I have to wonder if the mess with Foley is being used as a diversion to keep the MSM watching populace from taking note of what looks like an uptick in preparation for an attack on Iran. The USS Eisenhower is set to deploy to Iran ahead of schedule, and IIRC some subs are also headed toward the sandbox.
I think there's a coordinated effort between the military and the intelligence community to prevent that from happening right now. I think the NIE results were leaked to hopefully prevent the administration from launching an October surprise attack on Iran. I also think that is why heavy hitters like retired Army Generals John Batiste and Paul Eaton and retired Marine Corp Colonel Thomas Hammes testified before the Senate that Rumsfeld is incompetent. These are not lightweights in the military. Paul Eaton has been dubbed "The Father of the Iraqi Army," according to "Defend America," (
http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/jun2004/a061404e.html) the terrorism newsletter of the U.S. Department of Defense. John Batiste led the First Infantry Division in Iraq, and Thomas Hammes served as a Marine Senior Military Fellow in the Institute for National Security Studies, National Defense University, (and whose excellent book, "The Sling and the Stone," was published by the company that publishes my books, by the way). All three of these men are soldiers' soldiers, dedicated military men who are not in the habit of getting involved in politics. I believe that their coordinated attack on Rumsfeld at this time is meant to discredit the man before he and Dick Cheney can lead us into another disasterous war.
And Fistful and Rabbi, I don't think you've seen anywhere near the end of this yet. The Washington Times (that fringe left-wing rag with an editorial board headed by that Communist liberal Tony Blankley), published the following editorial on the subject this morning:
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RESIGN, MR. SPEAKER
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The facts of the disgrace of Mark Foley, who was a Republican member of the House from a Florida district until he resigned last week, constitute a disgrace for every Republican member of Congress. Red flags emerged in late 2005, perhaps even earlier, in suggestive and wholly inappropriate e-mail messages to underage congressional pages. His aberrant, predatory -- and possibly criminal -- behavior was an open secret among the pages who were his prey. The evidence was strong enough long enough ago that the speaker should have relieved Mr. Foley of his committee responsibilities contingent on a full investigation to learn what had taken place, whether any laws had been violated and what action, up to and including prosecution, were warranted by the facts. This never happened.
Rep. John Shimkus of Illinois, the Republican chairman of the House Page Board, said he learned about the Foley e-mail messages "in late 2005." Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, the leader of the Republican majority, said he was informed of the e-mail messages earlier this year. On Friday, Mr. Hastert dissembled, to put it charitably, before conceding that he, too, learned about the e-mail messages sometime earlier this year. Late yesterday afternoon, Mr. Hastert insisted that he learned of the most flagrant instant-message exchange from 2003 only last Friday, when it was reported by ABC News. This is irrelevant. The original e-mail messages were warning enough that a predator -- and, incredibly, the co-chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children -- could be prowling the halls of Congress. The matter wasn't pursued aggressively. It was barely pursued at all. Moreover, all available evidence suggests that the Republican leadership did not share anything relate!
d to this matter with any Democrat.
Now the scandal must unfold on the front pages of the newspapers and on the television screens, as transcripts of lewd messages emerge and doubts are rightly raised about the forthrightness of the Republican stewards of the 109th Congress. Some Democrats are attempting to make this "a Republican scandal," and they shouldn't; Democrats have contributed more than their share of characters in the tawdry history of congressional sexual scandals. Sexual predators come in all shapes, sizes and partisan hues, in institutions within and without government. When predators are found they must be dealt with, forcefully and swiftly. This time the offender is a Republican, and Republicans can't simply "get ahead" of the scandal by competing to make the most noise in calls for a full investigation. The time for that is long past.
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.
A special, one-day congressional session should elect a successor. We nominate Rep. Henry Hyde, also of Illinois, the chairman of the House International Relations Committee whose approaching retirement ensures that he has no dog in this fight. He has a long and principled career, and is respected on both sides of the aisle. Mr. Hyde would preside over the remaining three months of the 109th Congress in a manner best suited for a full and exhaustive investigation until a new speaker for the 110th Congress is elected in January, who can assume responsibility for the investigation.
I believe this is one of the first times I've ever agreed with a Washington Times editorial. At the very least Hastert is guilty of gross incompetence; at worst he is guilty of aiding and abetting a sexual predator for the purpose of political gain. Either way, he has to go (and in the past I have supported Hastert). When Tony Blankley and company are calling for Hastert's head over this, the GOP is in deep, deep trouble.
