I pride myself in avoiding tit-for-tat debates. That's because the tits and tats are rarely directly comparable and the discussion most often results in irrelevant blather (see the mock debates endlessly staged on cable news). So it is with some reluctance that I post this diary. However, the GOP shrill-shill machine's relentless "yeah, but what about Studds, Frank, Kennedy, et al" has prompted some old memories. Read on...
Back in 1990, Rep. Buz Lukens (R-OH) was convicted on charges of soliciting and paying for sex with a 16-year old girl. It was kind of slam dunk, being as how a Columbus television station had tape of the solicitation.
It was the scandal de jour at the time, I remember well because I was a House Committee staffer back in those days.
To be perfectly fair, the GOP urged his resignation, but they did not insist on it. Thus, Buz the predator was free to roam the halls of congress.
Can anyone guess what happened after the convicted child sex predator was convicted and allowed to retain his rank and privilege? The creep menaced and fondled an underage female House elevator operator!
At this point, all Hell broke loose and only then--nearly a year after his conviction and roughly two years after the videotape of the solicitation appeared--did the GOP Caucus sufficiently pressure him to resign.
Here is what the 10/25/1990 NYT said about it:
"Congressional officials said that House Republican leaders, including Representative Robert H. Michel of Illinois, had urged Mr. Lukens to resign or face the possibility of being expelled, which would result in the loss of his Congressional pension."
Wow, that's harsh. Attack underage girls, have your pension revoked.
Now, if that isn't ironic enough, do you know who defeated him in the GOP primary in 1990? Back to the Times archive (5/9/1990):
"With 99 percent of the vote counted, Representative John Boehner appeared to be the certain winner with 24,978 votes or 49 percent."
Thats right boys and girls. Now Majority Leader John Boehner first won his seat by defeating a GOP incumbent that had been convicted of having sex with a minor, but was not forced to resign. (I think it would be very useful to examine Boehner's speeches from that 1990 primary campaign to see what he had to say about the GOP leadership and that sordid mess at the time. I have no idea whether it would show any inconsistencies or not--but it would be interesting.)
So the moral of my story is this, the next time Coulter, Hannity, and their ilk start playing the intellectually bereft game of saying the Dems' deeds are worse than the GOP's, ask them why the GOP caucus didn't demand Luken's resignation the minute he was convicted. The man literally struck again and he did it inside the Capitol Complex.
Now, I feel the need for a long, hot shower. This is disgusting stuff.