Democrat Candidate Flays Congress GOP

(CBS/AP)  Democratic congressional candidate Patty Wetterling, whose son was abducted 17 years ago, said GOP congressional leadership failed to protect teenage House pages from former Rep. Mark Foley's advances.

"Foley sent obvious predatory signals, received loud and clear by members of congressional leadership, who swept them under the rug to protect their political power," Wetterling charged in her party's weekly radio address Saturday.

"If a teacher did this and the principal was told but did nothing, once the community found out, that principal would be fired."

Wetterling, running for an open seat against Republican state Sen. Michele Bachmann in Minnesota's 6th District, is already airing a hard-hitting television ad over revelations that Foley, R-Fla., had been sending inappropriate e-mails to teenage pages for years.

"We need a new direction in Congress because our children need strong voices," Wetterling said in the radio address. "We need to stop the sexual exploitation of children across the country, and in Washington we must hold accountable all those complicit in allowing this victimization to happen."

The president's weekly address avoided the Foley scandal, instead focusing on the rash of school shootings across the country in recent weeks. "Our goal is clear: Children and teachers should never fear for their safety when they enter a classroom," the president said.

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Listen: The President's Weekly Radio Address

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Listen: Congressional candidate Patty Wetterling Gives The Democrat's Weekly Radio Address

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Meanwhile, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., has rejected calls to resign, saying he hasn't done anything wrong. Republicans, including President Bush, have closed ranks around Hastert in recent days.

Hastert had blamed Democrats for the election-season revelations, but on Thursday abruptly changed course and took responsibility for the matter.

Wetterling's 11-year-old son, Jacob, was abducted in 1989 on a rural road. Despite a massive search effort, Jacob was never seen or heard from again. The loss transformed Wetterling from a stay-at-home mom to a national advocate for missing children.

"For 17 years, I have fought for tough penalties for those who harm children," Wetterling said. "Members of Congress are not and should not be above the law."

[lhebbard]

When do folks begin to realize just how much the Republicans lie simply to gain or maintain power in government? They have but one agenda: fill their pockets and the pockets of their friends at the expense of everyone else. Then simply tell everyone how great their ability to govern is. Next, they just do whatever they please without fear of retribution because the media(including CBS, ABC and NBC who are all trying to ape Fox News) have failed utterly in their responsibility to be the watchdogs on the behalf of the public. Not can we no longer trust or believe anything our government tells, we can no longer trust the watchdogs.

[lhebbard]

When do folks begin to realize just how much the Republicans lie simply to gain or maintain power in government? They have but one agenda: fill their pockets and the pockets of their friends at the expense of everyone else. Then simply tell everyone how great their ability to govern is. Next, they just do whatever they please without fear of retribution because the media(including CBS, ABC and NBC who are all trying to ape Fox News) have failed utterly in their responsibility to be the watchdogs on the behalf of the public. Not can we no longer trust or believe anything our government tells, we can no longer trust the watchdogs.

[lhebbard]

When do folks begin to realize just how much the Republicans lie simply to gain or maintain power in government? They have but one agenda: fill their pockets and the pockets of their friends at the expense of everyone else. Then simply tell everyone how great their ability to govern is. Next, they just do whatever they please without fear of retribution because the media(including CBS, ABC and NBC who are all trying to ape Fox News) have failed utterly in their responsibility to be the watchdogs on the behalf of the public. Not can we no longer trust or believe anything our government tells, we can no longer trust the watchdogs.

[lhebbard]

When do folks begin to realize just how much the Republicans lie simply to gain or maintain power in government? They have but one agenda: fill their pockets and the pockets of their friends at the expense of everyone else. Then simply tell everyone how great their ability to govern is. Next, they just do whatever they please without fear of retribution because the media(including CBS, ABC and NBC who are all trying to ape Fox News) have failed utterly in their responsibility to be the watchdogs on the behalf of the public. Not can we no longer trust or believe anything our government tells, we can no longer trust the watchdogs.

[observantx]

Well Here we are,,How perverted do you need to be to be a problem for GOP?

When is it serious enuff that lurid text messages from a middle-aged man to a teenager are actionabLe?

This Foley issue by the way is a distraction. The real issue is the war in Iraq and the growing war in Afganistan. This administration has totally pissed it away. Colin Powell, Where are we now that the we need you?

[diamtool]

the way they'vre robbed our kids with obscene spending and deficits is the real crime

[energyecon]

Well it turns out that the self-appointed keepers of the public morals, those crusaders for 'family values' have only ONE value - power for its own sake.

Nothing else explains the shameful conduct of the NRCC accepting and keeping $100K in hush money from a pedophile to sweep some 'overly friendly' emails under the rug.

What abject moral failures - for shame!

[tom_gwynn]

Actually, Processor2, if Foley had had a consensual relationship with a 21-year old woman it *would* be a private matter, none of our business and we should just let him do his job. Since he's not married I believe that's called "dating". However, since Mr. Foley has clearly been stalking underage kids and the Republican party brass (including Mr. Hastert) have known about it for years and never once followed the proper procedure by bringing it to the full (bipartisan) page board's attention, it is called a "cover up". Scandals don't get much clearer in Washington or anywhere else. The Republican leadership deliberately endangered the pages entrusted to their care in order to protect a stalker's seat in congress. The "family values" they've been claiming to protect these past years turn out to be power and money. And Hastert still has the gall to claim he did nothing wrong? You should be howling for his head even louder than we are.

[jopocop]

It is only fitting that the GOP suffers the consequences as the party in power. No consequences means "stay the course", which is unacceptable. Foley was being protected since he was very high in the GOP power base and food chain. The GOP ought to forfeit power so that we try new directions in Iraq, long overdue cleanup in Congress, and checks and balances finally on Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld. Americans must demand better results from our leaders.

[processor2]

I was really disappointed with Dennis Hastert's news conference the other day.

I was hoping he would pound the table with his fist & extended index finger, and say:

Let me just say (pound)that I did not (pound) have sexual relations (pound) with that intern(pound), oops, I meant page (pound).

Then maybe liberals would be saying things like:

"If it's consensual, it's OK"
"It's a private matter, and none of our business", and
"let him just do his job"

snicker, snicker, snicker