This entry was posted on
Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 at
10:44 am and is filed
under George W. Bush.
There’s a lot about the Mark Foley / Congressional page scandal that requires scrutiny and discussion, starting with the initial post on this weblog that led to a series of responses (1, 2, 3) that led to the initial ABC report and the more explicit revelations that followed.
[Note – If you have a weak stomach, you may choose to stop reading this post right now and instead restrict your scrutiny to the electronic messages themselves. Here’s one link and here’s another.]
For reasons that I hope would be obvious, I do not agree with the way these claims were initially aired. Some leeway may be allowed if – over the years – approaches to various official bodies proved fruitless (and here’s something else these two paedo-claim blogs have in common from different perspectives; the institutional cover-up) but what appears to be widespread inside-knowledge of this abuse does make one wonder if this well-timed discovery is truly serendipitous. There is every possibility that members of both parties allowed a serial offender to continue on his merry way just so they could gain/maintain a political advantage.
Scrutiny. Discussion. Required.
It’s important to acknowledge this because – when taken at face value – some (stress on some) of the following seems like fair and just behaviour. But there is far more to this than just face value… and part of the Big Problem here is that too many people take what they are fed at face value.
Take a look at the online version of the initial ABC report. As part of the conversation-culture many of us are trying to foster, it allows comments. Read those comments and see how willingly this trust is abused in a co-ordinated attempt to shut down the story.
I’ve already said that the origins deserve scrutiny, but – if you have the patience – you also need to look at the TANG-emboldened right-wing bloggers as they journey from scrutiny to claims of a liberal-media/Democrat ‘set-up’ inside a mere 36 hours: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Meanwhile, a man central to this scandal who deserves a *lot* of scrutiny manages to avoid it by using children as a human shield.
Soon after this, Matt Drudge, an ‘anti-establishment’ figure who is – in reality – a willing tool of the current administration (i.e. Guido in 4 years if he gets his way) assures the public that it is a set-up, and that the victims of this abuse are gagging for it (transcript here and excellent editorial here).
Soon after that, Rush Limbaugh (someone else with a large audience resulting from his pandering to the lowest common denominator) also cries ‘set-up’ and makes the boldest of a series of claims that liberals are the true hypocrites here, as they’re long-time proponents of man-boy love.
By this time, the airwaves and tabloids are full of focus on Foley’s status as Teh Gay, and the ‘liberal hypocrisy’ message is slammed home again and again because liberals argue for gay rights and – as we all know – being gay automatically makes you a paedophile.
What deserves particular attention is that this ‘debate’ is what will shape the upcoming mid-term elections, *not* this staggering loss of freedom in the name of ‘security’ or the Bush administration’s staggering failure to address security in any real or responsible sense.
But… there’s some disgraceful conduct here; taken individually or collectively, these many deceits and the large audiences that are prone to them reveal something rotten at the heart of democracy, media and the blogosphere (i.e. the kind of rot that allows the powers that be to get away with all sorts of crimes against humanity).
This also deserves your attention… if you can stomach it.
UPDATE – How strange. Rebekah ‘Red Mist’ Wade – scourge of paedophiles the world over – has decided not to feature this scandal in the Sun newspaper. At all. 12 days after the story exploded, and there hasn’t been so much as a passing mention.
By Seven Star Hand October 11, 2006 - 1:05 am
Hello Manic and all,Here’s some more red hot ink for your pen. Now help me vanquish the sword!This Foley fiasco has given people the chance to change the make-up of this government, which will ultimately lead to the end of the Bush-Cheney reign. It may not be pretty, but it is a gift, nonetheless. Don’t waste this advantage. Use it wisely to end the more pressing problems that face us all.Want to better understand some of the desperation among top Christian politicos? Want to know what else they are pretending not to know about? Follow the links and read about who I am and what I have to say. Notice that my last name is Page? Think this “page” scandal is a mere coincidence? The timing and ramifications are much worse than most realize yet.If Christian political leaders are going to go around attacking others for not living up to their professed values, it’s a damn good idea to be truthful and actually walk the walk. Logs and motes in the eye, camels through the eye of a needle, glass houses, kettles and pots, and what goes around comes around, et al. Karma’s a bitch when She finally decides enough is enough! This wouldn’t have been so bad on Republicans if they hadn’t been such arrogant hypocrites in order to corner the so-called values voters! Now the “Two Candlesticks” and “Two Witnesses” (Truth and Justice) are “breathing fire” and “raining hailstones!”Christian Political Leadership, Hypocrisy, Duplicity, and Purposeful EvilThe current scandal involving Congressman Foley is merely the latest in an amazingly long list of blatant deception and duplicity by Republicans and the Christian Right in recent years. While bedeviling us all with their holier-than-thou pretenses, they consistently support and/or perform blatant greed and abominable evil. Never forget the extent of their arrogance over the last two decades and especially the last 6 years. It is beyond amazing that Christians continue to blindly support such obviously blatant scoundrels, even as they are repeatedly exposed going against the most basic of human values. The level of hypocrisy and duplicity boggles the mind. There is no longer any doubt, whatsoever, that Christianity is little more than a purposeful deception used by political and religious leaders to dupe, manipulate, and coerce entire populations into giving them wealth and power, which they always use for greed, injustice, and abominable evils.The actions of Foley and those who covered up for him directly parallel the actions of scores of priests that have raped innocent children, preyed upon others for centuries, and had their actions hidden and abetted by the Vatican. Now, in eerie repetition of Vatican history, we have a power hungry Christian Emperor (GW) working closely with the Vatican and Judeo-Christian aristocrats to lead crusades in the so-called Holy Land. Furthermore, to leave little doubt about the reality of this assessment, the USA, as the new Holy Roman Empire, is about to legalize the torture it has perpetrated in recent years while steadily reversing many of the democratic and civil freedoms that people gained when the Vatican and royalty lost control of their European empire at the turn of the nineteenth century. Now we see them following the same old path of evil as they strive to cement the status of the USA as the latest proxy Vatican empire. Make no mistake about it, the new dark ages are looming on the horizon unless we do something proactive to prevent it.Remember that those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it!Read More:http://exposing-religious-deception.blogspot.com/Peace…