What?! Are you crazy? The Republicans are on the run with the Foley PageGate Scandal. Yes they are running, but not in the way that most think. Now don't get me wrong. This PageGate scandal is a terrible thing for the Republicans and may help the Democrats but there is a wonderful side benefit for the Republican Party because the issue has diverted attention from the bleeding issue of our nation - IRAQ.
Markos is right, the Republican leadership did not take action against Foley for political reasons last year. Now they get lemmons but it is lemonade for the President. State of Denial - the Woodward book that confirms what we have known for years and that the MSM has averted their eyes from is that IRAQ is a quagmire. This is still the big issue and the one we should remind voters of CONSTANTLY!
Republicans shake off scandal better than my dog shakes off water after swimming. Abrahoff and the lobbyist scandal now tags the Whitehose and we are talking about PageGate. July 10, 2003 Tennet warns Condi Rice about the Al Qida threat according to Woodward. Epic negligence! But we are talking about PageGate. MSM has taken to this issue gladly because it does not infect the President and in fact diverts attention from Bush and his failures of leadership.
The National Intelligence Estimate reports of increasing terroist risk and violence in IRAQ, while our national (mis)leader sounds optimistic and makes claims of progress, justifying his stay the course (non)policy. But Foley watch is about his newly admitted alcohol problems. It is the new focus - and still 20 to 25 Americans are killed weekly and uncounted wounded in IRAQ.
Our national debt soars and the expenditure of the ongoing conflict are expected to grow beyond TWO BILLION DOLLARS weekly, a number completely unfathomable. But Foley watch has us looking at what the leadership knew and when about emails. It is so much easier for the MSM to address this problem becuase they belive that that IRAQ is "over-reported" and there is nothing new here so just move along.
Al Zwahiri issues a new threat tape against the United States and we are concerned about Mark Foley's illegal and improper email about the penis length of high school aged boys. Oh yeah, in case American's have forgotten, Bin Laden is still at large, too! Besides there is no time for this issue because Anna Nicole Smith illegally married her lawyer and father of her new baby. Who the hell is Anna Nicole Smith?!
Even George Felix Allen must be happy that PageGate has replaced Maccaca as the new scandal so that he might have some breathing room from the front page! The Foley issue was even raisedin the MTP Brown DeWine debate this week-end. Nothing could have made Senator DeWine happier so as to not address the real issues.
PageGate and the meaningless Mark Foley are like a sponge to all the bad the makes up the Republican Party. The sponge is soaking up the coverage - providing COVER for the imbeciles and incompetents now leading our Country. The REAL ISSUES are gone from public thought and consideration.
Again, Foley is a creep and pedophile. I am happy that it happened to them and their sanctimonious posturing on family values. Yet 10's of thousands of families are impacted by the ongong scandal of the IRAQ War. If the PageGate issue can yield a political return for us - fine. But it appears that the Republican leaders are going to start to claim that they cleaned their own problems. They get to condemn and maintain sactimonious speech. They will dodge, with the help of their MSM partners, the cover-up charges as easily as Bush and Cheney have on the Plamegate issue.
We must be the voice for the other issues and not the echo chamber for useless issue de jour. We are not that desperate for issues. Besides, after November 7, 2006 the Foley issue will be worthless to advancing our cause. But IRAQ will still be there and bleeding.