Paging Mr. Starr (No Pun Intended)...Paging Mr. Kenneth Starr?
Now that the Republicans have a sexual scandal of their own (involving homosexual undertones and the stalking of underage teen boys at that), do you suppose anyone will ask independent counsel Kenneth Starr to come back and dig the dirt all over again? Friday's abrupt resignation of Florida Congressman Mark Foley came as the result of the discovery of inappropriate instant messages and e-mails sent by Foley to 16- and 17-year-old high school boys who were part of the House Page Program. (Starr was the attorney who investigated the affair of former President Bill Clinton and intern Monica Lewinsky).
Foley chaired a caucus on missing and exploited children and helped write federal law that govern the kind of behavior he's now alleged to have taken part in. Off the Cuff blogger has some biting insights into the so-called political party of "morals and values." Then there's this no-big-deal defense from the GOP-leaning PowerLine blog. Other GOP leaders, some of whom knew of Foley's behavior a full year ago, are now being scrutinized too, including speaker Rep. Dennis Hastert and Rep. John Shimkus, head of the page program.
Maybe the runup-to-the-election question isn't which party can best protect Americans from terrorists...but which party can best protect Americans from its own Congress?
Posted by Sue MacDonald at October 2, 2006 09:42 AM
