There is some "questioning of the timing" of the release of the emails
...
Levin thinks that this news was released to coincide with the political election cycle

The timing is due to the Republicans covering up this scandal until it couldn't be hidden any more. If the House leadership had been the "first to call [him] out on it" when they found out about it 10 to 11 months ago, the election cycle wouldn't be an issue.

I agree with Sister Toldjah: good riddance to him!

Apparently the more explicit and egregious stuff wasn't sent through email, but via IM. Some people are evidently under the impression that because they don't save their own chats, no one else can. Good thing, though, since it got Foley caught.

There isn't really a double standard for scandals, except for the different standards the parties place upon themselves. Republicans demand a higher moral standard, and swiftly punish those who are caught violating it. Democrats seem to care about nothing but power. Sex or drug scandals don't make them blink; they don't even think you should lose your committee seat for being videotaped taking a bribe or be stigmatized by celebrating a cop-killer like "Mumia;" one suspects official corruption would get a full pass if it didn't play so badly with swing voters.

barney frank is not a pedophile. i know you dont understand the difference you are from the gop (gay old pedophiles)

how can you say good riddance? all conservatives are gay perverts or eunics like Bush. If a GOP member says i did not have sex with that woman, I believe hime because you are all faggots.

the main issue know is that we know denny hastert knew about it for years. How many other gop pedophiles suppressed the crimes of mark foley?

i guess well have to watch ABC to find out. payback is a bitch. wait until you are back in the minority. you are finished right wing penis suckers.

I suppose the numbskull didn't think to pull a properly executed DeLay and hand the seat to another R before the proverbial manure hit the fan?

Whatta putz!

GOP = Gross Old Perverts
I wish I would have thought up this TLA, to be honest I stoll it from a left wing site.

Barney Frank's live-in's prostitution ring involved gay adults. Plust barney could claim he didn't have a hand in it, directly. Ha ha.

There isn't really a double standard for scandals, except for the different standards the parties place upon themselves. Republicans demand a higher moral standard, and swiftly punish those who are caught violating it.

Excuse me? Go read this again. Then tell us how "swiftly" the House leadership acted when they found out about this scandal almost a year ago.

Oh, and go tell these people about the "higher moral standard" Republicans demand. Apparently they haven't heard about it.

Brian ~ I should have specified, Republican VOTERS would swiftly punish violators.

GOP leadership in Congress is barely more moral than, well, Democrats. It is the rank and file which enforce - SWIFTLY - electoral retribution upon those they find morally bankrupt, unlike the Democratic rank and file, who are a bunch of people like . . . well, like you, I guess, eh?

:-P

And you're basing that comment on... well, nothing. The voters didn't have a chance to dump Foley, because the Republican leadership colluded to conceal the situation from them. So all we can go on is the actions of, not random low-level legislators, but the leadership of the House. Hastert knew , and did nothing. The Republican chairman of the House Page Board knew , concealed it from the Democrats on the board, and did nothing. And then he consulted with Hastert before making his statement. And your rebuttal is to arbitrarily claim moral superiority over Democrats because of... what? Any Democrats here?

It's amazing the dissociation you go through to baselessly try to ascribe any decency to those who claim to protect children and commit despicable acts against them, those who knew and did nothing, and those who actively concealed it. I assume your "swift" actors will immediately call for the termination of Shimkus, and then bring "electoral retribution" upon Hastert? Oh, probably not.

And let's not forget...

At least four Republican House Members, one senior GOP aide and a former top officer of the House were aware of the allegations about Foley that prompted the initial reporting regarding his e-mail contacts with a 16-year-old House page. They include: Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) and Reps. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.), as well as a senior aide to Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and former Clerk of the House Jeff Trandahl.

How "swift" will retribution be against these scumbags? For elected officials, we'll find out Nov. 7. But others can be fired right now. How many of those who knew and concealed this have been fired? I count... none. How many will you even denounce as scumbags? Again, I count... none. In fact, you seem to be unable to notice the "R" next to each of those names, and instead, your response to this wholly Republican scandal is to call Democrats scumbags. Transparently desperate, and pitiful.

was watching the hearings on online child protection. I asked my son which one of the congresman would be the first to get cought at this..low and behold look at the rat...my dad used to say where you see one rat there are fifty others you dont see.

My dad used to say..."For every rat you see, there are fifty you dont see"
If they had knowledge of this and did nothing they should resign.