Sunday, October 08, 2006

...Foleygate.

This is getting ridiculous. No matter what news channel I turn to or log on to, I see stories about Foley. Ok. We get it. He made many reprehensible approaches to House pages. I cannot and will never, ever condone what he did. High-school aged pages? For Christ's sake, even I (self-admitted pervert that I am) limit my lustful objectification to college age, preferably beyond the age of stupid high-school fantasies (which varies widely but averages 22-23 :P); but if not and still willing, ok for a night. We are much better off with his resignation.

So what do we get when he resigns? A flood of news broadcasts with "new revelations" that ultimately don't mean shit since they only consist of, "Foley approached me too!!" hysteria or just build upon him being a teen predator. We know. He approached more than one. They were teens when he did it. The whole freakin world recognizes that. What we really need are real news reports on who knew and when and why nothing was done prior to this if something of substance was actually known, not this "he said-she said" political bullshit. What we need are news reports on who sat on this information (ABC, perhaps?) and potentially endangered many more pages so they could unleash a "political bombshell." Hell, with the way the media actually investigates things these days, I'm tempted to submit myself as a "Foley-victim™" and watch it get "reported" as fact along with the "fact" that I personally forwarded everything to Hastert. With the way real info is trickling out thanks to the blogosphere, I'd not be surprised to see some ABC editors get indicted for "Conspiracy to commit..." charges.

As far as anyone can tell by the mismatched "facts" being reported, Hastert both knew and didn't know about Foley. Well, which is it? Isn't it a journalist's job to get to the bottom of something before reporting conjecture as fact? Isn't it a journalist's ethical duty to report to authorities suspected crimes while still protecting their source's identity?

BREAKING NEWS: hey, mass media...Americans aren't stupid no matter what you might like to think. Granted, some are, but most are not. We want real news™, and not some bullshit political stunt concealed as journalism.

Everyone in the country should be happy that Foley resigned. We don't need people of that ilk making laws/policy for us. However, a pre-emptive crucifixion of someone who probablly didn't know the full story is a bunch of shit; and the bulk of America realizes that. Picture this: you're a business owner for a multi-billion dollar business. Your "assistant/aide/secretary" reports a potential sexual harrassment situation to you. Isn't the natural inclination to say, "deal with it if you can; If you can't, come get me?" How many corporate business owners involve themselves in the minutia of every single branch and/or store of their business? Easy answer. None. They rely on the people they hire (and more importantly what those people report to them) to reliably take care of the day-to-day crap and enforce the rules while they focus on moving the entire business forward. Everything I've seen so far falls into line with this. Hastert seemingly was informed of a potential problem and was then told it was taken care of (by his trusted "assistant/aide/secretary"); and no legal action developed, so he promptly forgot about it. Not worth wasting any more brain power on. Done deal, right? You'd think.

Don't get me wrong, here. If it turns out that Hastert knew about the sexually explicit, potentially illegal crap that was spewing from Foley's computer; his political career should be hung by the neck from the top of the Capitol Building. If not, simply shut up. The political destination of this nation is not in the hands of the media. It's in the hands (and the hearts) of every-day Americans like me who say, "if he's a criminal, prosecute; if not, leave him alone."

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...horrible political campaigns.

It sickens me to my soul when one of the two main political parties resorts to attacks on the opposing party by citing the actions of one man, or resorts to the "anyone but..." rhetoric that is utterly rampant in the campaign ads here in CT. Especially since the Republican ads that are, truthfully, smear campaigns at least address basic issues. Republican: he/she is going to raise your taxes. Democrat: yeah, but he/she supports Bush!!

Wake-up call...it makes me NOT want to vote Democrat, and I'm registered as unaffiliated. I vote for people based on their perceived merit gleaned from what platform they are pushing or by their character if I know them. Democrats, your political ads do more to push average people (with real minds of their own) away from you than anything your opponents will ever advertise. We have a constant barrage of temper tantrums that only sway one sort of people...the base that will vote your way no matter what. I'm increasingly coming to the conclusion that if I want this country to be run by spoiled brats, I'll vote Democrat. "Anyone but Bush," my ass. Provide a worthy candidate with real goals on real issues and I'll start listening. At least the President does what he says. Who among you can do the same and follow through? Seriously. Who? Show me one and I'll at least listen to him. This also goes for the Republicans in the future as well. No cry-baby ads. State your position on real issues. Let the chips (votes) fall as they may.

Oh, Ned Lamont, you can kiss my vote goodbye since you decided to air the commercial of a person reading out the names of the deceased Americans from CT who fought and fell in Iraq/Afghanistan for your "right" to use their ultimate sacrifice as a baseball bat to try to bludgeon your opponent with when you have no real platform. "I'm Ned Lamont, and I approved this message." Well, good. "I'm a concerned citizen, and I approved this middle finger." Or if it's a "National committee" sponsoring the ad, replace it with "The Concerned American National Committee sponsored this middle finger." ( I want coinage rights to those sayings if they ever take off) By the way, Ned...you forgot to list the other hundreds of thousands of American dead who died long before 9/11 who guaranteed your right to spew your colon/rectal region from your mouth.

Those people in uniform are confronting the enemy on foreign shores so you don't have to. And I'm ever so thankful for that (only God and you know what you'd cough up to avoid personal conflict). They are fighting a foreign war in which a President finally had enough cojones (does that get me the Hispanic vote?) to say "ENOUGH AMERICAN DEATHS," so that you (the great and powerful and awesome multi-millionaire that benefitted from Republican-sponsored tax breaks) don't have to whine about me (the great and powerful and awesome "lower-class-aspiring-to-a-stable-middle-class" scum [sensible person] who actually served) carrying a gun with me whenever I leave my house, or whine about bombs blowing up the natural gas storage tanks in New Haven. Honest...I don't even have a gun. I only took the SDS (Self Defense Stick) with me once when I took a walk in the early morning. Really, Occifer! I didn't realize that it was the law that self defence is illegal. Really! Judge tell him!.

Smarmy doesn't even come close to this political hack. He has a single-issue platform..."Bring our troops home." Ok, Mr. Lamont...say we do. Who will scream the loudest in 4 years when the military is patrolling every street in every city and busting down doors here at home? Who will scream the loudest when a curfew for public safety is declared here at home? I can admire your zeal to protect our troops, but you've lost sight of two very vital issues...they are protecting our way of life by confronting those most Americans view as our enemies on their own turf, and they all volunteered to do so. They certainly do not need some smarmy, self-important upstart such as yourself "speaking for them."

The troops may not (and I may not) agree with the current "strategy," but fighting this war beyond our borders is paramount to our society; and your attempted political distortions utterly enrage me. I'm sure there are at least one or two friends of those named in your ad who would happily punch you right in the mouth for your bullshit. Really, Occifer...he had it coming.

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