Foley joins list of sex scandals on Capitol Hill - "The resignation of former Rep. Mark Foley has shocked Washington, but it is not the first accusation of impropriety with underage congressional pages to make headlines. The investigation of Mr. Foley's misconduct adds to a long history of Capitol Hill sex scandals."
Resign, Mr. Speaker - "House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once. Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week's revelations -- or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away. He gave phony answers Friday to the old and ever-relevant questions of what did he know and when did he know it? Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance."
The O’Reilly Fear Factor - "It should come as no surprise that conservative Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly is praising the military-detention bill that President Bush recently got through Congress. In a commentary dated September 29, 2007, which was posted on the Fox News website, O’Reilly said that “the only downside for the president is that interrogation methods like water boarding are no longer allowed.” Maybe O’Reilly thinks that the new detention law applies only to foreigners, not Americans. If so, he, along with other Americans, might be surprised to learn that the new law does not limit the definition of “unlawful enemy combatants” to foreigners. After all, don’t forget that U.S. officials have applied the term to Jose Padilla, an American arrested in Chicago and accused of terrorism, initially as an “enemy combatant” in military custody; and, more recently, as a criminal defendant in U.S. district court. But even if the law did apply only to foreigners accused of terrorism, by creating a bifurcated legal system in which foreign citizens would get the military-tribunal treatment, while Americans accused of terrorism would continue to be prosecuted in federal court, the detainee bill would entail an abrogation of the long-held principle in U.S. criminal jurisprudence of equal treatment under law."
Are You an 'Unlawful Combatant'? - "Congress has now granted the president the powers of a dictator. The rest of the story of our slide into absolutism is merely a matter of filling in the details."
Is your daughter a future detainee? - "In other words, under this bill, the president or his designee can simply decide that someone poses a threat, call them an unlawful enemy combatant, and lock them away. Yes, they are entitled to a determination by the Combatant Status Review Tribunal of whether they in fact meet the definition of unlawful enemy combatant. But the law doesn't impose a time limit. The government could simply postpone that hearing indefinitely, and the detainee would have the status of "awaiting such determination," and not be given access to federal court."
Surprise Surprise, It's Another Al Qaeda Blockbuster Release - "Karl Rove's promised October surprise has arrived nice and early. Five weeks before the midterm election, a "previously undiscovered" video emerges that reminds the uninformed world that Al Qaeda carried out the 9/11 attacks and in order to combat them we must vote for security over liberty."
North Korea Says It Will Stage Nuke Test - "North Korea said Tuesday it will conduct a nuclear test in the face of what it claimed was "the U.S. extreme threat of a nuclear war," ratcheting up tensions amid international pressure to return to negotiations on its atomic program."
Rumsfeld: Venezuela Build-Up Is Concern - "The recent military build-up in Venezuela by U.S. nemesis President Hugo Chavez has other countries in the region worried that the weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Monday."
After Foley, New Fears For the GOP - "Republican operatives closely following the battle for the House and Senate said that they are virtually ready to concede nearly a third of the 15 seats the Democrats need to recapture control of the House, and that they will spend the next five weeks trying to shelter other vulnerable incumbents from the fallout of the Foley scandal in hopes of salvaging a slender majority."
Tony Snow downplays Foley scandal as 'naughty emails' - "In the following video, Snow seems to be playing down the Foley scandal, telling reporters, "Yeah, look, I hate to tell you but it's not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill. There have been other scandals, as you know, that have been more than simply naughty emails."" -- Naughty emails that would get us common folk locked up.
Someone sent page threats - "U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander said a former male House page from Monroe has received threats since reports surfaced Friday that former Congressman Mark Foley sent him inappropriate e-mails."
Rep. Shimkus "is toast" - "John Shimkus (R-IL) let Foley spend 'a lot of time' with pages, including private dinner with one," after the GOP knew Foley was a problem."
Man Storms Amish School, Kills 3, Self - "A milk-truck driver carrying three guns and a childhood grudge stormed a one-room Amish schoolhouse Monday, sent the boys and adults outside, barricaded the doors with two-by-fours, and then opened fire on a dozen girls, killing three people before committing suicide." -- Pagegate gets bumped.
Bush plans conference on school violence - "The Bush administration, alarmed by recent attacks at public schools across the country, is bringing education and law enforcement experts together for a conference on coming to grips with the problem." -- This is not the big problem that needs addressing. But it sure keeps the public attention. Oh yeah, that's the point.
Bush Says Democrats Shouldn't Be Trusted - "President Bush, on a campaign swing in the West, is telling voters that the Democratic Party is weak-kneed on national security and shouldn't be trusted to hold the reins of Congress."
Pastors Guiding Voters to GOP - "The campaign encourages individual pastors to use sermons, Bible studies and rallies to drive Christians to the polls — and, by implication or outright endorsement, to Republican candidates. One online guide to discussing the election in church, produced by the Focus on the Family ministry, offers this tip: If a congregant says her top concerns are healthcare and national security, suggest that Jesus would make abortion and gay marriage priorities." -- Ah, the usefulness of religion.
The 50 Richest Members of Congress - "And the rich just keep getting richer. For the 50 richest Members of Congress, 2005 was great for the bottom line, according to Roll Call's annual survey of lawmakers' personal wealth." -- In case you have forgotten, they are the "haves".
Why Capitol Pages Fear Retaliation - "It now appears that one of the chief reasons why Foley’s e-mails remained secret for so long – and why some former pages still won’t speak publicly – is that they recognize that divulging what Foley did to them could kill their hopes for future careers in politics."
Police: Cameras Not Helping Fight Crime Much - "Many D.C. police said they had hoped that installing dozens of new surveillance cameras across the city would assist them in cracking down on crime, but the system does not appear to be working as planned."
School gives parents detention for tardiness - "Under the new rule at the Manhattan School for Children, parents who don’t drop off their children by 8:25 a.m. have to pick up late slips from the principal’s office and go to the auditorium to serve 20 minutes of detention with them."
UFO class appeals to skeptics, believers - "Skeptics and believers both can learn more about the lore of unidentified flying objects in a new class at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne."
Quote of the Day
"Hypocrisy is the grease that lubricates society."
~ Thomas Szasz
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