionary parents and understands the difference between exploitive campaign slogans about faith and values and real faith and values.


IS HASTERT BECOMING A NATIONAL PARIAH FOR GOP, LIKE BUSH?

Chris Carney has demanded that Don Sherwood, another sexual predator, cancel his fundraisers with Republican cover-up leaders Hastert and Boehner. "Holding happy hour fundraisers with people who cover-up the cyber-molestation of children should be below even the questionable morals of Don Sherwood," said Carney campaign manager Andrew Eldredge-Martin. "Sherwood should immediately cancel his upcoming fundraisers with Hastert and Boehner. Don Sherwood has already brought Washington’s values back to the district, now he wants to bring a depraved cover-up home."


UPDATE: MORE DEMOCRATS DENOUNCING THE COVER-UP BY HASTERT, REYNOLDS AND BOEHNER

Today's South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which has long been aware that Foley is gay and running re-election campaigns on anti-gay messaging to religionist voters, but never spoke up about it, published a devastating story about the unbelieveable cover-up by the House Republican leadership. They quote Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, from a neighboring district, denouncing Hastert's complete and utterly shameful dereliction of duty.

"It's made more outrageous by the fact that Republican leaders knew about it a year ago and they kept it a secret, in order to protect their political lives instead of protecting the lives of pages," Wasserman Schultz said at a press conference at Palm Beach International Airport. She was flanked by former presidential candidate U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Tim Mahoney, the Democrat running for Foley's former Palm Beach County-based seat. Mahoney echoed her comments.

"The past 48 hours, people in the 16th District have been in the eye of a hurricane," said the Palm Beach Gardens businessman. "And it's now clear from all of the reports that have been coming in from across the country that the Republican leadership team has been well aware of this problem for well over a year."

WHEN WILL HASTERT RESIGN?

Like I said earlier, the Republican leaders can't get their stories straight about who knew what when. Last night Boehner said Hastert knew and promised "to take care of it" and today Boehner seemed to change his story. Hastert reacts like an enraged mother elephant if anyone suggests he knew. Unfortunately for the Illinois Elephant, Tom Reynolds decided he's not taking the rap for this one. Already sinking in the polls in his own re-election campaign, Reynolds went on the record today to say Hastert knew all along.

"National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) issued a statement Saturday in which he said that he had informed Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) of allegations of improper contacts between then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and at least one former male page, contradicting earlier statements from Hastert. GOP sources said Reynolds told Hastert earlier in 2006, shortly after the February GOP leadership elections. Hastert's response to Reynolds' warning remains unclear. Hastert's staff insisted Friday night that he was not told of the Foley allegations and are scrambling to respond to Reynolds' statement."

Hastert is a real piece of work. He was, after all, the one who covered Tom DeLay's ass all these years-- remember he was a protege of DeLay's not the other way around-- even going so far as to fire the chairman of the House Ethics Committee, Joel Hefley, after the Committee gave DeLay a mild slap on the wrist, replacing him with a low-IQ bimbo shill, "Doc" Hastings. Even the right wing Chicago Tribune is asking why Hastert let Foley keep his child-protection job.


REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS WON'T GIVE BACK THE CONTRIBUTIONS THEY GOT FROM FOLEY

Loaded down with bribe money from Big Business, Foley has a leadership PAC he's used to buy affection from his Republican colleagues. Among the Republicans who are refusing to return the money that was given to them by the pedophile right winger are:

Vernon Buchanon (R-FL)
Geoff Davis (R-KY)
Jim Gerlach (R-PA), long rumored to be a "special friend" of Foley's
Nancy Johnson (R-CT)
Bob Ney (R-OH)
Deborah Pryce (R-OH)
Clay Shaw (R-FL)
Curt Weldon (R-PA)
Pete Sessions (R-TX)
Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Norm Coleman (R-MN)
Mel Martinez (R-FL)
Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
John Doolittle (R-CA)
Tom Feeney (R-FL)
Mike Ferguson (R-NJ)
Katherine Harris (R-FL)
John Thune (R-SD)
Mark Kennedy (R-MN)
Robin Hayes (R-NC)
Ric Keller (R-FL)
Tom Lathan (R-IA)
Mike Rogers (R-AL)
Rob Simmons (R-CT)
Heather Wilson (R-NM)

Why won't these Republicans give back the money? Whose side are they on-- ours or the child molesters'?


MORE PROOF OF A REPUBLICAN HOUSE LEADERSHIP PEDOPHILIA COVER-UP

There's one Democrat on the Republican controlled board that oversees the pages, Dale Kildee (D-MI). The Republicans carefully kept him out of the loop on all charges involving Foley's inappropriate behavior towards the underaged male pages. Here's Congressman Kildee's statement:

As the Democratic Member of the House Page Board, any statement by Mr. Reynolds or anyone else that the House Page Board ever investigated Mr. Foley is completely untrue. I was never informed of the allegations about Mr. Foley's inappropriate communications with a House Page and I was never involved in any inquiry into this matter. The first and only meeting of the House Page Board on this matter occurred on Friday, September 29 at approximately 6 p.m., after the allegations about Mr. Foley had become public.

So, it looks like Dennis Hastert, Tom Reynolds, John Boehner and John Shimkus conspired to cover-up for Foley, who they knew was a dangerous predator actively seeking out children. We're talking about a powerful 52 year old congressman coming on to 16 year old, insecure, confused pages, young men extremely impressed with what a congressman is. And Hastert, Reynolds, Boehner and Shimkus decided to cover it up. These people have no shame and no decency. They should be tried as accessories to Foley's crimes.


GOODNIGHT UPDATE: REPUGS AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS OVER FOLEY COVER-UP

Watch every endangered Republican incumbent turn Hastert into a gargantuan piñata. Tomorrow's New York Times signals the opening shots of a civil war inside the Republican House caucus.

Peter King, the Long Island Republican on the verge of losing his seat to Dave Mejias went crying to The Times that it was a "dark day" for Congress and demanding a full investigation of the cover-up. "Anyone who was involved in the chain of information should come forward and tell when they were told, what they were told and what they did with the information when they got it." No that wasn't Nancy Pelosi; it was the normally docile rubber stamp from Nassau County.

And the even more endangered Chris Shays went even further, claiming that if Hastert, Shimcus, Reynolds, or Boehner were aware of Foley's behavior and failed to take action they should step down. "If they knew or should have known the extent of this problem, they should not serve in leadership." John Sweeney is running around yelling "me too, me too."

While the GOP leaders, clearly nervous about their jobs and possible criminal liabilities, call, meaninglessly, for a criminal investigation of Foley, the pressure for a non-partisan investigation into what exactly Hastert, Boehner, Reynolds and Shimcus knew, when they knew it and why they covered it up, is building powerfully.