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Brent Budowsky -- Independent Investigation Needed: Did Congressional Republicans Cover Up Page Abuse Scandal?

Submitted by BuzzFlash on Sat, 09/30/2006 - 8:12pm.
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Brent Budowsky

How can one explain that a senior Republican Congressman is only now forced to resign over a major scandal involving apparent sexual overtures to pages that were reported to Republican Congressional Leaders almost a year ago?

When a second Republican Congressman found out about these acts long ago, did he only report it to the Republican in charge of electing Republicans to Congress? He should have immediately gone right to the Speaker, but apparently he did not, it appears he wasmore interested in alerting the partisan Republican Campaign Committee?

Exactly who did he report this dangerous situation to?

There was significant provable documentation of the acts in question long ago, including e-mails and instant messaging. Could it be true that Congressional Republican leaders did not immediately seek them?

For Republican leaders so hell bent on eavesdropping and invasions of privacy, it would be derelict if they did not seek this provable evidence eleven months ago, and equally derelict if they sought it, had it, but did nothing for almost a year. Surely they dont believe that the legitimate seeking of emails and IM to protect young pages is less important than the eavesdropping they otherwise champion so aggressively?

Either they did nothing, in which case the safety and security of young Congressional pages was endangered by extreme neglect, or they did, in which case they covered up some very wrong and dangerous conduct.

These acts were committed, incredibly, by the Congressman in charge of the group with the responsiblity of protecting children against abuse. Why was he not removed, immediately, ten or eleven months ago, with a public acknowledgement of the acts and a public statement of commitment by the group he led to protect our children from abuse?

Were the emails and IM's immediately read, or not, eleven months ago?

Exactly which Republican leaders were aware of this and exactly what did they do eleven months ago, ten months ago, nine months ago?

Was there at least a serious investigation about whether any other pages were approached by Congressman Foley, eleven months ago?

Was there a serious investigation about whether new protections are needed for all pages, from potentially dangerous abuse, eleven months ago?

What is urgently needed is some form of investigation, special counsel, outside advisor or some appropriate way to investigate what actually happened, and immediately and without any delay report back to the public and the full Congress about measures that should have been taken, and will be taken now, to protect the pages.

We do not need another case where we find out long after the fact that our entire intelligence community believes the Iraq war creates more terrorists.

We do not need another case where a Senate Intelligence Committee report is covered up until after the election, about false statements made by high level officials, misleading the public and Congress about Iraq intelligence.

We do not need a sham investigation by a political committee in a one party Congress desperately trying to maintain control and therefore highly unlikely to seek and report the truth.

The safety and security of the Congressional pages is paramount to all other considerations.

The protection of the Congressional pages from abuse by Congressmen must be first, second, and third order of importance and the partisan and political convenience of politicians seeking to protect their power must not endanger even one of these good young men and women who serve as pages.

We must get the truth.

We must protect the pages.

We must enforce the law.

We must punish the wrongdoers.

We must have an independent investigation beyond partisan influence and we must have it now, immediately, until we are 100% certain that not one page is endangered by one Congressman.

Brent Budowsky

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

Brent Budowsky served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen, responsible for commerce and intelligence matters, including one of the core drafters of the CIA Identities Law. Served as Legislative Director to Congressman Bill Alexander, then Chief Deputy Whip, House of Representatives. Currently a member of the International Advisory Council of the Intelligence Summit. Left goverment in 1990 for marketing and public affairs business including major corporate entertainment and talent management. He can be reached at brentbbi@webtv.net.

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Foley Email Scandal - Far Right Spin

Submitted by bbh on Mon, 10/02/2006 - 11:25pm.

I was watching the Situation Room - first time in YEARS that I could stomach it - and they were talking to a top leader in the Far Right. Evidently, as he said it several times, he has a "spin" already. He says that before we can condemn any of the Republicans in charge as far as their knowing about it for some time and not doing anything about it, we needed to think about their motives. Was it just because they were afraid of being seen as "gay bashing" because of the senator's orientation?!!!! Is this obviously political reason something we're expected to understand or accept??? In other words, are we to say, "Well, of course, we understand that being seen as "gay bashing" is certainly more important than protecting a 16-yr-old boy???? Of course, he made it clear that this is the kind of thing we get when we allow a society like ours to have sexual "freedom". I guess if we had just murdered all of the gay people or put them away in these concentration camps that Halliburton will build when we all start being named "enemy combatants", none of this would have happened.

I would think that even the far right "Christians" (who act and think less like Christians than our cat) would want to protect 16-yr. old boys - especially pages in Congress - rather than worry about their political images - couldn't stand to be seen as "gay bashing" - as if that isn't how they talk and behave every day of their lives!! Why would NOW be any different?

Oh, by the way, they didn't mention anything but the one email requesting a picture. They could get away with that one, I would think. Surely, there will be at least ONE Democrat with the guts to bring up the IM's or other sexually explicit communications.

I have read already that the pages were saying that everyone knew about Foley and his "interests", but because of fear of the famous retaliation that the Bush administration routinely meets out, they were afraid to bring it up. I guess that means that pages have been under fear and in danger for some time because of Bush and his buddies.

I just hope and pray that this "spin" they've come up with is as easily seen through by the regular American citizen as it is by those of us who have known most of the truth for years now.

http://www.attytood.com/2006/10/family_research_council_blame.html

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/BrianRoss/story?id=2509586&page=1

New Democratic Slogan?
"Republicans Wanted to Protect Their Jobs Before They Protected Your Children."

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Congressional Pages "RUNNING" government?

Submitted by The Loon on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 10:13pm.

The Loon

I guess I don't understand why Congress has to USE CHILDREN to deliver their messages. Aren't we paying enough taxes to cover their salary increases that they can hire ADULTS to help run the government? Seems they send CHILDREN to fight their wars, and they USE CHILDREN to work for them, and continue to raise THEIR SALARIES, and "craft" more laws, while scratching their corporate buddies' backs. I feel I'm strangling to death paying taxes and trying to figure out how to deal with the IRS, while living in fear in my own home because Law Enforcement is a joke. First it was the Catholic Priest pedophiles, now it's the US Congress. Maybe we all should be afforded SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION, and the same PREMIUM HEALTH CARE we pay for Congress:....... or to at least: learn more about SS: Secret Service, Social Studies, Social Security, Social Services, and all the "BS" we've been told. Who believes in anything anymore? ....... FREAKING.......NAZIS!!!!!!!! (Go take some pills, you must be insane to say such things! Pharmaceuticals LOVE IT, and will duly elect your next Congressman.)

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Foley's follies

Submitted by willymack on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 2:55pm.

Why was Foley allowed to continue his sick activities for almost a year after it was known what he was doing? Why, because this is the party of bamboozle, bribe, and blackmail, that's why. Foley is almost certainly NOT the only one of his kind in the power structure.

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Five years...

Submitted by Zee (not verified) on Mon, 10/02/2006 - 11:51am.

Now there's an ABC report that pages were warned five years ago to steer clear of Foley.

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Congressional Silence on Page Abuse

Submitted by Kootenai on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 2:18pm.

There is a law, or at least was once, which required the reporting of suspected child abuse to a federal register - there was a 24 hour time period for reporting which was mandatory. In other words, by not reporting this, congressional members who were aware and did not report are guilty of a crime and could be prosecuted for this omission.

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Does the law apply to them?

Submitted by mymarkx on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 4:13pm.

Congress usually exempts itself from its own laws, the same way the pResident uses signing statements to exempt himself from laws he signs. There's no doubt that they're guilty, but whether they can be prosecuted is another story.

--Mark

Out of Site

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Conspiracy of Silence

Submitted by mymarkx on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 1:52pm.

This film about state Senator John DeCamp's investigation of a pedophile ring which led directly to the highest levels of the Republican Party, was created for the Discovery Channel but never aired on TV. It doesn't seem to open with Firefox, but can be viewed with Internet Explorer.

Conspiracy of Silence

--Mark

Out of Site

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Why are all those preachers SILENT on this?

Submitted by JosephEBacon on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 12:27pm.

No a peep from Falwell, Robertson, Dobson, Crouch or their fellow biblethumpers. Not a peep. I wonder why?????

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Its not a bad idea to review

Submitted by Jaded on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 11:46am.

Its not a bad idea to review the events of 11-10 months ago and see just exactly what was going on at that time. I suggest an archives search. But while going to that effort, keep in mind how this party stores and uses blackmailable information to achieve its party goals. We've seen it time and again, and remember, the party we're speaking of has NO limit to its depth of dirty tactics. We can even go so far as to suggest situations are intentionally manufactured where individuals will be entrapped enabling information against them to be brought forward at the party's discretion.
Every time a scandal comes into the headlines, ask yourself:
1. What else is occurring simultaneously that is being obscured?
2. And most importantly, qui bono, who profits?
3. Read the stories at least twice to see what details are so absurd they could not possibly have happened as they are purported.
At the least, a timed political sex scandal has the
precise effect of glossing over the most egregious dismantling of the Constitution and NIE reports.
We know how well this tactic has been used before and should be prepared by now to recognize the tactics again. After all, they are well known for repeating themselves if it works, which it always does. How many parallels does it take for citizens to put it ALL together?

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I agree

Submitted by tseving on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 11:15am.

The most shocking things about this mess are that Foley was the de facto point man for child protection in the House, and the GOP leadership allowed it to continue for over a year. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. When I lived in Arizona in the mis 1970s, I had a close friend who was a hooker. She told me that, whenever there was a convention of either right wing lawmakers and aides or fundamentalist religious leaders, demand for services became so great that more hookers were imported from Nevada to meet their needs.
tseving
-Surviving Bush one day at a time
http://tomcatsbox.spaces.live.com

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Its not shocking anymore.

Submitted by Jaded on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 12:16pm.

Its not shocking anymore. This is what they do and how they do it. Its not selective. We are not dealing with purists who only choose one avenue of evil.
The methods employed are how mob-style blackmail works and survives and is ultimately used against US.
Understand this: We the people are the the victim. It is a tool exactly as the Chandra Levy scandal was used in which damning information rivited citizens to their TVs. How many other media blitzes have been and will be used is anyone's guess. They are very good at stage sets and better yet at changing channels to suit an agenda. Look at the program: Foley gets dumped, an investment banker moves in, plenty of money exchanges hands and we, AGAIN, come to find laws and social mores we THOUGHT were airtight are hopelessly Katrina-ed, or quagmired, whichever you prefer.

Of course, you have to wonder too why any parent allows their child to page or intern? Jeeze!

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You are correct

Submitted by tseving on Mon, 10/02/2006 - 8:08am.

Now that we know that the GOP leadership knew about it and covered it up, they must all be held accountable.
tseving
-Surviving Bush one day at a time
http://tomcatsbox.spaces.live.com

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Foley

Submitted by dennis08505 on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 8:37am.

Why is the MSM refering to this victim as a "congressional page" and not a MALE congressional page. If it had been a Democrat they would be exploiting the homosexuality angle. I'm so glad the Republicans are the moral party and our spineless Dems are doing very little to change things.

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Foley

Submitted by rbank on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 1:11pm.

THis is god's own party. The one's who brought us if JOhn Kerry is elected he will allow Gays to marry and distroy marriage. NOthing more needs to be said.

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You there, Zorro(tGb)?

Submitted by marlow on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 11:13am.

It'd be interesting to hear his wingnut commentary, given that he has attributed the evils of the world to Clinton's blowjob. At least it wasn't a sixteen year old MALE(credits to dennis) pageboy. Or maybe the problem was with Monica's saliva.

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Marlow! My boy...

Submitted by duncehater on Thu, 10/05/2006 - 7:01pm.

How have you been? I changed my name since you abused Zorro. Well to answer you with a question of my own then why is it that you blame George W. for about everything. Let's give Bush credit for low gas prices, all time high stock market and no global warming. Last year we were in the Greek Alphabet and this year not one hurricane hit us. Now, if you go back into history say 20 years you'll see lots of sex scandals especially among democrats. Besides, the Foley scandal may have been staged by the page and the democrats bank-rolled by George Soros. Don't forget to vote Republican for safety, good economy and a strong, spiritual nation. :)

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A moron by any other name...

Submitted by marlow on Sat, 10/07/2006 - 11:07pm.

Spiritual, eh? I'll think real hard, duncehater (no mirrors for you, eh?) and try to feel the "spiritual" angle to trolling for teenage sex. Let me know who these democrats are, ok flyboy? Talk is cheap, and so is limbaugh tit-milk.

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