LaHood says it’s ‘obvious’ lawmakers can’t be trusted around teens

October 4, 2006

On Monday, responding to the political crisis created by the Mark Foley sex scandal, Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) insisted Republicans “need to up and do something dramatic.” His solution: abolishing the congressional page program altogether.

This morning, LaHood appeared on CNN to defend his proposal. According to the transcript, emailed by Carpetbagger regular J.W., LaHood didn’t exactly do the Republican caucus any favors.

LAHOOD: It just — it’s a program that simply is flawed. It has its flaws. We should fix it. And then if it’s a valuable program, perhaps bring it back.

M. O’BRIEN: Well, that’s kind of a sorry state of affairs. In essence, what you’re saying is that members of Congress can’t be trusted to be around young people.

LAHOOD: Well, that’s pretty obvious.

What? A six-term House member said, on national television, that it’s “obvious” members of Congress can’t be trusted to be around young people? And Republicans sent this guy onto CNN this morning, why?

As it turns out, in this relatively brief interview, LaHood offered us a few more gems.

For example, CNN’s Miles O’Brien noted that LaHood is a supporter of Speaker Hastert’s and asked this morning if LaHood would offer “unequivocal support” for Hastert staying in his job. LaHood said:

“Absolutely. The speaker has handled some very tough situations, whether it’s the Tom DeLay, whether it’s the Duke Cunningham, whether it’s the Bob Ney…. He has been a very, very good speaker, a very strong speaker, and has been able to deal with ethical conduct of members of Congress, including some people who were really his friends, including people like Tom DeLay, Bob Ney and Duke Cunningham.”

Again, this isn’t helping the GOP’s defense at all. Hastert should be Speaker, LaHood said, because House Republicans keep getting caught up in all of these criminal scandals and Hastert has experience “dealing” with all of this. What a persuasive sales pitch for the Republican Party 35 days before an election.

And then there’s this:

M. O’BRIEN: Quick final thought here. Are there going to be other shoes to drop here? What do you predict?

LAHOOD: I have no doubt that there are people in your business that are doing a lot of investigative reporting and I have no doubt that there will probably be other disclosures.

So, in summary, according to the wisdom of Ray LaHood (R-Ill.), members of Congress can’t be trusted around teenagers, Republicans keep getting indicted, and there are more scandals on the way.

Maybe, if we’re really lucky, LaHood will do a lot more television interviews over the next five weeks.

There are two other active Republican’t representatives whom the pages were “warned about”. Their names need to drop.

But really, this is not just about having teenagers around. These guys can’t be trusted with “power”, period. They are incapable to managing their egos or their appetites. They believe that no rule apply and no one should watch over their conduct. Certainly not them.

Put it in the larger context. If you can’t trust the Republican’ts in Congress with your kids, can you trust them with the Government?

  • So is Limbaugh, Hannity, etc. going to blame these comments on the Democrats? The Republicans are giftwrapping the election for the Democrats and they have no one to blame but themselves. Although that won’t stop conservatives from shifting the blame.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if the Republicans are desperately trying to dig up some dirt on the Democrats. Maybe some unpaid parking tickets or something.

  • Republicans are like battered spouses who get abused, but want to stay and continue to love their abusers. I wonder what the Republican elders – former lawmakers from years ago – make of their brethren now?

  • What the hell does LaHood have to lose? He safely occupies a heavily gerrymandered Republican district that he tosses some pork ears often enough to keep it unchallenged by anything resembling an organized democratic party. LaHood and Hastert — part of the same Illinois republican mafia that keeps the big actors happy.

  • “M. O’BRIEN: Well, that’s kind of a sorry state of affairs. In essence, what you’re saying is that members of Congress can’t be trusted to be around young people.

    LAHOOD: Well, that’s pretty obvious.”

    That’s a campaign commercial waiting to happen.
    “My name is such and such and I want to take Congress back to the days when it could be trusted with Oversight, Security, and our children.”

  • “LaHood and Hastert — part of the same Illinois republican mafia that keeps the big actors happy.” – lou

    Nice description. Hey, we’re the white-flight Republican’ts of the Mid-West. Do you want to rubber-stamp an idiot Texas Oil Mafia President? We’re the men for you!

    Do you want pork-barrel spending paid for with loans from the Communist Chinese?
    We’re the men for you!

    Do you want oil drilling in pristine Alaskian wildernesses?
    We’re the men for you!

    All these services and more for nothing more than the cost of retaining the $0.01.2 penny to appease the zinc lobby and the idiots in Illinois who think Lincoln’s face on the $5 bill is not enough.

    Gah!

  • Rereading the transcript, I’m starting to wonder if LaHood isn’t one of the ‘other 2’ Lance references in #1.
    It was an astonishing interview. As soon as it ended I wished I’d recorded it.

  • Funny…Jon Porter (R – NV) was saying the same thing this morning. Seems it would be easier to elect responsible representatives than abolish a 150 year old program. But Jon is just another empty-suited puppet programmed to vote for CheneyRove, Inc.

    This Republican is now planning on voting straight ticket Democrat until my party returns to sanity. So Tessa Hafen, Jack Carter, Dina Titus and others will pick up at least one vote they couldn’t have counted on six months ago.

  • Looks like the Gang Of Pigs have just met their Monika and Paula. It is typical the public says nothing about millions of dollars stolen by these creeps. However, left and right are both fed up with pedophelia, and sex scandals sell.
    If people use absentee ballots, we have a chance to start getting rid of these corrupt losers.

  • Ammendment for Lahood: Think about Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, Jack A., Foley, Hassert, Reynolds, and on and on — keep the pages and abolish the Republicans.

  • Right now, I imagine the GOP and media are doing double-time to find a Dem, any Dem, who screwed somebody. Apparently, a lot of pages have come forward with their experiences with others, so they’ll be shifting through all those R’s to find something, and probably will. But I doubt they’ll find the Democratic Leadership protecting them. That, they GOP will have to invent.

    Hastert resigning will be an admission an R who didn’t resign did something wrong, and they’d have to find someone who wasn’t aware of this scandal to replace him. Or, ignore that person’s connection to the scandal.

    The biggest worry about their total collapse is that Republicans have long memories, and will want revenge for every, horrible thing they’ve done to themselves. When one cuts the tethers of reality, you tend to drift further and further away into the ether as time goes on. If you have to repeat past failures twice as spectacularly to show you were “right all along”, eventually your entire platform is a repeat of every clusterfuck your party has ever caused, pursued with twice the vigour. “This time, we shall not retreat!” So rather than Nixon being a “bad apple”, because the party does no wrong, he is the new marker for the way level-headed realists conduct business. Iraq is Vietnam fought without our “hands tied”. Clinton impeachment is payback for Watergate. And on it goes…

    Imagine if these guys ever come back to power. Think of all the failures they’ll have to do in double-time to rewrite their place in history.

  • I almost, almost sympathize with Hastert’s situation. Then I remember all those midnight votes and secret changes inserted in legislation he enabled. The man’s a traitor to our society.

    memekiller’s right. if they come back to power it’s going to be a bloodbath.

  • Typical tail-tucking, yellow-dog, cowardly Republikanner rubbish—force the victim to share the blame.

    “We can do away with drunk driving, by getting rid of automobiles.”

    “We can eliminate bank robberies, by closing down all the banks.”

    How would this idiot promote solving “Congressmen who email nasty thoughts to minors”—shut down the Internet?

    Suppose we find out, in the end, that Foley had gone after young boys in Florida who weren’t connected to the page program. Do we, in accordance with the logical conclusions of “Hoodwink’s Folly”—do away with young boys?

    Let’s aim the blame where it’s due, and make this clown-of-a-congressman a member of the permanent minority—because by Congressman Hoodwink’s methodology, we could “do away with Republikanner scandals, by getting rid of all Republicans….”

  • Brilliant! This is so Republican it is classic. Something happened so we need to shore up the walls between ourselves for protection. AH!!! Teenage boys!!! Get them out of the cloak room before I lose control and solicit sexual favors from them!

    I cannot even believe this guy would be a credible witness much less a Congressman. I do agree that he brings a refreshing new flavor to the GOP spokesperson role!

  • PAL comment 2

    Yesterday Limbaugh was blaming:

    Dems out of habit;

    The Media because “They” (i.e., all 50K members) hate Rs and are alway out to get them, esp Dan Rather;

    ABC because they were making up to Clinton due to the 9/11 mocku-drama;

    Brian Ross because he’s trying th milk a journalism award out of this; and

    drumroll………

    The Pages for not reporting it earlier.

    He probably blamed more but I only caught 5 minutes.

    Really hillarious stuff. Can’t believe some people buy it.

  • M. O’BRIEN: Well, that’s kind of a sorry state of affairs. In essence, what you’re saying is that members of Congress can’t be trusted to be around young people.

    LAHOOD: Well, that’s pretty obvious.

    What’s especially ironic, I think, is that O’Brien and Hood could equally well be talking about soldiers in Iraq as about House pages. It’s a one-size-fits-all condemnation.

  • Yes of course. Guns don’t kill people. People do. Lawmakers don’t take advantage of pages. The page program does.

    Keep talking ass-face.

    OT surreal thought: The name LaHood makes me picture a French Klansman. Perhaps in a robe by Channel?

  • Perhaps we need a constitutional amendment banning Republicans from kissing babies while campaigning.

  • #11: Or, ignore that person’s connection to the scandal.

    Isn’t this the logical expectation? House Republicans ignored Boehner’s connections to K-Street and the scandals that dethroned DeLay, why wouldn’t they ignore his connection to the scandal that brings down Hastert?

  • Steve: How would this idiot promote solving “Congressmen who email nasty thoughts to minors”—shut down the Internet?

    Bingo!

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