Just when you thought it couldn't get better: 3rd Congressman refutes Hasterts denial

[buttmunch]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A third figure in the page scandal threatening to envelop House Speaker Dennis Hastert suggested Wednesday the speaker knew of an inappropriate e-mail that Rep. Mark Foley sent to a Louisiana boy before the matter became public.

Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., the congressman who sponsored the page at the heart of the furor, said Hastert "knew about the e-mails that we knew about," including one in which Foley asked the page to send his picture.

The speaker has said he was not aware of the e-mails when they were discussed with his staff. The No. 2 House Republican, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, and House GOP campaign chairman Rep. Tom Reynolds of New York, said they had spoken with Hastert about a complaint concerning a former page from Louisiana last spring, after Alexander told them about it.

Hastert position unchanged
Hastert's position did not change after Alexander's comments. "The speaker's staff knew about this; the speaker didn't," said his spokesman, Ron Bonjean.

Alexander asserted on Fox News that Hastert's knowledge was limited to e-mails that made the page uncomfortable -- not the salacious instant messages Foley is reported to have made to pages. "Speaker Hastert is a good man," he said. "He is a good leader. And I think he would personally break the neck of anybody he thought was trying to sexually abuse a young man or woman."

The chairmen of two coalitions of social and fiscal conservatives in Congress rallied behind Hastert as some other conservatives demanded he step down. "Speaker Hastert is a man of integrity," Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., and Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., said in a joint statement. "Speaker Dennis Hastert should not resign."


Capital case
On the federal investigation into Foley's communications with teenagers in the congressional page program, acting U.S. Attorney Jeff Taylor for the District of Columbia told Hill officials to "preserve all records" related to the matter, according to a Justice Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

It was not immediately clear when Taylor's letter to Hill officials was sent or to whom.

Foley, of Florida, resigned his House seat after the e-mails and reports of the instant messages were exposed, and checked into an alcohol rehabilitation center. The ensuing uproar has engulfed Republicans who were already at risk at losing control of Congress in elections five weeks away.

Should he stay or should he go?
Conservatives debated whether Hastert should resign over his handling of the matter.

Activist Richard A. Viguerie was among those who called for Hastert to step down. "The fact that they just walked away from this, it sounds like they were trying to protect one of their own members rather than these young boys," Viguerie said on Fox News.

Asked by talk-show host Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday whether he would quit, Hastert said, "I'm not going to do that."

Hastert says he first heard details of the Foley matter Friday after the story came out. Yet he has not specifically disputed Reynolds's comment that he raised the subject with the speaker much earlier.

Even while coming to Hastert's defense, Alexander also indicated the speaker knew of the nature of e-mails that the page reported to his parents. The parents asked to have Foley's contacts stop but apparently did not want to pursue the matter further.

Hastert "only knew about the e-mails that we knew about," Alexander said, citing from one of them: "Can I have a picture of you?"

President Bush, speaking at a Stockton, Calif., elementary school on Tuesday, said he was disgusted by the Foley revelations and voiced support for Hastert.

"I know that he wants all the facts to come out," the president said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15129898/

Like Grimm said on another thread: this is a real 'heck of a job, Brownie' moment. It's like the Godfather's kiss of death, eh?

[Grimmlok]

AHAHAHA theyre totally eating their own!

So either SOME repukes have a shred of decency left, or theyre looking out for their own hides.

I'm opting for the latter.

[buttmunch]

Grimm, can you come up with a nice little visual/pictorial of the GOP eating thier own? I know you have it in you to create a masterpiece. And as far as some repugs have a sence of decency, I imagine they're out there somewhere and maybe, just maybe the few that there are will do the right thing. Actually, even if it's a self-serving move, I hope they expose everyone of the bastards who knew about this and did nothing.

[PaintTheTownRed]

Fat bastard will cling on to as long as he can. Whether he stays or goes, he's done too little too late. He's toast.

[Grimmlok]

Yeah, but how many fall guys are going to fall to prevent the leadership from truly crumbling?

How far will this go, i wonder.

[buttmunch]

Well, I think he's up for mid-term re-election so maybe he'll be gone in a month anyway. Now, Grimm, about that nice little visual aid of repugs eating their own.

[Grimmlok]

Im still working on steve irwin getting buttfucked by a baby seal in a graveyard!

[buttmunch]

Steve Irwin is old news. Keep up with the times, boy! You know you can do it...now get back to work *cracks whip...hard*

[Grimmlok]

Hey, im not even working with photoshop, i have some crappy trial version of a picture editor!

[buttmunch]

*weeps at the thought that Grimm cannot rise to the occasion* I thought I could count on yoooooouuuuuuuu!!!

[Grimmlok]

It just takes longer! You should be praising my skills, i'm trying to make good pictures with a tool equivalent to a hammer and chisel!

[buttmunch]

It just takes longer! You should be praising my skills, i'm trying to make good pictures with a tool equivalent to a hammer and chisel!

*gently puts down whip and reaches out to a Grimm in need*

Alright, big guy, just simmer down. And after you do that, pick up that goddamned chisel and that goddamned hammer, start working on that tablet and bring the damn thing down from the mountain top pronto!

*picks up whip and lovingly caresses it*