Put on the hip waders kids,it's getting deep

Something's bugging me about this whole Mark Foley business. Ok,alot of things,but this one thing really stands out.

People knew this guy was doing this. Knew about it as early as possibly 1995. And in all that time, not one person got law enforcement involved. Now I don't know about you,but if this was my kid being hit on by an adult, I would have raised all manner of Hell about it. Staffers(adults themselves)warned these kids about Foley and his"overly friendly"ways. Capitol Hill is like a small town,everyone knows everyone,and at least knows some of each other's business. And no one came forward til this year? Something stinks here,and it ain't just Foley.

Which leads me to believe a few key points.

First off,I'd like to know how much money,hush money,has been doled out of GOP coffers to buy silence. Someone's been either paid off and/or threatened,probably many Someones. Sexual predators cannot operate without silence and fear. I also have to wonder how many boys went to someone with this and were given shit for being "teh Gay".

Second,this HAS to go well beyond Mark Foley. Foley wasn't a bigwig on the Hill,he was a backbencher,not well known outside his district and the people who worked with him. He didn't do the talk show circuit, wasn't all over conservative radio, wasn't a big name of the GOP brand. So why all the tapdancing and covering up? They could have forced his resignation and no one outside his district and immediate circles would have batted an eyelash. They could have got way out in front of this one and even used it to their advantage with the"family values voters". With all their money and their big PR firms,spinning this to make themselves look good,heroic even,would have been easy.

In the last few years,we've heard,over and over, how if you have nothing to hide,you shouldn't worry about little things like having your phone tapped,"free speech zones",no fly lists,and your basic civil rights being undermined and destroyed. The GOP has insisted that only "evildoers"would kick up a fuss about anything like that. Well,then I wanna know who else is being protected here. I'd bet my last dollar that Foley is no"bad apple",he's one apple in a big pot of rotten,stinky,disgusting applesauce. If the party of "moral values" has nothing to hide,then why are they hiding so much? I want to know the answer to that question.

Update: Randi Rhodes will be interviewing...holy crap!.... Jeff Gannon, today on her show in the 5pm hour of her show. Oh man,this is going to be interesting.