I wonder...what GD might have looked like if Foley hadn't dominated

[ariellyn]

for a week?

Every year, scandals like Foley's suck up all of the news oxygen, it seems, and more important topics slip by.

What do you think we might have missed? Wouldn't it be nice if Foley-esque issues could be relegated to their own temporary forum until they run their short course?



Just askin'...

[ddeclue]

1. Right now I'm sure the Republicans are begging to bring back Woodward..

and his little red book..



Doug D.
Orlando, FL

[salin]

2. Sadly, I think we would be lamenting fending off GOP attack ads

on dems based on their constitutional rights takings by legislation and claiming that dems who voted for constitutional rights were "for terrorists". They (GOP) set the stage with 911 terra terra terra pagentry - then forced the awful legislation that has nothing to do with security except political window dressing - and were prepared to unleash attack ads like those against Clelland in 2002 - across the country. I think much of our discussion would be about the attack - which has had its wind knocked out if it by the Foley/Hastert scandal.

[Lautremont]

3. Time will tell how important this scandal is.

If it leads directly to huge GOP losses in a month, then it's incredibly important, no matter how banal and low-track the original nugget is.

[NNN0LHI]

4. There would be at least 6 "why we should hate Mexicans" threads I am sure

Though they wouldn't be worded that blatantly.

Don

[Caution]

5. If a scandal costs republicans as much as this one looks like it will it

is important. If it takes something like this to wake people up to the many deficiencies and the hypocrisy of the GOP what difference does it make?

[MADem]

6. Foley is a gift that keeps on giving.

Why would you want to relegate this great gift to a distant, separate forum?



Just askin'...

[pacalo]

9. My thoughts exactly.

Any scandal that shines a light on their hypocrisy gets a green light from me. The idea is to get the crud out of office & if a sex scandal gets us to that goal, why would anyone on our side complain about it? I hope we hear lots more. Bring it on.

[savemefromdumbya]

7. probably would have been Amish shooting and Woodward

[Subdivisions]

8. I would like to see some serious discussion regarding

that July 2001 meeting between George Tenet and Condom Rice where Tenet informed Rice that the probability of an attack by Al Qaeda was "a 10 on a scale of 1-10".

They knew about the impending terrorist attack and they let it happen on purpose in order to justify an invasion of Iraq.

Bottom line. Yet, crickets.

[Trajan]

10. Why ? ....

The GOP is getting pounded HARD by this issue .... you could not ask for a more damaging story for them than a homosexual-focused pedophilia scandal and coverup in this part of the election cycle .....

NOTHING has whacked them as bad as this .... NOTHING which we care most about seems to make a great impact ... but this .... this ... This is getting pounced on by the media, and there is no doubt that the GOP is getting hammered by it ....

Sure ... it's ugly, but why not enjoy it while it lasts ? .... why not pump it up, and hone the other messages we will need when this blows out ?? .... Let's not deny ourselves the full range of available benefit for the sake of personal peeves and greivances .... We will get to the other stuff seen enough ....

I seem to recall something about gift horses ..... this is a doozy ....

[Bucky]

11. They were already trending downward. We were heading toward a 50-50 House

They had a myriad of problems, but I think this Foley story is ultimately going to only move 5-10 seats in our direction. Democrats will probably only enjoy a 10 seat margin in the House, I'm betting--which means about a 20 seat pick up. Republicans have plenty of time to turn around some of the vulnerable seats they've opened up by abetting a juvenile-sex predator.

[drm604]

12. In the grand scheme of things war, economics, the environment, etc.

are what's really important but those things, to a very large extent, come down to who's in power. And that's what this Foley thing is all about, isn't it? A large part of the Republican base has been trained to care about sex and religion almost to the exclusion of everything else. This has contributed greatly to the Republican's hold on power. If it takes a scandal based on one of those two things, then so be it. This is important, not because it's titillating, but because it may be the one thing that can break the back of the Republican stronghold on power.