I haven’t posted much about the Foley Follies since this scandal erupted because I wanted to get a clearer picture of what exactly was going on.
As October Surprises break there is a tendency for the press and various political entities to hype up the leading story while neglecting the various stories behind the story.
Usually by the time the story has run its course the full picture is brushed aside in the wake of the lead. The damage is done and the press has moved on to the next item of the day.
NewsBusters gives us the opportunity to look beneath the scandal and dissect the way the media approaches these stories in real time. This post is my take.
Foley is gone. That’s good. If any laws were broken then I hope he gets what is coming to him. Lock him up; throw away the key. The same goes for anyone who is shown to have covered it up.
However, the Democrat and MSM attempts to paint this as a full blown Republican scandal is transparent and obvious. I find it hard to believe that these events just happened to unfold in a perfectly timed fashion a month before Congressional elections. Whoa, what are the chances?!
If I was an odds maker I would have bet on this sort of thing happening.
The hysteria is overwhelming. The Washington Times is calling for the resignation of Dennis Hastert. This action by the editorial board of the Washington Times is actually a news story in the LA Times.
The New York Times is desperately trying to hang all Republicans on the Foley scandal with the most absurd of statements, “When there is a choice between the right thing to do and the easiest route to perpetuation of power, top Republicans always pick wrong.”
The LA Times interviewed former Congressional pages who all seemed to know that Foley had a proclivity toward chasing teenage male pages. The article indicates that pages from both parties knew about Foley's tendencies. Apparently Foley was so aggressive in his pursuit that the only people who didn’t know about it were top Democrat leaders who are calling on anyone and everyone to investigate the Republican coverup.
This list goes on and on.
The culture of corruption meme is back in full play and apparently Democrats are the only ones who can save the teetering character of Congress. The GOP can’t be trusted is the new theme. Parents should cross the streets with their kids whenever a Republican politician walks their way; call 9-11 and hope that they will survive another day to tell everyone else about that harrowing experience. Hopefully, just maybe, the American public will get it right this time and not be snookered by the Republicans who the mainstream media knew was corrupt all along.
In the real world the impact will be much less. Political junkies will suck it up but Middle America will still go to the polls with their preconceived notions in tact.
When all the smoke clears we will see that the Foley scandal will become the springboard to remind the public of all the bad ol’ Republican scandals over the last six years. This will give us plenty to write about. Odds anyone?
