GOPers to Hastert: Cut the Conspiracy Chatter

[RedEarth]

On Wednesday night, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) spun tales of Democratic cabals and hidden agendas for the benefit of hungry reporters. Hastert told The Chicago Tribune that Clinton operatives knew about the allegations and were maybe behind the story's release. "I saw Bill Clinton's adviser, Richard Morris, was saying these guys knew about this all along," he said. "When the base finds out who's feeding this monster, they're not going to be happy.... The people who want to see this thing blow up are ABC News and a lot of Democratic operatives, people funded by George Soros."

But yesterday, when a reporter prodded Hastert to repeat the performance at his press conference, he said, "I only know what I've seen in the press and what I've heard. There's no ultimate, real source of information, but that's what I've read. And that's what I've heard in the press." Later, he said he believed that Democrats "don't have a story to tell. And maybe they're resolving to another way to -- to -- another political tactic."

What gives? Whither his grand conspiratorial suspicions? This morning's Tribune has the answer:

Comments that Hastert made in a Tribune interview suggesting the scandal had been orchestrated by ABC News, Democratic political operatives aligned with the Clinton White House and liberal activist George Soros were considered a serious misstep in national Republican circles, an official said. Senior Republican officials contacted Hastert's office before his news conference Thursday to urge that he not repeat the charges, and he backed away from them in his news conference.

"The Chicago Tribune interview last night--the George Soros defense--was viewed as incredibly inept," a national Republican official said. "It could have been written by Jon Stewart."

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/001740.php

[myrna minx]

1. "It could have been written by Jon Stewart."

:rofl:

[waiting for hope]

2. Better yet...

Stephen Colbert!

[Hugin]

8. What an inept assessment!

"It could have been *BETTER* written by Jon Stewart."

There, fixed. :)

[John Gauger]

17. Indeed

Plus Stewart and his colleagues would give a more comedic delivery.

[krkaufman]

28. They're really making work far too easy....

... for the writers of The Daily Show and Colbert Report.

[peacetalksforall]

38. New danger - Hastert has sent thousands of new people to

the Stewart and Colbert shows. They could become even hotter causing them 'to be approached' by one of the main corporate networks. If those on DU don't like seeing Republicans on TDS and don't like the politeness of Stewart to these people ... they won't have to worry - because the guests and the content could probably be taken over - sooner than later.

If you were an advisor on their careers, how would you advise them?

In the meantime, Hastert has done broad minded people a favor if they haven't watched the shows yet.

[Laurab]

51. I wouldn't worry about that

I believe both of them care far more for their country, and the freedom to say what they say, than they do about money. If in doubt, watch Jon on Crossfire (I think it was Crossfire?), where he called Tucker Carlson a "dick", and Stephen's WH Correspondents speech again. Jon's available on Youtube, and Colbert is on Google Video, if not youtube. They both care - passionately, about what's happening to the country.

IMO they would NEVER change to a format where they didn't have the freedom to do what they do, and it's doubtful either one would listen to anyone dangling money, but less freedom, in front of them. Hopefully they will get thousands of new people, though.

[civildisoBDence]

58. Last night Stewrt skewered Bush with a montage of the idiot talking

about his job. "My job is this, my job is that, my job is to make decisions, I make a lot of decisions, my job is to protect the American people," etc, etc. Then Stewart said sarcastically, "My job is my job"...followed by a clip of Bush saying, literally, "My job is my job."

Newsprism

[illinoisprogressive]

71. That was hilarious

I was rolling during that montage. It was classic.

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. Teehee!

[Tempest]

11. There's a bigger implication here

This indicates that the Grand Old Pedophile party watches The Daily Show and considers it a legitimate threat to them.

[myrna minx]

24. You just *know* they are terrified of the Jon Stewart. n/t

[baldguy]

41. WHY are they terrified of the Jon Stewart?

Because he tells the truth about them.

[The Wizard]

59. Why are the terrified of Jon Stewart?

Because he has a bigger market share than Pox News for that time slot.

[wicket]

33. Let me join you

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[johnnyrocket]

46. Yes, I truely laughed out loud on that one!!!

[aquart]

3. Jon Stewart doesn't do fiction. He works with facts.

[krkaufman]

29. Well, mostly.

Stewart's not perfect. Though he shouldn't be held to any "accuracy" standard, really, since his *is* a comedy show.

My most recent annoyance w/ Stewart was his fawning over Musharref, a military dictator who overthrew a democratically-elected government in 1999, just days after yet another dismissive treatment of Hugo Chavez, the democratically-(re)elected leader of Venezuela who also returned to power after a US-supported coup. Stewart, though very intelligent and knowledgable, does seem to suffer from conventional wisdom at times.

[Virginia Dare]

4. That's what you get...

when you elect a complete and utter idiot as "your leader". Denny was put up there to be Delay's patsy. Now that Delay is gone, nobody is minding the store. That is the store of lies and corruption. One thing you can't accuse Delay of is being stupid. Arrogant, creedy, corrupt and with out morals yes, but not stupid. Denny is going to fuck this one up bad, he's got mush for brains.

[Irreverend IX]

22. That's the problem with criminal conspiracies.

Sooner or later members of the group will be deposed, or compromised, or turned against the interests of the others, and then the whole thing comes down like a house of cards.

[RT_Fanatic]

32. Must be why Cheney said,

"I'm a huge Denny Hastert fan!"
:rofl:

[radfringe]

5. sadly though, unofficial sources had

disclosed that the George Soros - Bill Clinton connection conspiracy theory is the brain(less)child of Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh

[Cha]

37. bo & oyxviagrarush always

blame Soros..they're jealous as hell.

[Supersedeas]

60. O'Reilly and Limp-bod Blue Pill wanna blame Clenis--no way

[Stand and Fight]

6. I'm loving it...

The handlers of this Fat Bastard really need to do their jobs better. Hastert is screwing things up royally. Think about it, yesterday -- besides the conspiracy stuff -- he admitted to wrong doing in this manner, but said he would NOT resign. Now he's spinning tales of a grand conspiracy despite the fact that the guy who broke the story has said it was REPUBLICANS who were the source of the information.

Keep it up, Denny boy, you're the best player on our team!

Your president and these guys are cheering you on, "Denny, you're doing a heckuva job!"

[FuzzyDicePHL]

34. Look for him to get

a medal for his part in the whole affair...

[BlameAmericaFirst]

7. Denny makes me sick

A desperate man who knows his time is up

[mtnester]

9. OHHHH...OK..so an operative finds a way to slap Jon Stewart in the SAME

breath as the name George Soros is brought out.

Devious..subliminal

[Tempest]

12. If they meant it as a slap to Stewart, they failed

It came across as praise to me.

[mtnester]

25. Funny how different perspectives show different results

I heard inept and a reference to Jon Stewart, and I betcha you heard "laughable defense" as praise for Stewart's comedic writing.

I love it when other DU'ers make me think instead of moving in a haze. It seems sometimes to be almost brainwashing as the other side is always bashing and lying, you kind of expect it to be an insult..like an abused victim flinching because you expect the hit.

:)

[Orrex]

13. I heard the Soros accusation from another source

I discussed it here the other day.

Interesting that Hastert would clutch at the same straw as a third-rate show syndicated on fundy radio. Though that doesn't mean that Hastert and the radio show were informed by the same source, it does suggest that both he and the half-assed broadcast were trying to strike the same lame chord.

[The_Casual_Observer]

14. The vast left wing conspiracy.

[Monkeyman]

15. Hastert is being hurt by that statement

You know the supporters they showed were Dennis people from his office. The Capitol Ploce there were clapping. The whole thing was a photo op.

John Laesch gave a great rebuttal at Veterans Park right down the street got some coverage.His supporters were real people not staged at all.

www.john06.com

[PATRICK]

16. ABC

First and ignorant gloss would make that a swift Internet style theory, but as the reality comes clear- which they DON'T want anymore of, is a simple open source online scoop that ABC itself could not control. In reality there is much more likely a story of instant pressure to kill this story by the GOP and ABC. If you want to probe for the Dems you will find yet more dirt on the GOP which is why and ONLY why such a
tempting accusation has been killed in the cradle. Stupidity in conception has never been a reason to kill a smear before. Fear has. Besides you don't want to slap around a recent ally in the media campaign at this point. Not for any reason.

For example, Nixon concedes nobly because he knows any probing of vote fraud will uncover his OWN activities in California which will forever lose him Ike's ignorant support. Seething in this dilemma after weeks of bitter grousing he finally lets go.

[Critters2]

18. My congress critter--a good friend of Denny--was spewing this

bs in an interview with the local rag. I called his office, irate, and told the staff person that the issue isn't why this information was made public now, before the election...but rather, why was it NOT made available when Denny knew it more than two years ago!? I asked whether he (Weller--my "representative") would prefer it were still a secret, and Foley were still IMing underage pages.

She said someone would call me. I'm not waiting by the phone.

[sabra]

19. Hastert also did an exclusive with NewsMax calling it the Dems October...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2329109&mesg_id=2329109

[shadowknows69]

20. Soros should have immediately sued for slander

cut and dried case.

[Swamp Rat]

47. My first thought too.

I hope he does.

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. Hastert came out and apologized in one breath

and then turned around and cast blame on the DEMS, Soros (what did he have to do with it?) and anyone who disagrees with Repugs.

These guys just don't know when to give up and shut their mouths.

[Critters2]

27. I loved how he blamed it on Dick Morris

who now works for Faux News.

[Cha]

39. But, dennyfats called him

"Richard Morris" to confuse the fucking issue even more.

I like what the poster said about denny being "desperate man who knows his time is up"..kinda like a cockroach running for cover. Dean was right!

[nicknameless]

49. Yes. Calling him "Richard" Morris, so as not to trigger memories of

him being that toe-sucking sleaze, DICK MORRIS, the rethug operative.

The cockroach is indeed desperate. Get the Raid.

[WilliamPitt]

23. I love that Soros is now a "liberal activist."

Iy yiy yiy...

[Wickerman]

26. "Bill Clinton's adviser, Richard Morris..."

:rofl: Dick was a short term adviser (a REPUBLICAN Adviser, it should be noted) to Clinton who got turned out with his own sex scandal. Before Clinton hired him and immediately after he was FIRED Morris wrote fiction about Clinton and other Democrats. Now, he makes his living as "former Clinton Adviser", all the while trashing him at every opportunity and he has a SERIOUS jones about Hillary. He is vile and for Hastert to tie him to Clinton is not only sad and pathetic, but it reeks of total desperation.

[CrispyQ]

30. I think more & more people are sick of the finger pointing & blame game.

These guys have fucked up royally. Everything they have touched as turned to shit & there is no one left to blame.

[northernsoul]

35. Remember, this is from the party of "personal responsibility"

just when I thought that slogan couldn't get any emptier... the GOP brings it to a new low.

[IWantAChange]

31. GOP mission accomplished

I have a relative in Hastert's district who contacted me and chided me for supporting Democrats who had this 'Foley information' for more than 3 years and did nothing. She is well educated and makes a fortune selling all lines of insurance to Fortune 500 type companies. Point I'm making is that if she believes a snippet of news she hears as a loyal Republican they have accomplished the misinformation battle and created doubt amongst many Repugs as to guilt.

[yardwork]

61. The polls show otherwise - nobody is buying

What Democrats did your relative chide you for supporting? I haven't seen a single Democrat named who knew about this at all. Have you?

[IWantAChange]

78. none

its the die hard Repug mentality I guess - if FauxNews or scare radio mentions it there must be a grain of truth to it - at least I have her agreeing Iraq is an unmitigated disaster

[Nikki Stone 1]

77. Why is she not angry at Foley himself for his immoral activities?

Why is she angry at Democrats for (allegedly) not releasing this information when she probably wouldn't have believed it if they had?

Talk about twisting your brain into a pretzel.

[Cha]

36. Jon Stewart strikes again!

Actually Jon would have "written" it better than that..he would have just showed clips of the fatbastert puffing those allegations outta his pie hole.

[redacted]

40. Does anyone have the original statement in context? I'd love to see it. NT

[formercia]

42. Take it like a man, Dennis

you might even get to like it. :evilgrin:

[warrens]

43. Dick Morris despises both Clintons, and they despise him

Nice try, pig.

[nam78_two]

44. Dammit and he hadn't even gotten to Barbara Streisand!

:(
I am disappointed. Does this mean that Barbara Streisand, Sean Penn, Hollywood libruls in general and East coast academic elites will not soon be outed as having been part of the vast librul conspiracy...?

I wish they hadn't told him to shut up. The ABC, Clinton, Soros thing was hilarious!

[subterranean]

45. "Ah, but the strawberries! That's where I had them."

[spanone]

48. As if Dick Morris had a shred of credibility.They are shameless.

[Auggie]

52. Shameless, stupid and desperate.

[Patrick J Fitzgerald]

50. Copy/Paste/Print/Glue

more ----> http://patrickjfitzgerald.blogspot.com

[stepnw1f]

53. Implode GOP, Implode!!!! YeeeeHaaaaaa!!! (nt)

[woodsgirl]

55. waynemadsenreport

has some interesting facts about GOP coverup of pedophiles
that is much bigger than just the House. He has been writing
about IT for some time.

[AnnieBW]

54. Another Conspiracy Theory, Mulder?

One of several...

[gotigers]

56. http://www.HastertMustGo.com

http://www.HastertMustGo.com

[Gman]

57. The key to everything Hastert said Wednesday is

"When the base finds out who's feeding this monster, they're not going to be happy.... "

But in his attempt to throw red meat to the base, he forgot the rest of the world that is sane was listening too.

[symbolman]

62. I love these nuggets of truth

that fall from neglected corners of these bastards mouths now and then, and glint in the sun..

The statement is SO TELLING.. I would love to play poker with the Fat Bastard. I'd clean up.

Now ALL his Base belong to US :)

I was waiting for someone to blame every one mentioned in "You know, that Puppet Movie, where they all sing AMERICA, "FUCK YEAH"" (Team America, by the same guys that brought you South Park - where you can see famous liberals get their heads blown off, eaten by cats, or set on fire, riddled with bullets, brought to you by "LIBERTARIANS", so so THEY say...)

But I can see them Quoting a Puppet Movie as their defense at this point, they're speaking MARTIAN to the american public as their CODES to each other have been scrambled by their own SPIN :)

Love it, good catch..

[Towlie]

63. "Hastert: I Want a Good, Thorough Probe"

:rofl:

[Hubert Flottz]

64. Dennis to Mark...

I got your back son!

[Marr]

65. George Soros should sue.

Make Hastert either back up his accusations with evidence, or apologize and shut that food hole.

It'd also keep Hastert's conspiracy rant in the news.

[Maryland Liberal]

66. So, It's a Vast left wing Conspiricy?

Sorry Denny - we aint buying that

[Imagevision]

67. Denny, don't pay attention to the GOP, you're doing aheckuvajob bubba...

[droidamus2]

68. Not all repugs

Apparently not all the repugs got the new talking points. There were a couple of dweeb repugs on Hardball today still pushing the 'what did the democrats know and when did they know it' spin. To paraphrase one of the exchanges

Tweety : Are you saying that you know for a fact that the Democratic leadership held these e-mails until now?

Dweeb #1 : I will answer that by saying I don't know that they didn't.
The only remaining question is what did the Democrats know. We need to get Nancy Pelosi and Emanuel under oath and find out what they know.

Ok the first part of that answer 'I don't know what I don't know' is just manifestly stupid. After the way they ambushed Clinton under oath if I were Pelosi and Emanuel I would tell them to shove it until they come up with one piece of reliable evidence that shows the Dems may have known. Even then I would say that if the Chimp in Charge and Darth Cheney don't have to testify under oath why should the Democrats.

The Repuglicans are desperate they are spinning everything they can to try to get the media to at a minimum make this a bipartisan problem or 'in their dreams' blame it on the Democrats. Let's not let them get away with this BS again.

[humbled_opinion]

69. Sounds like the vast Left Wing Media backed conspiracy ...

to cause regime change in the United States.... OK I'll sign up for that.

[illinoisprogressive]

70. I thought it a Rove talking point

So many Republican hitmen are bantering about The Democrats did it all over the news that I thought it was a Rove thing. They even have the bushbots going around parroting this until they receive thier next talking points from the propagandists Limbaugh and Hannity. They all are pretty much saying the exact same things just like good little bushbots. Listen to Washington Journal. It's so funny. No independent thought just repeat.
One thing I do not agree with: Jon Stewart writes much better stuff.

[Name removed]

72. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sandyd921]

73. Maybe when we have finally rid this country

of the many reptileCONs like Hastert and his ilk they can get jobs as fiction writers, or better still comic books.

:rofl:

[Amonester]

74. GOPers to Hastert: Cut (And Run)!!

GOPers to Hastert: Cut (And Run)!!

:evilgrin: :sarcasm: :evilgrin: :sarcasm: :evilgrin: :sarcasm: :evilgrin: :sarcasm: :evilgrin: :sarcasm: :evilgrin: :evilfrown:

[livingonearth]

75. Repug damage control check list

1 Blame a Clinton
2 Blame the Democrats in general
3 Blame the media
4 Blame alcohol or drugs

Pick one or pick them all, but never take full responsibility for your own actions!

[Qdog]

76. Radical Right "Ethics"

They claim to be the moral party but yet they blame the Dem's and the children worst of all for what pervman Foley did to them. What a bunch of hypocrites. This is what there ethics and so called moral values stands for. The Radical right wing Christian Taliban will still probably vote them in office because it's the "moral" and "ethical" thing to do.