Sorting Hastert's Spin
It is alleged by some that there has been a deliberate attempt by members of the House leadership to cover up the allegation surrounding Congressman Mark Foley. Since the story broke a few days ago the Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, has led the attempts to remain in front of a fast growing story. Hastert is claiming that he surprised, flabbergasted, and disgusted like the rest of the country. However, a close analysis of Hastert's statements reveals the congressman is spinning and framing the debate with the best of them.
Frame: I only new about the emails and not about the more explicit instant message communications
Reality: This sounds like an admission of guilt more than a defense. The original emails themselves are completely inappropriate for a 52-year old Congressman. They includes comments such as "I just emailed Will...hes such a nice guy...acts much older than his age...and hes in really great shape" and "How are you weathering the hurricane...are you safe...send me a pic of you as well....". Absolutely inappropriate! A congressman should not be asking a 16-yr. old to send a picture of himself. ABC reports that the "concerned page alerted congressional staffers to the e-mails. In one e-mail, the page writes to a staffer, "Maybe it is just me being paranoid, but seriously. This freaked me out." In another email the boy writes, "sick, sick, sick, (etc.)". These complaints were all forwarded to the Speaker of the House.
Furthermore, if the Republicans truly believed that this were just "overly friendly" emails, than why did they instruct pages to stay away from Congressman Foley?(Read Story Here)
Also, why were only the four Republican members of the Page board informed, and not the Democrat, Dale Kildee? (Read Story Here)
Frame: Speaker Dennis Hastert is seeking a full investigation
Reality: False. It is true that the House unanimously passed Nancy Pelosi's bill to refer the matter to the Ethics committee. However, Majority Leader John Boehner is committing himself to blocking calls for an investigative Subcommittee that must report within in ten days.
Pelosi is demanding this in a letter she sent to the House Ethics Committee. Here is an excerpt: "Since that resolution unanimously passed, Republican Leaders have admitted to knowing about Mr. Foley's outrageous behavior for six months to a year, and they chose to cover it up rather than to protect these children."
"As the author of the resolution that the House unanimously passed, I am writing to insist that the Ethics Committee act as directed and immediately form the investigative Subcommittee and begin work on the preliminary report in 10 days. Central to the investigation is immediately questioning, under oath, the House Republican Leadership." (Read the Letter Here)
Frame: Dennis Hastert is committed to finding the truth
Reality: It is now being reported that Tom Reynolds (R) Chief of Staff, Kirk Fordham tried to keep the story from being released. The report reads, "Reynolds' Chief of Staff tried to get ABC News to pull the plug on that part of the story in exchange for giving them the "exclusive" that Foley was about to resign. ABC's Brian Ross said no deal. Reynolds is the chair of the NRCC, and one of the people who confirmed that he knew about the Foley problem last year -- and confirmed he told Hastert. Now his Chief of Staff is confirmed to have tried to pull the story about the IM's." (Read Story Here)
In addition, Kirk Fordham resigned today citing that he did not want his role in the scandal to affect his bosses re-election campaign. ABC News is now reporting that "Fordham had repeatedly warned Hastert's staff about Foley's "problem" with pages, but little was done." (Read Story Here)
The media is following this fast moving story around the clock. Politicians and political parties have been issuing statements and press releases as fast as their printers will print. As a result the airwaves and newspapers are full of frames. I believe that as a watchdog, it is the media's job to sort through these frames in order to present the public with the most accurate information possible. Unfortunately, the media has again failed to reveal the frames being issued by Hastert and other politicians. It must be concluded that the only ones who can sort through the spin are the citizens themselves!
Frame: I only new about the emails and not about the more explicit instant message communications
Reality: This sounds like an admission of guilt more than a defense. The original emails themselves are completely inappropriate for a 52-year old Congressman. They includes comments such as "I just emailed Will...hes such a nice guy...acts much older than his age...and hes in really great shape" and "How are you weathering the hurricane...are you safe...send me a pic of you as well....". Absolutely inappropriate! A congressman should not be asking a 16-yr. old to send a picture of himself. ABC reports that the "concerned page alerted congressional staffers to the e-mails. In one e-mail, the page writes to a staffer, "Maybe it is just me being paranoid, but seriously. This freaked me out." In another email the boy writes, "sick, sick, sick, (etc.)". These complaints were all forwarded to the Speaker of the House.
Furthermore, if the Republicans truly believed that this were just "overly friendly" emails, than why did they instruct pages to stay away from Congressman Foley?(Read Story Here)
Also, why were only the four Republican members of the Page board informed, and not the Democrat, Dale Kildee? (Read Story Here)
Frame: Speaker Dennis Hastert is seeking a full investigation
Reality: False. It is true that the House unanimously passed Nancy Pelosi's bill to refer the matter to the Ethics committee. However, Majority Leader John Boehner is committing himself to blocking calls for an investigative Subcommittee that must report within in ten days.
Pelosi is demanding this in a letter she sent to the House Ethics Committee. Here is an excerpt: "Since that resolution unanimously passed, Republican Leaders have admitted to knowing about Mr. Foley's outrageous behavior for six months to a year, and they chose to cover it up rather than to protect these children."
"As the author of the resolution that the House unanimously passed, I am writing to insist that the Ethics Committee act as directed and immediately form the investigative Subcommittee and begin work on the preliminary report in 10 days. Central to the investigation is immediately questioning, under oath, the House Republican Leadership." (Read the Letter Here)
Frame: Dennis Hastert is committed to finding the truth
Reality: It is now being reported that Tom Reynolds (R) Chief of Staff, Kirk Fordham tried to keep the story from being released. The report reads, "Reynolds' Chief of Staff tried to get ABC News to pull the plug on that part of the story in exchange for giving them the "exclusive" that Foley was about to resign. ABC's Brian Ross said no deal. Reynolds is the chair of the NRCC, and one of the people who confirmed that he knew about the Foley problem last year -- and confirmed he told Hastert. Now his Chief of Staff is confirmed to have tried to pull the story about the IM's." (Read Story Here)
In addition, Kirk Fordham resigned today citing that he did not want his role in the scandal to affect his bosses re-election campaign. ABC News is now reporting that "Fordham had repeatedly warned Hastert's staff about Foley's "problem" with pages, but little was done." (Read Story Here)
The media is following this fast moving story around the clock. Politicians and political parties have been issuing statements and press releases as fast as their printers will print. As a result the airwaves and newspapers are full of frames. I believe that as a watchdog, it is the media's job to sort through these frames in order to present the public with the most accurate information possible. Unfortunately, the media has again failed to reveal the frames being issued by Hastert and other politicians. It must be concluded that the only ones who can sort through the spin are the citizens themselves!
posted by Kyle at 5:24 PM
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