I don't know. The political judo the President has mastered seems to be the right move here. The democrats don't seem to be able to restrain themselves without the republicans pushing back. It seems it's easy to start a mob, but hard to stop one(before it's gone too far).

Will you get rid of those fershlugginer sun icons next to Foley's name? I accidentally move the mouse over them and suddenly that creep's photo is staring out at me. And unlike the ease in bringing forth that smiling ghoul, it takes multiple clicks exactly on the X to make him go away. (Sorta like this whole stupid pseudo-scandal, come to think of it.)

Raoul, Thanks for the laugh. I needed that 'bout now.

erp,

Let me depress you some more.

This pseudo-scandal has captured not only the attention of the media, but the electorate as well.

Prior to "Foleygate" Republican Negatives (scandal, lack of success in Iraq, etc.) where just floating around in the electorate's sub-conscious. Yeah, there were some troubles, but hey, the economy was OK, grown ups were in charge, and the Democrats certainly weren't going to improve things.

Post Foley, we have a juicy sex story to focus attention, near blatant lies by a intellectually braindead leadership, dribs and drabs of new salacious details to keep it fresh, and a party more interested in circling the wagons than addressing the issue - all with a media more than happy to goose the gas pedal.

Pre-Foley, I was predicting maintaining leadership in both houses for the Rs. Now, they will be lucky to keep the Senate.

The issue here was never Foley's sexuality, it was his behavior. The frightening fact is that he wanted to quit this year, and the moronic leadership of the "Party of Moral Values", in a craven attempt to keep a "safe seat," talked him into running again.

The party's one chance to make lemons out of this lemonade was to turn on Shimkus, Hastert and Reynolds, drive them out of their positions, and spend the last 4 weeks comparing Foley to Gerry Studds, Barney Frank & Teddy K.

By circling the wagons and hiding behind the cowardly "House Panel Inquiry," the Rs have sqaundered years of built up credibility on "moral issues."

The Republicans are toast, all because they were too cowardly to expose a gay Republican's behavior. One hopes they have the intellect to replace the entire leadership in January and start fresh.

Dukakis was right about one thing. The fish rots from the head down - which happens to be the direction even Bush's numbers are taking (curiously cooresponding with his support of the awful Hastert).

Bruno, I think you're far too pessimistic and I wasn't being facetious when I said Raoul made me laugh. His description of trying to close up the little sun popups was amusing.

Mark Steyn had a good pun in his column today, calling the current flap the "Foley Bergere." Sorry I'm too lazy to find the link.

DISGUSTING DEMOCRATS

They use foley's disgusting, but probably not "illlega,l" behavior as an "october surprise" but the scumbags could care less about their own sexfiends, like Klintonious the perverse. I just wish that their skeletons would ALL pop out of the closet at once. But unfortunately, even if they did, the MSM would only bury that event, ...again.

p.s., why isn't type key working?

The GOP is "toast" only because The Stupid Party always been reactionary when it comes to Dem dirty tricks and underhanded tactics. They are "toast" only because they let the Dems set the agenda. They are "toast" because they only use the power of the majority for trivia and self-aggrandizement (and behaving like the public face of the Dems when they were in power), instead of using it to actually get things done and to put the Dems down where they belong. They are "toast" only because the let the Dems and the Left get away with their lies and misreprentations. They are "toast" because they apologize for doing the right thing. They are "toast" because they still have not figured out that nothing they do will get The New York Times or CNN to say nice things about them. The are "toast" because they actually listen to people who think "the electorate" care about comparisons to twenty year old scandals. (The same people who every two years say they are so disgusted with some ginned up trivia that they'll never vote GOP ever again.)

They are not "toast" because of a clumsy, stupid homosexual congressman from Florida who let himself get set up by the gay double standard.

What would I do? Point out that the Dem's campaign motto for '006 seems to be "Vote Dem: We Make Better Sex Police". Then MoveOn™.

(Erp: Thanks, the point of my original posting was to comment by not commenting on the subject at hand, but some people are deteremined to be perpetually serious.)

erp,

As I've told OJ many times, I'll be happy if I'm wrong.

These arrogant scum have cost us the house, not because the right doesn't generally have better ideas, but because the leadership (Hastert ,Reynolds ,Shimkus, Boehner) wouldn't know an idea if it kicked them in their overfed guts.

Any rank amatuer could have predicted this, had they known the facts. OJ, Raoul, you or me, having been appraised of the situation, would have seen this a mile away, and blaming the Dems or the media is obscene.

I expect termites to eat my house, I don't expect Orkin to sell me down the river. The stupidest thing the stupid party does is support the leaders of their stupid party.

Absent selling their corrupt leadership down the river in the next 20 minutes, the Republicans are toast.

Bruno ... and I'll be happy to say, "I told you so."

"Foley case upets balance of gay Republicans"

Balance?. . .gay?