One more time I'm going to give this a shot; maybe I didn't make myself clear enough the first time.
If that hypocritical dipsh*t Brent Bozell can muster 90,000 angry parents calling the FCC about Janet Jackson's breast, we can surely muster MORE firepower to provide real protections to our children's safety. The Republicans actually booed a mother-grandmother and fellow House member Nancy Pelosi for asking for a counted voted to support a bi-partisan investigation; Boehner actively thwarted an investigation by asking for voice vote on a different resolution that only referred the Foley matter to the House Ethics Committee (and we know what a flaming joke that Committee is).
At what point will we see Boehner's and Hastert's actions for what they are: obstruction of justice?
Let's make sure the House Republicans understand that this attitude and behavior is completely unacceptable, that they cannot continue with business as usual, putting children at risk and insulting parents' representatives who ask them to do an adequate job of oversight. Action Items below the jump.
CALL OR FAX THE HOUSE LEADERS AND ETHICS COMMITTEE MEMBERS and ask them to establish a BI-PARTISAN investigation committee IMMEDIATELY to investigate the facts behind Rep. Mark Foley's conduct and House Leadership's response. Nothing less will do since Republicans have already covered up this scandal.
* ACTION ITEMS *
- Tell them you want a BI-PARTISAN investigation of Representative Foley's conduct and the House leadership's response, that a referral to the House Ethics Committee is grossly inadequate, and that recalling the House for a special vote for this purpose is expected;
- Tell them you demand the investigation include the response of the House Leadership to this matter, and that all results of the investigation made public (save for the identities of the pages affected);
- Tell them you demand corrective and punitive actions outlined and detailed within 10 DAYS in public and all actions taken within 30 DAYS (November 1, if you like, but be specific about a deadline);
- Tell them you want legislation under the 110th Congress requiring any and all entities providing databases on children for the purposes of assisting law enforcement to require security auditing and all persons affiliated with their organization to have background checks. (That includes the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.)
Your list of contacts:
House Leader John Boehner
House Speaker Dennis Hastert
House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics Committee)
Republicans Put the pressure on the Republican members
* Doc Hastings, Washington, Chairman
* Judy Biggert, Illinois
* Lamar Smith, Texas
* Melissa Hart, Pennsylvania
* Tom Cole, Oklahoma
Democrats
* Howard Berman, California, Ranking Minority Member
* Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Ohio
* Gene Green, Texas
* Lucille Roybal-Allard, California
* Michael F. Doyle, Pennsylvania
You can find all necessary phone and fax numbers at: http://www.Congress.org
Lastly, send a Letter to the Editor in your Congressional District if you have a Republican Congressman. Demand the same from them, and ask them why they are not doing more to protect children from predators within their ranks. You can use the Media Guide at Congress.org to find contact information to send LTE's to the papers in your district.
We need to rain down a hailstorm on the folks that brought this mess upon us with a complete disregard for the defenseless ones.
If you were p*ssed off about torture, you should be just as p*ssed off about this. The kids involved had little recourse and were as ignored as the detainees in Gitmo, nor did they have the knowledge and maturity to defend themselves.
And as SusanG asks us in a front page diary, why is this less important than a single dead woman? Why can't we expect and demand an investigation into the treatment of living youngsters who work for us???