Is there some rule of nature or politics that ensures "right will win?" If so, how did a guy like Bush manage to become president? That would subvert the whole idea, in my estimation.
Quote:how did a guy like Bush manage to become president?
The other choice was GORE!
Miller wrote:Quote:how did a guy like Bush manage to become president?
The other choice was GORE!
....and Gore got more votes than Bush.
Tico,
Miller and I will be performing in comedy clubs. If you joined us, we could be the new 3 Stooges!
Roll Call: Rep. Rodney Alexander's office sued for sexual harassment
RAW STORY
Published: Friday October 20, 2006
A Republican Congressman's office is being sued for sexual harassment, according to Roll Call.
"Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), already enmeshed in the ex-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) page scandal, now faces a new controversy as a former staffer has sued his office for sexual harassment," John Bresnahan reports.
Excerpts from Roll Call article:
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Elizabeth Scott, Alexander's former scheduler, claims that Royal Alexander, the Congressman's chief of staff, "engaged in a course of misconduct" that included "inappropriate sex-based comments, ogling and touching" and "sexual advances," according to Michael Hoare, Scott's attorney. Scott told the Congressman of his aide's alleged improper behavior but the Louisiana Republican took no action to correct the situation, Hoare said.
Adam Terry, Alexander's spokesman, called Scott's action a "frivolous lawsuit" and denied that any impropriety had taken place.
"The Office of Rep. Alexander values its employees and conducts all personnel matters in compliance with the Congressional Accountability Act and House Rules," Terry said in a statement. "As a result, we believe that the facts will show there is no basis for this lawsuit, and we look forward to proving this in a court of law."
Scott, 26, was employed by Alexander from the fall of 2005 through June 2006, first as an unpaid intern before moving up to take over as the Louisiana Republican's scheduler. She was paid at annual rate of $30,000, according to House disbursement records.
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FULL REG. REQUIRED ROLL CALL AT THIS LINK
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Roll_Call_Rep._Alexanders_office_sued_1020.html
Turmoil in Hastert's Office as Key Staff Testifies
October 23, 2006 1:37 PM
Rhonda Schwartz Reports:
Top aides to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) are expected to testify this week in the House Ethics Committee investigation of the Foley page scandal.
Hastert may also appear, according to Chicago Sun-Times political reporter Lynn Sweet. Today Chief of Staff Scott Palmer entered the room to testify before the committee around 2p.m.
The investigation of how the Republican leadership handled the issue has provoked turmoil and finger-pointing in Hastert's office, congressional sources say.
Some of Hastert's principal aides have hired criminal defense lawyers to represent them during the investigation. Ted Van Der Meid, Hastert's chief in-house counsel, has retained Washington, D.C.-based attorney Lee Blalack, who also represents convicted former Congressman Duke Cunningham.
A key focus of the congressional investigation is the timing of when Hastert and his top staff first learned of Foley's problem behavior toward congressional pages.
The results of an internal review conducted by the speaker's office, released on Sept. 30, said Hastert's staff only learned of complaints about Foley in the fall of 2005 after a congressional page complained about inappropriate e-mails.
But former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl as well as Kirk Fordham, Foley's former chief of staff, have both told associates, and are believed to have testified before the House Ethics Committee, that top staff in Speaker Hastert's office were informed several years ago about Foley's inappropriate behavior toward congressional pages.
Is there any chance that Hastert personally was uninformed. Often, the staff will shield a top boss from information so as to provide him or her deniability.
Democrats say questions remain about Reynolds' Foley involvement
RAW STORY
Published: Tuesday October 24, 2006
After embattled Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY) testified today before the House Ethics Committee about his role in the Foley scandal, the Democratic National Committee released a statement in which it continued to question Reynolds' involvement.
"[New Yorkers have] learned that Reynolds claims to have told Republican Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert about the messages ... but did nothing else to protect the pages from a predator in Congress," said the statement, referring to Reynolds' constituency. "Instead, they learned that Reynolds even asked Foley to postpone a lobbying career and run for reelection, apparently because he considered keeping the House Republican majority more important than getting a predator out of Congress."
With Reynolds having testified today, the DNC expected answers to questions such as,
"Why did he convince Foley to run again?"
"Did he call on Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove to pressure Foley into abandoning his lobbying career to run again?"
"[W]hy did he put his political interests ahead of children again by using them as human shields at a news conference?"
"Apparently, Reynolds still doesn't understand that this is about the safety of our children, not partisan politics," the statement concluded.
Foley's "Treatment" Site Identified - 30,000 a month Arizona Center
Former Rep. Mark Foley checked himself into the Sierra Tucson Treatment Center in Arizona two days after he resigned from Congress in disgrace, ABC News has learned.
Lawyers for Foley confirm he's been an inpatient at the facility since Oct. 1.
Sierra Tucson advertises itself as a place where "pain is met with compassion, fear is met with reassurance, and anger is met with understanding." In addition to treating drug and alcohol abuse, it is "licensed to facilitate healing for psychiatric issues," including "Sexual Addiction/Compulsivity."
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/10/foley_checked_i.html
Foley is the ultimate sleaze. I hope he is put away for a long time.
It is particularly sickening that he turns in a priest who did exactly what he did, or tried to do, himself. Since he is quite willing to have this priest punished, which punishment has begun, I hope the law comes down on him as heavily as possible.
Advocate wrote:It is particularly sickening that he turns in a priest who did exactly what he did, or tried to do, himself.
Why is it "sickening," in your view?
Tico has a singular talent for asking about the obvious, and then when the obvious answer is provided, trying to pick it apart with semantics. Must be the lawyer training.
It is obvious what the person meant was sickening.
So, the priest sent him dirty emails when he was 17?
snood wrote:Tico has a singular talent for asking about the obvious, and then when the obvious answer is provided, trying to pick it apart with semantics. Must be the lawyer training.
It is obvious what the person meant was sickening.
Then you wouldn't think it would be too hard for him to articulate a response.
Foley turns in a priest accusing him of molesting him as a child, and Advocate thinks it's sickening. "
Particularly sickening," actually. I'd like to know why.
Perhaps you'd like to answer for him, since he refuses to answer. (And btw, Advocate refusing to answer a direct question .... what a shock.
)
It must be remembered that Studds got a dispensation from Clinton. Foley should have tried to get one from Bush but he knew that Bush wouldn't give him one. Since Clinton was being serviced by Flowers at the time, he could hardly have told Studds that he couldn't be in flagrante delecto with the 17 year old page. Poor Foley, he really should have contacted Studds for advice. But then Studds was a Democrat, wasn't he?
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Studds, 1st openly gay congressman, dies By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 14, 6:22 PM ET
BOSTON - Former Rep. Gerry Studds, who became the first openly gay member of Congress when his homosexuality was exposed during a teenage page sex scandal, died early Saturday. He was 69.
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Studds died at Boston Medical Center several days after he collapsed while walking his dog, his husband said. Doctors determined his loss of consciousness was due to a blood clot in his lung, Dean Hara said.
Studds regained consciousness and seemed to be improving, but his condition deteriorated Friday because of a second blood clot. The origin of the second clot was not immediately determined, said Hara, who married Studds shortly after same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts in 2004.
Hara said Studds gave courage to gay people by winning re-election after publicly acknowledging his homosexuality.
"He gave people of his generation, of my generation, of future generations, the courage to do whatever they wanted to do," said Hara, 49.
Studds was first elected in 1972 and represented Cape Cod and the Islands, New Bedford, and the South Shore for 12 Congressional terms. He retired from Congress in 1997.
In his early career, Studds was known for opposing the Vietnam War and military intervention in Central America. Studds later became an advocate for a stronger federal response to the AIDS crisis and was among the first members of Congress to endorse lifting the ban on gays serving in the military.
In 1983, Studds acknowledged his homosexuality after a 27-year-old man disclosed that he and Studds had had a sexual relationship a decade earlier when the man was a teenage congressional page.
The House of Representatives censured Studds, who then went home to face his constituents in a series of public meetings.
At the time, Studds called the relationship with the teenage page, which included a trip to Europe, "a very serious error in judgment." But he did not apologize and defended the relationship as a consensual relationship with a young adult. The former page later appeared publicly with Studds in support of him.
The scandal recently resurfaced when Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., resigned after exchanging sexually explicit instant messages with a page. Republicans accused Democrats of hypocrisy for savaging Foley while saying little about Studds at that time.
Hara said Studds was never ashamed of the relationship with the page.
"This young man knew what he was doing," Hara said. "He was at (Studds') side."
Studds told his colleagues in a speech on the floor of the House that everyone faces a daily challenge of balancing public and private lives.
"These challenges are made substantially more complex when one is, as am I, both an elected public official and gay," Studds said at the time.
In Congress, Studds was an outspoken advocate for the fishing industry and was hailed by his constituents for his work establishing a limit for foreign fishing vessels 200 miles from the coast. After leaving Congress, he became a lobbyist for the fishing industry and environmental causes.
"His work on behalf of our fishing industry and the protection of our waters has guided the fishing industry into the future and ensured that generations to come will have the opportunity to love and learn from the sea," Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., said in a statement. "He was a steward of the oceans."
In 1996, Congress named the 842-square-mile Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary after him in recognition of his work protecting the marine environment.
In addition to Hara, Studds is survived by a brother, a sister and four nephews.
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Studds, 1st openly gay congressman, dies By JAY LINDSAY, Associated Press Writer
Sat Oct 14, 6:22 PM ET
BOSTON - Former Rep. Gerry Studds, who became the first openly gay member of Congress when his homosexuality was exposed during a teenage page sex scandal, died early Saturday. He was 69.
ADVERTISEMENT
Studds died at Boston Medical Center several days after he collapsed while walking his dog, his husband said. Doctors determined his loss of consciousness was due to a blood clot in his lung, Dean Hara said.
Studds regained consciousness and seemed to be improving, but his condition deteriorated Friday because of a second blood clot. The origin of the second clot was not immediately determined, said Hara, who married Studds shortly after same-sex marriage was legalized in Massachusetts in 2004.
Hara said Studds gave courage to gay people by winning re-election after publicly acknowledging his homosexuality.
"He gave people of his generation, of my generation, of future generations, the courage to do whatever they wanted to do," said Hara, 49.
Studds was first elected in 1972 and represented Cape Cod and the Islands, New Bedford, and the South Shore for 12 Congressional terms. He retired from Congress in 1997.
In his early career, Studds was known for opposing the Vietnam War and military intervention in Central America. Studds later became an advocate for a stronger federal response to the AIDS crisis and was among the first members of Congress to endorse lifting the ban on gays serving in the military.
The House of Representatives censured Studds, who then went home to face his constituents in a series of public meetings.
At the time, Studds called the relationship with the teenage page, which included a trip to Europe, "a very serious error in judgment." But he did not apologize and defended the relationship as a consensual relationship with a young adult. The former page later appeared publicly with Studds in support of him.
The scandal recently resurfaced when Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., resigned after exchanging sexually explicit instant messages with a page. Republicans accused Democrats of hypocrisy for savaging Foley while saying little about Studds at that time.
Hara said Studds was never ashamed of the relationship with the page.
"This young man knew what he was doing," Hara said. "He was at (Studds') side."
Studds told his colleagues in a speech on the floor of the House that everyone faces a daily challenge of balancing public and private lives.
"These challenges are made substantially more complex when one is, as am I, both an elected public official and gay," Studds said at the time.
In Congress, Studds was an outspoken advocate for the fishing industry and was hailed by his constituents for his work establishing a limit for foreign fishing vessels 200 miles from the coast. After leaving Congress, he became a lobbyist for the fishing industry and environmental causes.
"His work on behalf of our fishing industry and the protection of our waters has guided the fishing industry into the future and ensured that generations to come will have the opportunity to love and learn from the sea," Sen. Edward Kennedy (news, bio, voting record), D-Mass., said in a statement. "He was a steward of the oceans."
In 1996, Congress named the 842-square-mile Gerry E. Studds Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary after him in recognition of his work protecting the marine environment.
In addition to Hara, Studds is survived by a brother, a sister and four nephews.
Madison, you said that Clinton gave Studds dispensation. How did Clinton do this? Do you have any mainstream support for this assertion?
