foley, rumsfeld,hastert,reynolds

What do Mark Foley and Donald Rumsfeld have in common?

They both proved to be completely unfit for their offices, but were kept in power by Republican leaders who cared more about power than the public interest. After demonstrated failures, leaving Rumsfeld in charge of Iraq is like leaving Mark Foley in charge of the Missing and Exploited Children Caucus.

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That is why the Foley scandal continues to reverberate in races across the country: It is not an isolated incident. This scandal fits with the Congressional Republicans' larger pattern of corruption, cover-ups, hypocrisy and refusal to hold any of their own accountable for failure.

Recent reports indicate Republican leaders like Dennis Hastert and Tom Reynolds knew about Foley's inappropriate actions. They did nothing because they were more concerned about protecting a congressional seat than protecting the children working in Congress. When they were exposed, Republican leaders misled the public, attacked the media, defended Foley's "overfriendly" emails and even tried to rally sympathy for Foley's alcohol problems. (Reality check - the issue here is child abuse, not substance abuse.)

The Republicans response to the scandal is not only immoral, but politically tone-deaf, and it is reinforcing voters' concerns about the Republican failures in Iraq, which is the real issue in this