GOP battles sleaze factor

Fallout from the Foley teenage seduction scandal, or whatever it is, isn't the only problem of sleaze embroiling Congressional Republicans. There's also the ugly money Abramoff affair, which also ensnarled the inner sanctums of the GOP. Even now the White House is stonewalling calls for disclosure of the convicted briber's wheeling and dealing with top Bush aides, notes today's New York Times.

And then there's the question of why Hastert blew off Foley's predatory sex signals in the first place. Sunday's Times reported on a powerful group of gay Republicans, sometimes known as the Velvet Mafia or the Pink Elephants, with access to Hastert and other top lawmakers. Some of them are staff aides and others are members of the P Street Lobby, which refers to a Washington street known for its gay lifestyle.

Some of the gays are incensed at being linked to pedophilia, while others are keeping very quiet during this political maelstrom, the Times said.

And so there is strong suspicion that the P Street gang had a major hand in the apparent coverup of Foley's personality disorder. What's not clear is whether Hastert really didn't know the seriousness of what was going on or whether he feared to offend the Velvet Mafia.

"Knowledge is power" is Washington's motto and the congressional GOP's backup motto is: "What you don't know won't hurt us."

That's why Abramoff's palm-greasing K Street Lobby had such easy access to top Republicans in Congress and in the White House.

This attitude of being the party of moral rectitude in public while not giving a damn about what goes on when it's not in the papers is a hallmark of the Bush bunch in the White House and in Congress. A reckless disregard for the truth led to the major embarrasments concerning Saddam's nonexistent WMDs and his nonexistent ties to al Qaeda. The GOP sleazy attitude toward the truth has brought the United States into an intolerable mess in Iraq that needn't have occurred.

Even now the GOP is saying that such things as the Fourth Amendment are no longer needed in America. Yet why should Americans trust anything that the Party of Sleaze says?

And the party brass's cavalier betrayal of trust concerning child sex predation has a lot to do with its turning a blind eye to treason against America on 9/11. In fact, who wouldn't think that security agency blackmailers are behind the GOP's listlessness on 9/11 treason?

And take a look at North Korea and its nuclear bomb test. Bush's hands are tied because he pinned the U.S. down in a stupid sectarian quagmire. And the GOP's sleazy kow-towing to Red China -- money, money, money -- is no help. China's reds say that grave consequences will follow North Korea's test. But, aren't they simply playing gullible GOP lawmakers? The red masters of manipulation take full advantage of the GOP sleaze factor. Can you imagine China's reds doing anything about red allies in North Korea other than spouting a lot of empty words?