Hastert Tries To Shift Blame To Staff, Raises Prospect of ‘Cover Up’
Hastert Tries To Shift Blame To Staff, Raises Prospect of ‘Cover Up’
At a press conference this morning, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) set up his staff to take the blame for the Mark Foley scandal. Asked if he was satisfied with how his staff handled the matter, Hasert said, “I understand what my staff told me. And I think from that response, they’ve handled it as well as they should.”
Hastert, however, raised the prospect of a “cover up” led by senior members of his staff, and noted that they will be interviewed “under oath.” He told reporters, “If they did cover something up, they should not continue to have their jobs.” Watch it:
It will be tough for Hastert to succeed in his efforts to pin the blame exclusively on his staff. Hastert was directly informed of Foley’s inappropriate emails last spring by both House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY).
Transcript:
QUESTION: How satisfied are you with how your staff handled the scandal so far and whether anyone resign in your office?
HASTERT: I understood what my staff told me, and I think from that response, they’ve handled it as well as they should. However, in 20/20 hindsight, probably you could do everything a little bit better. If there is a problem, if there was a cover up, then we should find that out through the investigation process. They’ll be under oath and we’ll find out. If they did cover something up, they should not continue to have their jobs. But I — but I didn’t think anybody at any time in my office did anything wrong. I found out about these revelations last Friday. That was the first information I had about it.
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Why is Hastert doing a presser from a graveyard? Is it a metaphor?
October 10th, 2006 at 11:55 amIn other words, he’s pledged to “find the real killer”. (How’s that going OJ?)
Anyone care to develop this meme further? I’m sure there’s lot’s of potential there.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:57 amA good boss blames his employees, something fat Denny learned from ol’ dear departed Kenny Boy.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:59 amIt won’t fly….because he is responsable for his staff, and knew about it for years. Bad try.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:02 pmHastert is half-right….If his staff perpetrated a cover-up, they should lose their jobs. But that not exonerate Hastert. He is the Speaker. He is “the boss.” The buck stops with him. He needs to take responsibility. He needs to resign.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:02 pmSusan Ralston was getting lonely and needed some other staffers to take blame for their boss’ misdeeds…
October 10th, 2006 at 12:02 pmLook, don’t blame Denny for having a presser in a graveyard. He was just laying some flowers on the grave of his career.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:03 pmI’ve sent this question to CNN:
I’ve been reading lately that House Speaker Denny Hastert actually lives with his Chief of Staff Scott Palmer. Is this true?
Can anyone confirm this. It would appear to be a pretty big conflict of interest or at least something along that line. What’s the word… L-L-L-LIAR
October 10th, 2006 at 12:03 pmSo much for “The Buck Stops Here!” Way to improve morale and encourage loyalty amongst your staff! Toss them under the bus with everybody else!
October 10th, 2006 at 12:04 pm1. Displace Blame
2. Find a scapegoat
3. Try to project your failure on opponents
4. Throw a subordinate over to save your own smarmy carcass
5. EMERGENCY LEVER - Denial
Sound like any role modeling you know?
October 10th, 2006 at 12:08 pmIf I worked for Hastert, I’d be turning in my two-week’s notice right now.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:09 pmInformed of the emails, yes. Informed of the IMs, we don’t know. The latter might actually not have taken place until he learned about it last friday when we watched it on ABC News.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:10 pmNice GRAVEYARD as a backdrop, Denny.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:10 pm#8 - Yes it is true, they “share a house in DC” Only a few reporters like Mathews have made this slip. I suspect they do not want to elude that two men live together as all Rape-Public-Cans will assume that is a homosexual arrangement when in all honesty it likely due to extremely high living costs and only being in DC part time (Tyuesday to Thursday)
You raise a more important point that does need to be addressed. The guys live together, you KNOW this was discussed.
Why don’t more reporters keep asking
“show us any evidence that you addressed this, that you took leadership steps to correct it. Where is the proof?”
October 10th, 2006 at 12:12 pmPlaying the Blame Game make Hastert soooooo horrrrny.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:12 pmyet another wriggle by the fat little corrupt worm as it tries to get off the hook.
(i got the cheezy grin, now where’s me popcorn?)
October 10th, 2006 at 12:14 pmI am a conservative. I am of the mind that Hastert should step down from the speaker position. He did not investigate the issue as well as he should have. The FBI investigation is still ongoing. I’m sure that will shake up other trees. But the thing is, I’m still not going to vote for people that I do not agree with ideologically. I’m in Virginia. I will vote for Drake (supporter of the fair tax) and Allen. I watched the debate last night. I did not like the answers that Web gave.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:16 pmI am sure he is including himself as someone who should be dismissed if they covered anything up, right??? Right???? Kolbe said he told Dennis all about it in 2000, not a staffer. So did the fat man tell a staffer?? Or did he just sit on it and “cover it up?”
October 10th, 2006 at 12:18 pmDo you tell your room mate everything?
October 10th, 2006 at 12:19 pmHastard’s version of “Throw Momma from the train a kiss:” “Throw the staff under a bus a shaft!”
October 10th, 2006 at 12:22 pmhastert will enjoy prison food. I don’t think we should have to pay for his continually smaller orange jumpsuits though. I hope congress will pass laws revoking pension for any member caught doing a criminal act. Might prevent some more likely politicians from participating?
October 10th, 2006 at 12:22 pmBut the thing is, I’m still not going to vote for people that I do not agree with ideologically. I’m in Virginia. I will vote for Drake (supporter of the fair tax) and Allen. — Kevin
So Idealogically you are a racist and a supporter of the KKK and CCC? If not why are you voting for Allen?
October 10th, 2006 at 12:22 pmHey Kev - I tell my roommate that ” I likey me some macaca boy!”
October 10th, 2006 at 12:23 pmThe unscheduled departure of a prominent executive is often accompanied by the hurling of staff under the wheels of pursuing interests.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:23 pmI’m sure Hastert has really wrestled with this issue (har har, nod, wink) but this is silly.
With ReichWingNuts the buck never stops being passed!
I can’t believe they take the stupidest approaches when caught brown handed in their own cesspool of lies.
Really now, they control everything, yet they’ve screwed up everything they’ve touched!!!
October 10th, 2006 at 12:24 pmI can’t wait for his staff to testify that they told the fat jerk multiple times, show the emails they saved, generally crucify the lying Bastert…
October 10th, 2006 at 12:27 pmHastert had just left the graveyard - he had some secrets to bury there.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:27 pmIs it just me or is this starting to look like Post Katrina “Heck of a job Brownie” more and more?
October 10th, 2006 at 12:27 pmYou know the guy’s in trouble when he’s trying to blame it on a conspiracy of Republicans. Geez, even Democrats are too chickens–t to do that!
October 10th, 2006 at 12:30 pmDoes that mean that Hastert will be interviewed under oath too?
October 10th, 2006 at 12:33 pmIf I worked for Hastert, I’d be turning in my two-week’s notice right now.
Comment by TheToonGuy — October 10, 2006 @ 12:09 pm
——–
I sure as hell wouldn’t if I worked for that weaselly slob. I would sit tight and make him fire me. Then I’d go public in a big way - perhaps a press conference (that I planned, complete with a contacts database for blast emails and faxes) to put the media whores on notice - and THEN go to the FBI so that Rove couldn’t hush things up first.
If your boss decides to scapegoat you and then kick you over the side, then go BIG, with maximum damage left behind. It’s not like you’d have a job after your boss is ousted himself, anyway.
And Kevin, nice try on changing the subject. Allen is toast, too. He should give joint pressers with Hastert.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:34 pmI’m a conservative, so I have to vote the way I’m told. Thelma Drake has an (R) after her name so I will vote for her. George Allen speaks to my true inner feelings of superiority based on my lack of pigmentation. My mother should have planned better for her post-retirement medical needs, and can turn the thermostat down. If worst comes to worst, she can break into the closed public library and burn some books for warmth. Or even throw macacas on the pile for the extra heat (and nutrition!), but she’ll waterboard them first for that extra smoky flavor.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:34 pmMA,
Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me, this shit with foley has been known and covered up for 6 years.
GOP = Guardians of Pedophiles.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:35 pm#30
October 10th, 2006 at 12:35 pmAnd MA beats her own record for the most words in a paragraph that never actually come together into a coherent thought.
i’m sure he’ll fire the leaker, just like the pres did in the plame case…
October 10th, 2006 at 12:36 pmDo you have some proof do you have of KKK or CCC ties? Real proof? I’ve seen and heard dozens of interviews from people, from both sides, that work with Allen. All agree that he is not a racist.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:36 pmYou stupid libs. He TOOK responsibility for this. Why should he now resign? Why do you always demand blood? Doing hsi job is very hard and you give him no respect.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:38 pmHastert’s staff needs to out him as a hypocrite > Denny must be forced to resign in disgrace or be voted out of office in November election!
October 10th, 2006 at 12:39 pmWHAT ?? Don’t talk about your staff as “they”, IT’S YOUR STAFF !! This guy is incredible …
October 10th, 2006 at 12:40 pmMA - getting all indignant and outraged at the notion that some politicos might be trying to make political hay at the expense of her cherished “American Heroes” - poor dear, she may come down with a case of the vapors, and weep on Mr. MA’s, manly, manly shoulder.
Suck it up Mighty, and learn to take as good as your party of “American Heroes” gives. Paybacks are a bitch, huh? I’ve got an idea that’ll sunny up your day - take a run down to the Federal Pen, and give ol’ Duke Cunningham a nice conjugal visit - his wife sure as hell ain’t gonna.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:42 pmLet me get this str8, Hastert is accused of covering for a pedophile who is a gay male member of his party. Hastert just happens to live with another gay male who has know about this for a while, and just happens to employ this guy as his Chief of Staff — so he’s not just “a roomate” — and Hastert who used to be a wrestling coach says he’s never been in the loop on this stuff.
ROTFL, oh my goodness, my sides hurt. Ya, Hastert is totally credible. Why would anyone doubt this situation?
This isn’t GOP vs. DEM, this isn’t liberal against conservative, this is OPEN YOUR EYES. Who do you think you’re kidding. Wake up and get these creeps out of your party. I would be screaming to get these creeps out of my party.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:42 pmMore crap about the penis in American politics.
Habeas Corpus - 1215 - 2006 Rest In Peace
October 10th, 2006 at 12:43 pm#40 Gary, I sure as hell hope that post was in completely sarcastic voice, because if it wasn’t, you’re in for a bumpy ride as long as you choose to hang out here.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:44 pm#34 was not me.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:45 pm#39
Kevin, obviously you have not researched your candidate. All the info you need is easy to find with google.
Getting photographed with the leaders of the CCC at a CCC meeting might not mean much to you, since idealogically you believe in Allen, the racist.
You are a fool, son
October 10th, 2006 at 12:46 pmIf I’m so wrong, then give me a good reason to vote for the Dems. What do they stand for? What will they do if in power?
October 10th, 2006 at 12:47 pmhahahahahahahahahahahahhastert’s a total joke!
October 10th, 2006 at 12:49 pm#36 - “Your stupidity never ceases to amaze me, this shit with foley has been known and covered up for 6 years.GOP = Guardians of Pedophiles.
Comment by BushIsSatan
Dear Satan - The E-m’s have been known - the IM’s just came out of the closet, so to speak. But since the “Devil in the Details” - why let a little thing like facts get in YOUR way, hypocrite.
#37 - Poor Wayne, I’ll make it simple for you….If Dems and their backers REALLY cared about pages, they would NOT have sat on the explicit IM’s. Apparently, elections are more important to Dems than the safety of pages….hypocrite.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:51 pmKev - If you can’t find such a reason on your own, you’re probably not ever going to. That’s ok - the dirty thirty (percent) needs you.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:54 pmMA is right! If Dems really cared for the kids, they wouldn’t have let the Republicans get elected and all that so they could abuse the poor kids.
You tell ‘em girl! It’s the democrats RESPONSIBILITY to keep those evil republican bastards in line.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:56 pmGary,
a) It is not only “libs” who want him to resign
b) He only took responsibility for this once it was leaked to the press (by another Republican)
c) He should resign because he treated this as a political issue rather than the child safety issue that it is AND most certainly should if he finds his job as “hard” as you say it is.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:57 pmMA - bold move there, employing the “I know you are, but what am I” technique - you’ve benefited enormously from the educational powers of
October 10th, 2006 at 12:58 pmEx(smug)ley. Next time O.J. or Michael Jackson is on trial you’ll be a shoe-in on the defense team.
looks like moron aphrodite’s a little mixed up on said “facts,” since Hastert never said he bounced foley after seeing the emails– he said he “would have” done so “if he had seen them” before Foley resigned. But he didn’t, so he didn’t.
Oopsy! What was that about not letting facts get in the way again? Hmm?
And where, pray tell, is the evidence that Dems covered anything up? Any at all? Or are we back in “it’s irresponsible not to speculate!!” land?
October 10th, 2006 at 12:59 pmI have tried. I’ve searched and searched to find out what the Dems are all about. I even went to the official site. And I was never able to find a good answer. And I’ve asked time and time again on this site. All I get is “Bush is bad. Conservatives are stupid.†No real points to back that up. So tell me why the Dems are so great? What do they bring to the table other than hate for anyone that does not agree with them? I’m open minded.
October 10th, 2006 at 12:59 pmWhine by mighty+aphrodite — October 10, 2006 @ 12:28 pm
Fast forward to the groups that sat on the explicit IM’s for several months in order to pull off a calculated anti-Repub mud-fest - conveniently launched to do the most damage to the opposition.
It’s not about the IM’s, silly MA. Those were merely the big fat match to the two-story sized brush pile –the one over there, labeled, “Lie, deny, deflect, scapegoat, cover up, and condone”– that the Party of Foley Family Values made all by themselves. A pile that goes back to 2000. (Some conspiracy. Wow–who knew the Dems had a time machine back then?) Break out the marshmallows!
Now you might think that asking an underage page for his picture, showing up drunk at the pages’ dorm and “cruising” to dinner with another page are the innocent acts of a genuine family man, with a notorious reputation among (pay attention, MA) REPUBLICANS for salacious behavior are appropriate behaviors for a 52-year old adult in a position of responsibility. But somehow, I think, the voters will differ.
But at least we agree that this scandal will inflict maximum damage! Self-inflicted damage, that is.
I would think that the Party who oftens proclaims to provide “for the Children†should hang their collective heads in shame for NOT giving a damn about pages…I guess you have given new meaning to “the ends justify the meansâ€â€¦..
Yep. The party of Mark “Grope Our Pages” Foley, Wild Bill “Gambling Man” Bennett, James “Pious Blowhard” Dobson, and Dennis Hasterbate (among many, many others) should hang their heads in shame and shut their pieholes and/or resign instead of excusing the fact that Foley used the page program as his personal sexual farm team so they could keep those South Florida millionaire bucks coming in. Glad you have something reality-based to say at last.
The Grand Old Perverts are not really sorry for what Foley did. Like you, they’re just very, very sorry he got caught.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:00 pmYou stupid libs. I TOOK responsibility for this. Why should I now resign? Why do you always demand blood? Doing my job is very hard and you give me no respect.
Comment by Dennis Hastert — October 10, 2006 @ 12:38 pm
October 10th, 2006 at 1:04 pmwow MA - you’re quite the hot tamale today!! i guess i just better concede the point - you are right, and it’s the Democrats who have been controlling and manipulating all of this all along. Now I can appreciate how pervasive and pernicious their power really is - they may have been out of the WH for 6 years and out of Congress for 12, yet still they are able to pull all those strings! - let’s just outlaw them, and settle into a nice theocratic dictatorship, the way the good lord intended.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:05 pmhis staff? what is he talking about? the cover-up could only be the product of the left! ;-)
October 10th, 2006 at 1:05 pm#37 - Poor Wayne, I’ll make it simple for you….If Dems and their backers REALLY cared about pages, they would NOT have sat on the explicit IM’s. Apparently, elections are more important to Dems than the safety of pages….hypocrite.
Comment by mighty+aphrodite
See if your simple mind can grasp this.
The repugs knew about Foley’s actions as far back as 11 years ago and were warning pages to stay away from him rather than deal with a child predator stalking the young pages.
The Repugs knew and did nothing to stop him. Tell me again how the Repugs cared more about the children than party again?
October 10th, 2006 at 1:07 pmHypocrite…….
Kevin–
You suck at Google.
Seems to me that you were not looking all that hard.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:07 pmI’ve searched and searched to find out what the Dems are all about. I even went to the official site. And I was never able to find a good answer. And I’ve asked time and time again on this site. All I get is “Bush is bad. Conservatives are stupid.†No real points to back that up. So tell me why the Dems are so great? What do they bring to the table other than hate for anyone that does not agree with them? I’m open minded.
Comment by Kevin — October 10, 2006 @ 12:59 pm
Guys, I think it is pretty obvious that this character “Kevin” is a setup, a GOP party operative working the Karl Rove talking points memo today.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:08 pmSome on here have claimed that Denny Hastert shares an apartment with his chief of staff to save money, but since his wife never stays with him there, it’s an admission he is Gay and even his wife goes along with it!
Abe Lincoln shared a house with his law partner for several years, and they slept in the same bed together, but Republicans still claim today they did it to save money > lol. “Log Cabin” members of GOP know Abe was Gay!
October 10th, 2006 at 1:08 pmHouse Speaker Dennis Hastert said Tuesday he’ll dismiss anyone on his staff found to have covered up concerns about ex-Rep. Mark Foley approaches to former pages. Hastert said he huddled with his staff members last week and he believes they acted appropriately in handling information on Foley’s conduct. But he also issued them a stern warning: “If they did cover something up, then they should not continue to have their jobs.”
That better include U Denny… when you are exposed as the lying fraud that you are.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:09 pmYou know Rove didn’t arrange this press conference. No american fag hanging from a tree. Sorry flag.
No banner saying “No page Left Behind”- theres a joke in there somewhere
Umm yeah a graveyard, where all the skeletons “lie”, yeah that’s the ticket.
Me thinks Denny is consulting with a DEM PR firm thats suggesting When, where and how to dig his own grave!!!!
It’s like a sceen from a mafia movie. I was waiting for Ken Mehlman to bum rush the podium and tackle Denny in a pre dug grave and bury him alive just like Saddam did.
Maybe that’s too much of a full circle but it would make a good sceen.
Stand back and watch them eat their own. This is going to be fun!!!!!
October 10th, 2006 at 1:10 pmDenny is like a bad cartoon character, running around with his fingers in his ears yelling, “I KNOW NOTHING! I KNOW NOTHING!!” Republican leadership at work, folks.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:10 pmAmerica’s Least Wanted
Kevin, you might not get the answers you want by going to the DNC site, or the various Dem candidate sites, but that’s just tough. We are not here to educate you. You are quick enough to criticize us for not liking BushCo, and that has NOTHING at all to do with the Dems, it’s BBBBBBUSH! So … you want to love another party, check ‘em out. Do look at the Green Party, a fine group of progressive minded individuals, if you can’t say Democrat without a sneer.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:11 pmWhat the Dems offer this country is a disempowerment of a group of men who are: gutting our Constitution, wasting the public money with corruption, stuck in an illegal and ineffective war, shutting down the social safety net that Americans HAD, and trying to insert religion into US law. Now, that might not mean anything to you, so… leave this site and go find the answers to your questions from Limbaugh, Malkin, and Falwell if you want your “good” answers… the answers you want to hear, the solutions that make you feel powerful or whatever it is. Maybe you don’t like that the Republicans and Bush have alienated people so much that hate for them is the only legacy they will leave. Tough. You want warm fuzzies, go hug mama.
Apparently, elections are more important to Dems than the safety of pages….
Comment by mighty+aphrodite
Speaking for myself of course, but right now: HELL YEAH!!
Besides, hon, I have a feeling that once the elections are over and we have a new DEMOCRATIC Speaker of the House, they will be much safer. Toodle my doodle at ya. ;)
October 10th, 2006 at 1:14 pmPost a link.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:14 pm#40 - More crap about the penis in American politics.
Habeas Corpus - 1215 - 2006 Rest In Peace
Greedy White Men with flaccid penis. That’s the ReichWing for you.
The more important issues remain who will defend you when you go before a judge? Who will stop the Emperor from declaring you an “enemy combatant”?
TP continues to stiffen it’s resolve around Foley (icky image, I realize) at the expense of ignoring the distruction of 800 years of law. Society as we knew it is no longer.
How does everyone like living under a dictator?
October 10th, 2006 at 1:16 pmMA- Please show your work. What evidence do you have that Democrats knew anything about any of this before the story broke?
October 10th, 2006 at 1:16 pmIs everything a conspiracy?
October 10th, 2006 at 1:16 pm#67 Hey Jay…We agree that Foley is a slime and Hastert needs to go, but there is no need to slander The Great Emancipator!
October 10th, 2006 at 1:23 pmRep. David Dreier {not sure of spelling of his name} of California, lives with his chief of staff and it’s been proven they are Gay partners, so not far-fetched to assume Hastert and his chief are lovers as well?!
October 10th, 2006 at 1:25 pmKevin (#73)–
Um … when text in a post is underlined with a little dotted line, that indicates a hyperlink. You click on the text to go to that link.
For example: This is a link.
This has been “Using the Internet 101.” Next week, we’ll discuss how sending an e-mail does not involve tiny little postmen that hand deliver the message through the Internet’s “tubes.”
October 10th, 2006 at 1:25 pmExley > I am NOT slandering Abe Lincoln > his law partner kept a dairy which is in the Smithsonian > he talks about their affair together: kissing, sleeping together, etc. > call Abe bisexual if you want, since he married Mary Todd and had children later in his life > remember his wife went insane and was committed to an institution > I personally have NO problem with Abe being different, but Republicans want to claim his life was pure, when in fact it was not!
October 10th, 2006 at 1:30 pmKevin, AS IF you don’t know what liberals are about…
This piece in the Chicago Tribune by Geoffrey R. Stone, a law professor at the University of Chicago, is so good that I’m posting it in full, just for you, Kevin:
For most of the past four decades, liberals have been in retreat. Since the election of Richard Nixon in 1968, Republicans have controlled the White House 70 percent of the time and Republican presidents have made 86 percent of the U.S. Supreme Court appointments. In many quarters, the word “liberal” has become a pejorative. Part of the problem is that liberals have failed to define themselves and to state clearly what they believe. As a liberal, I find that appalling.
In that light, I thought it might be interesting to try to articulate 10 propositions that seem to me to define “liberal” today. Undoubtedly, not all liberals embrace all of these propositions, and many conservatives embrace at least some of them.
Moreover, because 10 is a small number, the list is not exhaustive. And because these propositions will in some instances conflict, the “liberal” position on a specific issue may not always be predictable. My goal, however, is not to end discussion, but to invite debate.
1. Liberals believe individuals should doubt their own truths and consider fairly and open-mindedly the truths of others. This is at the very heart of liberalism. Liberals understand, as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once observed, that “time has upset many fighting faiths.” Liberals are skeptical of censorship and celebrate free and open debate.
2. Liberals believe individuals should be tolerant and respectful of difference. It is liberals who have supported and continue to support the civil rights movement, affirmative action, the Equal Rights Amendment and the rights of gays and lesbians. (Note that a conflict between propositions 1 and 2 leads to divisions among liberals on issues like pornography and hate speech.)
3. Liberals believe individuals have a right and a responsibility to participate in public debate. It is liberals who have championed and continue to champion expansion of the franchise; the elimination of obstacles to voting; “one person, one vote;” limits on partisan gerrymandering; campaign-finance reform; and a more vibrant freedom of speech. They believe, with Justice Louis Brandeis, that “the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people.”
4. Liberals believe “we the people” are the governors and not the subjects of government, and that government must treat each person with that in mind. It is liberals who have defended and continue to defend the freedom of the press to investigate and challenge the government, the protection of individual privacy from overbearing government monitoring, and the right of individuals to reproductive freedom. (Note that libertarians, often thought of as “conservatives,” share this value with liberals.)
5. Liberals believe government must respect and affirmatively safeguard the liberty, equality and dignity of each individual. It is liberals who have championed and continue to champion the rights of racial, religious and ethnic minorities, political dissidents, persons accused of crime and the outcasts of society. It is liberals who have insisted on the right to counsel, a broad application of the right to due process of law and the principle of equal protection for all people.
6. Liberals believe government has a fundamental responsibility to help those who are less fortunate. It is liberals who have supported and continue to support government programs to improve health care, education, social security, job training and welfare for the neediest members of society. It is liberals who maintain that a national community is like a family and that government exists in part to “promote the general welfare.”
7. Liberals believe government should never act on the basis of sectarian faith. It is liberals who have opposed and continue to oppose school prayer and the teaching of creationism in public schools and who support government funding for stem-cell research, the rights of gays and lesbians and the freedom of choice for women.
8. Liberals believe courts have a special responsibility to protect individual liberties. It is principally liberal judges and justices who have preserved and continue to preserve freedom of expression, individual privacy, freedom of religion and due process of law. (Conservative judges and justices more often wield judicial authority to protect property rights and the interests of corporations, commercial advertisers and the wealthy.)
9. Liberals believe government must protect the safety and security of the people, for without such protection liberalism is impossible. This, of course, is less a tenet of liberalism than a reply to those who attack liberalism. The accusation that liberals are unwilling to protect the nation from internal and external dangers is false. Because liberals respect competing values, such as procedural fairness and individual dignity, they weigh more carefully particular exercises of government power (such as the use of secret evidence, hearsay and torture), but they are no less willing to use government authority in other forms (such as expanded police forces and international diplomacy) to protect the nation and its citizens.
10. Liberals believe government must protect the safety and security of the people, without unnecessarily sacrificing constitutional values. It is liberals who have demanded and continue to demand legal protections to avoid the conviction of innocent people in the criminal justice system, reasonable restraints on government surveillance of American citizens, and fair procedures to ensure that alleged enemy combatants are in fact enemy combatants. Liberals adhere to the view expressed by Brandeis some 80 years ago: “Those who won our independence … did not exalt order at the cost of liberty.”
October 10th, 2006 at 1:34 pmIs everything a conspiracy?
Comment by Kevin — October 10, 2006 @ 1:16 pm
Who said anything about conspiracy? I am talking about how you are parroting the most meaningless and enduring of Republican talking points: Democrats don’t stand for anything and their criticism of conservatives isn’t backed up by any arguments, but is merely an expression of hate.
Don’t play innocent with me, Kevin. You know damn well these statements aren’t true, and you know damn well that you are being intellectually dishonest when you parrot these talking points.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:35 pmJay, Read David Herbert Donald’s Pulitzer-Prize winning biography of Lincoln, titled (not surprisingly) “Lincoln.” Lawyers riding the circuit together in the early 1800s frequently stayed in the same room (and bed) together while traveling. There is no evidence that Lincoln was gay.
Now, James Buchanan, on the other hand….
October 10th, 2006 at 1:37 pmComments by Kevin
Kevin, I went to your site and scanned the “Fair Tax” idea. That is because as a progressive, I am open to new ideas. I have several questions though.
1. How is it going to pay off the debt Bush has been run up to in $ 8,553,556,507,245.00 in American dollars? I mean, my share alone is now $28,543 and I need to pay it.
2. How can I trust that the tax your site proposes will also apply equally to big business and be assured that the republicans over the next 20 years won’t pass all kinds of loopholes and dodges for them and the super rich?
3. Finally, how can I be assured that the tax will apply to the wealthiest of citizens who will try and purchase their most expensive items directly from overseas sources? You know, like Jeb Bush’s wife did when she got caught at the airport trying to smuggle all that jewelry back into the US?
Just wondering.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:38 pmKevin, the jury is in, and the verdict is guilty. I sentence you to shut up until you are ready to stop propagandizing and start engaging in open and honest debate.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:39 pmExley > I repeat Abe’s law partner kept a dairy, which has been authenticated by experts > he talks about kissing Abe and remarks about their sleeping together intimately! Contact the Smithsonian and yell at them about it! Just mentioned this because Hastert lives a double life too!
October 10th, 2006 at 1:44 pmDiary not dairy > lol typo.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:46 pmThanks for the link. It is a bit out of date. The gas prices are down. You know…because of the market. Now I know what you stand for. Mostly what conservatives want. The issue is how. Things like socialized health care are not what I would vote for. Razing the minimum wage fixes nothing. Just puts people out of work and razes prices.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:50 pm72 - “Besides, hon, I have a feeling that once the elections are over and we have a new DEMOCRATIC Speaker of the House, they will be much safer. Toodle my doodle at ya. ;)” Comment by Joe Sixpack
*******Dear Sixer, I appeciate your honest political assessment - Dems would rather concentrate on the November elections and NOT worry about some pages. You’re a PIG - but an “honest” PIG….
October 10th, 2006 at 1:53 pmMA > Hastert is toast, and the Democrats must likely will take back the House this November election, so I feel for your sorrow that Bush is going to be impeached next year!
October 10th, 2006 at 1:57 pmAs usual Jay, I am amazed at you’re post’s…Not that it matters but I didn’t know Abe was gay..
We need to boot these bum’s out. . Not for being gay but for their enabeling a pedaphile to prey on kid’s and not doing their job untill one of their own blew the whistle on them..Forcing responsability on this bunch is all that will work… ..Blessings
October 10th, 2006 at 1:57 pmRepublican leadership game, “blame and frame” the underling. And, while their at it, how about a little hypocracy to fancy it up, make them testify under oath. But that will not work Dennis, as republicans no nothing about or of oath. It’s not part of your vocabulary. And you were an educator??
October 10th, 2006 at 1:58 pmKevin, I went to your site and scanned the “Fair Tax†idea. That is because as a progressive, I am open to new ideas. I have several questions though.
Comment by Joe Sixpack — October 10, 2006 @ 1:38 pm
I just went to this site and read the list of alleged benefits of the “fair tax”. The first benefit listed: “it abolishes the IRS”.
This claim about abolishing the IRS is ridiculous. There must be a federal agency charged with collecting taxes. Renaming it something else is pure marketing, just a bit of feel-good propaganda targeted at the IRS haters. The fact that the web site leads off its sales job with this crap tells me everything I need to know: its backers know that they can’t sell the scheme purely on its merits, so they have to employ the usual right wing trick of LYING about their true purpose.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:58 pm#87 Jay:
“Harvard professor emeritus David Herbert Donald is considered the definitive biographer of Lincoln. In “We Are Lincoln Men” Mr. Donald wrote that no one at the time ever suggested that Lincoln and his friend Joshua Speed were sexual partners. Linoln’s law partner, Williman Herndon, who sometimes slept in the room with them, never mentioned a sexual relationship. In frontier times, Mr. Donald wrote, space was tight and men shared beds. And the correspondence between Lincoln and Speed was not that of lovers, he maintained. Moreover, Lincoln alluded openly to their relationship, saying, “I slept with Joshua for four years. ” If they were lovers, Mr. Donald wrote, Lincoln wouldn’t have spoken so freely.”
NEW YORK TIMES, December 16, 2004
October 10th, 2006 at 2:00 pmThings like socialized health care are not what I would vote for.
Comment by Kevin — October 10, 2006 @ 1:50 pm
And the garbage just keeps coming. No one is proposing “socialized health care”. Single payer health insurance, or other government mediated insurance programs are plainly not socialized health care. This is how right wingers operate: attach a pejorative (and nearly always false) label to something they don’t like.
October 10th, 2006 at 2:02 pmRazing the minimum wage fixes nothing. Just puts people out of work and razes prices.
Comment by Kevin
Not if they were not allowed to go overseas to exploit cheap overseas labor and then return the finished products back here without any kind of tarriffs being levied to keep the playing field level for the American workers.
No, as you might guess I am not a free trader. I am a former Ross Perot/Reform Party free thinker, who heard that “big sucking sound” Perot warned us about come to pass. All thanks to NAFTA, CAFTA and GATT and the biggest bunch of political and union sellouts in US history.
October 10th, 2006 at 2:02 pmWow, took Mighty a few days to re-group, then return. Hello Mighty, you seem to have lost a little edge. Or I am not allowing you to press my buttons, which is it?
October 10th, 2006 at 2:03 pmYou are all very entertaining and some of you even have legitimate posts that stay on thread. However, most of what gets posted here is childish bantering…did not..did too..much like our elected representatives do on a daily basis.
In regards to this topic, this is the question that Hastert needs to answer…. “Sir, It took ABC only a few days of investigation into the original e-mails to discover the IM’s (This was reported by the actual ABC reporter himself). Given that an single investigative reporter could uncover these facts within a relatively short time frame, what investigations did you or your staff undertake to determine the veracity of these e-mails and the potential for any other potentially illegal actions that Mr. Foley may have been involved with in this reagrd prior to the release of the IM’s by ABC news”?. If he cannot specifically answer this question then that tells me that he really wasn’t interested in finding out the truth and anything else from him will be considered as total bull….much like most of these posts
October 10th, 2006 at 2:06 pmYou’re a PIG - but an “honest†PIG….
Comment by mighty+aphrodite
Thank you for that. I’m really humbled by that compliment. BTY, I have missed your posts and the fun. You need to come around here more often and give us libs here more hell. :)
October 10th, 2006 at 2:17 pmSharon > it’s not widely talked about that Abe Lincoln was Gay/Bisexual > at the time people just did not seem to care if men lived together or not! Abe’s partner kept a diary, so the issue is proven, but Republicans go ballistic about it if mentioned! Closeted sexuality eventually gets outed!
October 10th, 2006 at 2:19 pmJust to mention: It was rumored during Lincoln’s presidency, that when Mary Todd went away on vacations, Abe would have a young male officer sleep in his bed with him. Abe was the first closeted Republican, but he was more open about it than GOP leaders of today!
October 10th, 2006 at 2:27 pmNOTE: I wish TP would fix the “+” symbol getting between our screennames.
October 10th, 2006 at 2:29 pm[…] Since blaming Democrats and the media didn’t stick, Denny Hastert is now trying to  shift blame to his staff. (Via Atrios) And that brings me to my latest limerick: […]
October 10th, 2006 at 2:31 pm#107
Jay, You are overstating your case. The “Lincoln-was-gay” claim is debatable, at best. As we have already seen, the preeminent Lincoln biographer rejects the theory as groundless. Here is another article that dismantles the research and conclusions of a recent book that claimed Lincoln was gay.
http://hnn.us/articles/9514.html
October 10th, 2006 at 2:31 pmExley lol > Smithsonian has the diary of Abe’s partner > he mention’s Abe’s kisses, remarks about hugging each other in bed, says that Abe has nice thighs, etc. > in those days they did not talk or write crudely, so no mention was made of Abe’s privates > they were lovers!
I have to go, but will be back on later > take care all.
October 10th, 2006 at 2:39 pmJay, Here is more from the previous article:
Michael Burlingame entitled “A Respectful Dissent.” Recently retired from Connecticut College, Burlingame has a monumental three-volume Lincoln biography in progress with Johns Hopkins University Press. He and Tripp got along well and shared information, if not a thesis.
“I liked Tripp, but he was careless and sloppy,” Burlingame told me. “I’m surprised that Free Press accepted my afterword since it says the book is full of baloney.” In particular, Burlingame devastates Tripp’s intellectual honesty by noting that he had suppressed many stories of Lincoln’s heterosexual interest.
“Since it is virtually impossible to prove a negative, Dr. Tripp’s thesis cannot be rejected outright,” wrote Burlingame. “But given the paucity of hard evidence adduced by him, and given the abundance of contrary evidence indicating that Lincoln was drawn romantically and sexually to some women, a reasonable conclusion, it seems to me, would be that it is possible but highly unlikely that Abraham Lincoln was ‘predominately homosexual.’”
As I said, Jay, the consensus among Lincoln biographers and historians is that Lincoln was heterosexual and claim to the contrary are based on little or no evidence.
But, hey…We still agree that Foley is a slime and Hastert needs to resign.
October 10th, 2006 at 2:39 pmJay, Here is an interview with David Herbert Donald on PBS’s Newshour from November 2003:
MARGARET WARNER: The book is “We Are Lincoln Men: Abraham Lincoln and His Friends.” The author is the Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Herbert Donald, professor emeritus of American history at Harvard. The author of two previous books on Lincoln, Donald offers in this book an unusual portrait of our 16th president through his relationships with six close friends. Welcome, Professor Donald.
DAVID HERBERT DONALD: Thank you so much. It’s good to be back.
MARGARET WARNER: Now, you’ve said he did form one friendship that you called a perfect or complete friendship, in his early twenties, Joshua Fry Speed.
DAVID HERBERT DONALD: Right. This is unusually late, as a matter of fact, of forming such a perfect friendship, using Aristotle’s terminology for that. He met Speed when he, Lincoln, was in his thirties. Speed was younger. Lincoln wanders into the store in Springfield. He wants to set up law practice. He gets the price of a mattress and a blanket and a couple of sheets, and then Speed totals him up at $17, and Lincoln says, “I haven’t got $17.” He says, “if you can trust me until Christmas, maybe my lawyering experience might allow me to pay you back, but if I can’t do it then, I’ll never pay you.” And Speed saw, this young man didn’t want to go into debt, of course. He said, “I’ve got a big room upstairs with a double bed. If you want to share it, it’s all right with me.”
Lincoln, without saying a word, picks up his saddlebag, which had his clothes on one side, a couple of law books on the other, goes up the steps. There’s a pause there for a moment. You hear kind of a thud on the floor as the saddlebags are dropped. And after a minute Lincoln comes down with that beatific smile– he had one of the most wonderful smiles we’ve ever had, it’s from ear to ear. “Speed,” he said, “I moved.” And for the next four years they shared the same room and the same bed.
MARGARET WARNER: Now, that raises an issue that you said you learned on your book tour last time was a big issue to people, about the nature of their relationship.
DAVID HERBERT DONALD: Apparently so. An extraordinary number of people kept asking on the last book tour, “Was Lincoln gay?” And so I felt it necessary to go into this in some detail. I think, with the gay liberation movement has had need for heroes and heroines, and it would be rather nice to have Abraham Lincoln as your poster boy, wouldn’t it? There have been some who tried to do that.
There’s one in particular, a man who’s campaigned along this, and I’m amused and rather proud, I must say, that he has denounced me because I don’t accept his views. They say, you know, David Donald can’t be believed because he is “a dried-up old Harvard heterosexual prune.” (Laughs)
That’s the most wonderful compliment anybody could pay to me. But I have tried to go over it very carefully, not merely what the evidence is, but with psychoanalysts and psychologists, and I think we’re just about all agreed that Lincoln and Speed did not have a homosexual relationship.
They were obviously fond of each other, they shared a great many things, and they loved each other in the way that Damian and Pytheas and David and Jonathan did. This was, I think, what Aristotle talked about, the perfect friendship.
http://www.pbs.org/ newshour/ bb/ entertainment/ july-dec03/ donald_11-26.html
October 10th, 2006 at 2:45 pmExley before I leave: In your post 115 > not ‘predominately homosexual’? Did I not state that Abe had a Gay relationship, but later got married and had children > call him Bisexual if you want, but Abe preferred men!
October 10th, 2006 at 2:45 pmJay, I’d be curious to read more aboutt his diary in the Smithsonian. I have not heard or read anything about it. Any information you can provide me when you get back would be appreciated. I am willing to take a look at it. Thanks.
October 10th, 2006 at 2:56 pmMy staff didn’t want me to know…
…because they know that had I known about Foley I would’ve done something about him (forced him to resign or something)…
…and there are those on my staff who were apparently out to get me…
…you know cover up this Foley mess so I’d look culpable, and they’d have their careers ruined…
-Dennis Hastert-
… in his soon to be released memoir Creating Reality: House Leadership Style
October 10th, 2006 at 3:09 pm1. 1. Liberals believe individuals should doubt their own truths and consider fairly and open-mindedly the truths of others. This is at the very heart of liberalism. Liberals understand, as Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once observed, that “time has upset many fighting faiths.†Liberals are skeptical of censorship and celebrate free and open debate.
Agreed. But I don’t see a lot of open minds in a lot of these blogs. On both sides. I always ask for clear points of contention. But most of what I see is name calling and insults.
1. 2. Liberals believe individuals should be tolerant and respectful of difference. It is liberals who have supported and continue to support the civil rights movement, affirmative action, the Equal Rights Amendment and the rights of gays and lesbians. (Note that a conflict between propositions 1 and 2 leads to divisions among liberals on issues like pornography and hate speech.)
Agreed. I personally don’t have a problem with gay marriage. I’m all about people of all races having a fair shake. But I don’t believe quota systems are fair to qualified people that are not in a minority. If someone discriminates against someone based on how they look then they are wrong. But if someone is hired based on how they look then that is just as wrong. So is keeping people dependant on the government via welfare. I encourage people to better themselves though education. I’m a big supporter of community colleges. I grew up poor and worked hard not to be. I did it. So can anyone.
1. 3. Liberals believe individuals have a right and a responsibility to participate in public debate. It is liberals who have championed and continue to champion expansion of the franchise; the elimination of obstacles to voting; “one person, one vote;†limits on partisan gerrymandering; campaign-finance reform; and a more vibrant freedom of speech. They believe, with Justice Louis Brandeis, that “the greatest menace to freedom is an inert people.â€
Voting is a privilege. Voter fraud is something that needs to be addressed. Having to show your Voter registration card is not too much to ask. You have to prove citizenship. I don’t see the harm in that.
1. 4. Liberals believe “we the people†are the governors and not the subjects of government, and that government must treat each person with that in mind. It is liberals who have defended and continue to defend the freedom of the press to investigate and challenge the government, the protection of individual privacy from overbearing government monitoring, and the right of individuals to reproductive freedom. (Note that libertarians, often thought of as “conservatives,†share this value with liberals.)
Agreed. I do consider myself a conservative/libertarian. I would stipulate that the radical Islamic killers we face are not eligible for the same rights.
1. 5. Liberals believe government must respect and affirmatively safeguard the liberty, equality and dignity of each individual. It is liberals who have championed and continue to champion the rights of racial, religious and ethnic minorities, political dissidents, persons accused of crime and the outcasts of society. It is liberals who have insisted on the right to counsel, a broad application of the right to due process of law and the principle of equal protection for all people.
Agreed. I do hate to see criminals go free but I do agree in due process.
1. 7. Liberals believe government should never act on the basis of sectarian faith. It is liberals who have opposed and continue to oppose school prayer and the teaching of creationism in public schools and who support government funding for stem-cell research, the rights of gays and lesbians and the freedom of choice for women.
The government should not promote any religion. But if a kid wants to pray they do have the right to pray. As far as abortion goes, I would not promote it or outlaw it. Tax money should never pay for an abortion. And Stem-cell research can be done by the private sector. I agree to remove any government blocks that prevent save research, but the government does not need to pay for it
1. 8. Liberals believe courts have a special responsibility to protect individual liberties. It is principally liberal judges and justices who have preserved and continue to preserve freedom of expression, individual privacy, freedom of religion and due process of law. (Conservative judges and justices more often wield judicial authority to protect property rights and the interests of corporations, commercial advertisers and the wealthy.)
Right is right. People are very sue happy. And corporations are an easy and lucrative target. Can anyone say nuisance suite. What ever happed to individual responsibility? For instance. McDonalds and the hot coffee incident. That never should have went court. How about people suing tobacco companies? If you don’t know smoking is bad for you then natural selection should take you. The little label was not always there so anyone that was old enough for that may have a case. But after that, you knew it was bad for you and you did it anyway. Your bad choice does not entitle you to a free ride.
1. 9. Liberals believe government must protect the safety and security of the people, for without such protection liberalism is impossible. This, of course, is less a tenet of liberalism than a reply to those who attack liberalism. The accusation that liberals are unwilling to protect the nation from internal and external dangers is false. Because liberals respect competing values, such as procedural fairness and individual dignity, they weigh more carefully particular exercises of government power (such as the use of secret evidence, hearsay and torture), but they are no less willing to use government authority in other forms (such as expanded police forces and international diplomacy) to protect the nation and its citizens.
We are at war. And it’s a war with very crafty, evil, persistent people. You may believe in protecting the people, but the actions don’t match up. I don’t always agree with the Bush administration on Iraq. But it is the current battle fount. I believe leaving without getting rid of the terrorist is the wrong message to send to the world. We need to lock down the boarders in Iraq to prevent rearming my Iran. And bolster the Iraq army and police departments. If you have a better idea, lets hear it. Stop blaming and start coming up with a better plan.
1. 10. Liberals believe government must protect the safety and security of the people, without unnecessarily sacrificing constitutional values. It is liberals who have demanded and continue to demand legal protections to avoid the conviction of innocent people in the criminal justice system, reasonable restraints on government surveillance of American citizens, and fair procedures to ensure that alleged enemy combatants are in fact enemy combatants. Liberals adhere to the view expressed by Brandeis some 80 years ago: “Those who won our independence … did not exalt order at the cost of liberty.â€
It’s a war. The people the liberals are protecting are not American Citizens. They are killers that will kill you if they get the chance. Wise up.
I notice they don’t talk about unfairly taxing people for being successful.
October 10th, 2006 at 3:16 pm#s 58, 73,and 121 - Kevin,
October 10th, 2006 at 3:34 pmYou keep using the term “open mind(s)(ed)” - does that imply that you have a gaping hole in your head?
[…] If you vote Republican, you might as well tattoo the word “idiot” to your forehead.read more | digg story […]
October 10th, 2006 at 3:37 pmInsults. That helps. Problems solved.
October 10th, 2006 at 3:38 pm#124 - Kevin,
October 10th, 2006 at 3:56 pmJust replying in kind. Your posts are an insult to the intelligence of most of the posters here. Exley, MA and other Trolls excluded.
I don’t remember using personal insults. But I forgot that you progressives hate free speech and anyone that states anything you disagree with.
October 10th, 2006 at 4:21 pmYou’re right. It is easy to say I’m wrong if you are not going to have any counter points. I notice that you never do. I wonder if you have an opinion of your own?
October 10th, 2006 at 4:30 pmHow would you get rid of them?
October 10th, 2006 at 4:39 pmPersonal insult.
October 10th, 2006 at 4:44 pmI’ve never pointed out how idiotic you personally are. (oops. Sorry for the insult)
#
Especially when there are MORE TERRORISTS IN THE WORLD than in 2001!!!
How would you get rid of them?
Comment by Kevin — October 10, 2006 @ 4:39 pm
How we get rid of communist? Try to kill them in Vietnam War or help those ppl change themselve?
October 10th, 2006 at 4:53 pmHow? There starting point is “All American’s must die.” Do you negotiate a number? Maybe a certain type of people? Just the Jews? Maybe just Christians? They do want to kill all the gay people in the world. Who do you give up first?
October 10th, 2006 at 5:04 pmJay, just one comment:
October 10th, 2006 at 5:18 pmIn previous centuries, sleeping in the same bed together while traveling was the rule rather than the exception. If you read an 18th or 19th century travel memoir you’ll find endless descriptions of the miseries of sleeping two or three to a bet with unhygienic strangers. It was very simply the way it was done–and in an unheated room it had other practical advantages.
Refer also to the Civil War practice of ’spooning’ among soldiers.
This really is one of those cultral shifts that can lead to distortionsin looking at the past.
I’m not saying that Abe wasn’t gay, it’s just that you have to be careful about cultural assumptions–even with our own past.
Hey kevin, I know you are type only believe in EVIL not GOD (Satan reglious). Those ppl just the same as us, not alien from outspace. They may dream a dream like you & me, America dream. Back to history to answer the question why they cried out “All American’s must die”. Why not All Chinese must die why not all Japanese must die? Ok Chinese once cried out “All Japnese must die” after WWII - but now how many believe in this?
October 10th, 2006 at 5:18 pmSo you want to solve the problem why “All American’s must die” or just kill everyone said that? NO you kill one, their relatives their friends will join the “All American’s must die” crowd, and continues … You will live with “All American’s must die” forever.
Comment by yangho — October 10, 2006 @ 5:18 pm
So what is your plan?
October 10th, 2006 at 5:27 pmKevin #135
1) Vote Democrat in November ‘06 and ‘08
2) Use the Patriot Act to purge America of its racist,inbred, bigoted, TREASONOUS conservatives…
3) Prosecute and imprison Bush, Cheney and ALL of their cronies after confiscating ALL of their families’ assets…
…any more questions?
October 10th, 2006 at 5:31 pmAll of you americans are full of poop.
October 10th, 2006 at 5:34 pmSo it’s ok to use the Patriot Act, as long as it’s people that don’t agree with you? “Speak freely unless you disagree with me.†That how you think the country should be? I don’t agree with you so I should be locked up?
October 10th, 2006 at 5:40 pm#
Comment by yangho — October 10, 2006 @ 5:18 pm
So what is your plan?
Comment by Kevin —
Hey, kevin. I’m not politican, not president. We citizen don’t need to solve problems, we wisely choose our repsentatives to solve problems. You should have your own awareness about your govt job.
October 10th, 2006 at 5:46 pmYou think criticizer is worth for nothing and only the men in power able to do something meaning? So I suggest you should move to a communist state. They will love your thought. WIth communist, only leaders have bright idea.
Use your own brain DON”T ASK ME FOR PLAN.
You never posted a plan.
You made a point about stuff that has happened. We are in Muslim countries. Have been even during the Clinton years. Leaving will not stop them from wanting to kill us. They seem to be arming themselves very well on there own now. We have an ally in Israel. You want to abandon them. Nice.
Now YOU have to come up with the plan. What would YOU do now? You want to leave the middle east? Close the boarder so they can’t attack?
October 10th, 2006 at 5:51 pmGood point. What’s the Dem’s plan?
October 10th, 2006 at 5:55 pm#154 - Good point. I not belive in Dem too. But I want to change, let punish Repugs in next vote. It may help them better. I don’t like this “Stay of the couse” situation.
October 10th, 2006 at 6:01 pmStill no real answer. Can you give a real answer?
October 10th, 2006 at 6:32 pm#158. I don’t think you will change your mind. You Republicans alway extremal. It’s OK and understandable. It’s Proud American, Great American. But this has another meaning: NAZI, Great German. So don’t go so far with your “Republican Value”.
I vote against those said our Demoracy lack of tools to deal with terrorist and re-use communist tools: Torture Bill, Wiretap Bill. I vote against meanless war, oil war. I vote against who said they are only one able to protect American, sound like PROTECTOR Cesar. They are all warning sign for a Dark Age of Demoracy. I repeat Benjamin Franklin word “The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive eitherâ€.
I the one escaped from communist state, I like Freedom more than security.
October 10th, 2006 at 6:43 pmI’ll make you a deal.
You give me a solid point. With no name calling, or all caps. A ideological reason why Big Government is good for our country, or why the Democrats could lead this country better. You do that, and you will only see one more post from me. That post will be me conceding and after that, you will never read another post from me.
October 10th, 2006 at 6:53 pm#106 - “You need to come around here more often and give us libs here more hell. :)” - - Comment by Joe Sixpack
********Thanks, Sixer - - Would that I could….Been up to my eyeballs at work - but hopefully in a couple of weeks the San Diego County DA I’ve been sparring with will get his $h*t together and quit with the continuances already.
I understand your GOAL to beat Repubs into the ground - no self-respecting Dem would feel differently, but when you add pigs like Jay Randal (with his “Lincoln was a gay-blade” assertions) to your trough, I would think even the pigs would be disgusted….
Would you let me in on a little Dem secret - if the Dems take the House and Repubs keep the Senate, HOW will the effort to Bush-whack the President benefit Dems?
October 10th, 2006 at 7:27 pmcouldn’t do it could you.
October 10th, 2006 at 7:28 pmHow typical of the Republican politician. “I am sorry if my staff screwed up.”
October 10th, 2006 at 7:29 pm“When I find out who messed this up, they will be fired.”
Those are Republican words of contrition.
Dear Marie - It’s not difficult for Republican polititcians to makes Dems look bad. At least our team says to the offending Congressman, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way OUT,” and “If my staff is culpable, they’ll be out of a job.” Dems have a tendency to keep re-electing the perverts EVEN after they’re exposed - no pun intended. Honestly, the majority of Americans don’t associate the term “morality” with your Party….(Pssst…I think it started with you old hippies and your “Make Love - Not War” slogans.)
October 10th, 2006 at 7:37 pmCanada. Top medical care from them folks. What do they pay in taxes? I guess it’s ok if you want the government choosing your Doctor. I have insurance. I didn’t always. You see, what I did was I worked hard and got a degree and got a better job. Never asked for any help from the government. I have a 401K and I have a saving account. Don’t need Social Security. And I’m not opposed to giving money to charities. But if you don’t mind the government making decisions for you then move to Canada.
October 10th, 2006 at 7:41 pmIt will be tough for Hastert to succeed in his efforts to pin the blame exclusively on his staff. Hastert was directly informed of Foley’s inappropriate emails last spring by both House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY).
Maybe Hastert can claim that Hard-on — oops, I mean Boehner — and Reynolds e-mailed him, and since he doesn’t know how to read he wasn’t able to read their e-mails?
October 10th, 2006 at 7:47 pmI don’t see why the tax rate has to go up because you make more money. â€Because they can afford it.†Why would you want to make more money if you are going to be taxed more for it? You reward good behavior and punish the bad. You’re going to say I hate the poor. That will not be true. (but why should you start now) I am all about making higher education more affordable to people. I am a big supporter of the community college system. (you can go to one after you finish high school) The flat tax or even better the fair tax does not punish people for making money. It does not punish the poor for buying essentials. (tax free under the plan) You can help people without giving them unnecessary handouts.
October 10th, 2006 at 7:56 pmmighty aphrodite feed all fascist ideas from Foax news. I believe in you Repug drown in lie. Let see
October 10th, 2006 at 7:56 pm- OK my persident lie about WMD - it’s no big deal because Bill lie about his affair.
- OK my president lead us to Iraq crisis - it’s no big deal because Dems have no plan to clean Bush mess.
- OK my Congressman socilite sex for 16yo pagers - it’s no big deal because Bill did with Mon.
You guys have blind eyes on your party corruption and try to make a comparation with other party. It is a childish fight not a responsibility for leaders. I sick for you guys, dead brain. You devote with your party it is ok, but clear your house. It is stupid to compare mine not dirty than others.
What the Repug point? Whatever happen, their party more important than the country, the ppl. I hope there are never enough Repugs to turn America into a dictatorship state.
October 10th, 2006 at 8:25 pmKevin, read the book titled “Economy-101″. Until then, don’t speak.
October 10th, 2006 at 9:11 pm#182 - Dear Mr./Ms. Ho - Would you be so kind as to have an English translator assist you in posting. I understood the part in which you think I’m a fascist (yaaaawwwwwnnn….) but the remainder was quite unintelligible. In which language do you request a ballot?
October 10th, 2006 at 9:59 pm#186 Mighty skank…Would you be so kind as to have a sane translator assist you in posting. I understood the part in which you think I’m a communist (yaaaawwwwwnnn….) but the remainder was quite unintelligible. In which language do you request a ballot?
October 10th, 2006 at 10:07 pm#187 - “Mighty skank”???? How Clever!! Did you think of that all by yourself? You wouldn’t be related to the North Korean Parks would you?
October 10th, 2006 at 10:23 pm#188 Why, would you like to put me in a re-education camp?
October 10th, 2006 at 10:38 pmHe is “the boss.†The buck stops with him. He needs to take responsibility. He needs to resign.
Comment by Exley
I’m sure you extend this philosophy to George W. Bush, too.
I could almost respect you again, Exley.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:43 pmZooey,
When it comes to cover-ups of corruption in public office, I make no party distinctions. I called for Clinton’s resignation in 1998. I call for Hastert’s resignation in 2006.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:51 pm#189 Yeah, he is the one who I never expect stay in Freedom world. Actually, he act like communist cadre. “You wouldn’t be American lackey would you?”, you see it is the same. Woh I miss re-education camps.
October 10th, 2006 at 10:55 pmI called for Clinton’s resignation in 1998. I call for Hastert’s resignation in 2006.
Comment by Exley
You’ll be calling for George W. Bush’s resignation now?