Old Fogey's Quotes on the Foley Follies

Just a symptom of a larger disease infecting our government

"The speaker is hearing from [GOP] members that we're all in this together."
A source close to Hastert, regarding the Foley scandal
Lawyer Cites Alcohol, Childhood Abuse
[Let's hope the American people come to the same conclusion and vote the slimy bastards out! Oh, my what a nasty thing for a sweet little old lady like me to say. These guys bring out the worst in me and in the nation]

"Speaker Dennis Hastert presides over a legislative body so infested with mistrust that it doesn't even have a functioning ethics committee. Since the House is incapable of washing its own dirty laundry and policing itself, the speaker has to turn over that responsibility to the attorney general and the executive branch of government."
Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University and former member of the administrations of Johnson and Carter
When the House Could Clean Itself
[As a retired history professor, I predict that a major part of the Bush legacy will be the efforts at dismantling all oversight functions of government for partisan advantage. These clowns have been more concerned with the future of their party than the future of the nation]

"How about building a 700-foot fence around all Republican members of Congress?"
Harold Meyerson in WaPo editorial that makes the same point as I did above
Dumping Denny Won't Do It
[I kinda like applying the other part of the Republican immigration policy--deport these people back to where they came from]

"We're going to do them all."
Hastert aide Ron Bonjean, regarding Hastert's appearances on conservative talk shows to bolster his support
A Few Conservative Voices Still Speak for the Speaker
[How did these crackpots actually get the power to make or break a speaker?]

“It doesn’t change anything. In a way it makes it worse. A person who knows they have a problem and spends all those years covering it up, who leads a double life and allows themselves to be a leader of a community when their life is completely hypocritical, is worse.”
Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the Palm Beach County GOP
Lawyer Says Foley Was Sexually Abused
[What do you expect of a guy who runs into treatment as a haven from the media?]