The conspiracy grows, as does the number of years the Republicans knew about this scandal.
Oh, and the Washington Post decided to mention the GOP lie about Democrats being possibly behind the scandal. Do you think the Post bothered mentioning that ABC and a number of other news outlets in town have said that they got the creepy Foley emails from Republicans and NOT Democrats? Would you like to buy a bridge?
Sure, the Post quotes a Republican saying we did it, and a Democrat saying no we didn't. Uh, there's no evidence that the Dems did anything - why is the Post even publishing this crap, let alone not stating the actual known facts in this case, that the media has already said they got the emails from Republicans?
From the Washington Post:
Another Republican congressman knew of disgraced former representative Mark Foley's inappropriate Internet exchanges as far back as 2000 and personally confronted Foley about his communications.Obviously it's interesting that Kolbe is openly gay. Though that simply means he'd have a reason for being close to Foley - they shared a common bond. One thing does bother me, however. The Post reports that Kolbe had a close relationship with the pages, and talks about him inviting them to use his DC home when he is out of town. Clearly the Post is trying to imply something here, or there's no reason to print the information.
A spokeswoman for Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) confirmed yesterday that a former page showed the congressman Internet messages that had made the youth feel uncomfortable with the direction Foley (R-Fla.) was taking their e-mail relationship. Last week, when the Foley matter erupted, a Kolbe staff member suggested to the former page that he take the matter to the clerk of the House, Karen Haas, said Kolbe's press secretary, Korenna Cline.
The revelation pushes back by at least five years the date when a member of Congress has acknowledged learning of Foley's questionable behavior. A timeline issued by House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) suggested that the first lawmakers to know, Rep. John M. Shimkus (R-Ill.), the chairman of the House Page Board, and Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.), became aware of "over-friendly" e-mails only last fall. It also expands the universe of players in the drama beyond members, either in leadership or on the page board.
To my eyes, the Post is suggesting that because Kolbe has an unusually close relationship with pages, he may be stalking young kids as well. If the Post has something on Kolbe, then print it. Innuendo doesn't seem terribly appropriate when, at least from what the Post reported in this article, for all we know Kolbe may simply be a nice guy who lends his house out when he's OUT of town.
Then again, the Post may be following Denny Hastert's new rule of journalism: If you don't print an allegation the second you hear of it, even if it's not totally confirmed and you haven't yet done your due diligence, the Republicans will accuse you of illegally withholding evidence and harming children. Better to slander now than prove later.
