Trandahl Names Kolbe as a ‘Problem’ With Page Program, Source Says

… wow.

Geez, unbelievable, what is going on

These congressmen need to held accountable for their actions by the American Public. They need to be taken out of their positions and thrown out like the perverted trash they are. The “Media” needs to focus all their energies to expose these treacherous predators of our children. Wake up America! Vote them out now! JG

Let’s have a pool – how long before Fox News labels this guy a Democrat? I think within 24 hours.

Proof that absolute power tends to make them think they can get away with things.

I agree with Dennis. Seems to be a lot of witch-hunting. Apparently the original Foley “scandal” didn’t do as much damage as they were expecting, so they’re taking another stab at it to try to keep it in the headlines. If Foley hadn’t resigned, I’d almost understand it. But considering Foley resigned, seems like they’re trying everything they can to try to keep this in the news. Sad. Also amazing that in the week before NK did their nuclear test, the news was mostly talking about Foley. Talk about messed up priorities.

This is really getting to be obvious!!! Overkill by the Dems!!! Pretty sad!!! The sky is falling,the sky is falling!! Can we possibly get anymore bad news about EVERYTHING in the United States before an election? This will all suddenly disappear if the Dems get in this time, and anything that goes wrong will still be Bushs fault…The media and the Dems are playing us big time…WAKE UP PEOPLE!

Typical Washington DC. A crook, is a crook, Democrat, or Republican,,they’re all dirty..throw the bums out…America!

I believe anyone aware of this behavior is complicit. Our children are in DC to learn not to be damaged.

This is just another example of the morally corrupt Republican leadership. I told myself in 2004 if nothing changed I would jump ship from the big R. I didn’t have to jump ship, as they threw me off with weights tied to my legs.
Sorry Republicans, you have done nothing to deserve my vote this round. I am sure you will cover this up, and then go have a press conference in the Rose garden about how you have decided to get on board with the Protect Kids movement.
I am predicting the Republicans with “Stay the Course” on their own Corruption and will not “Cut and Run” from exercising their perversions!
Hey, maybe the Republicans can blame this on Michael J. Fox, or some Black Guy running for office. If all else fails, blame it on Clinton.
Racist Sicko Pedophiles.

Makes me think of a witch hunt just before an election.
Posted by: dennis | Oct 26, 2006 3:30:19 PM
It is interesting that when Republicans do somehting wrong it is a witch hunt, when democrats do something wrong it is because they are liberal immoral slime. Wrong is wrong!!!!!!

How many more?

“Makes me think of a witch hunt just before an election.”
If it’s a witch hunt, it’s an internal GOP witch hunt.
Trandahl is a Republican.

…and they lambasted Clinton for Years, for having a stint with a White House Intern.
You know, Interns: The big brothers & sisters of Pages.
I wonder how many Democrats are on that list.

It has been my experience that the group, individual, party, etc. who tout(s) their righteousness and christianity the loudest are usually the the most unchristian of them all. Republicans are a great example of this. Those that protest too much…..

OH NO! He touched his arm? That’s Disgusting!!!
I still haven’t seen any proof on Foley. How can they bring this story to light. That is desparate. I’m an independent and typically vote against the press. The press is pressing against this guy, so, I will likey vote with him.

witch hunt.

I don’t think it’s a witch hunt. In a way it’s fair play because Reps ALWAYS play the gay card. Even with the page scandals they continue to push that button in any number of areas. The rather pathetic John Spencer in New York implied Hillary was a lesbian, after he didn’t much traction out of claiming she had millions of dollars of plastic surgery (esp funny coming from a guy with, uh, challenging skin). Reps do all they can to scare people into voting for them – you know what they say- vote for the Democrat and two women will get married. OH NO!!!! What goes around comes around.

Next up: Blame the messenger. It will get going either late today or tomorrow.

v: I don’t think any of this has to do with being a Republican or a Democrat. It has to do with sick people in this world! Why don’t people just leave political parties out of everything that happens and focus on the person!
It’s not about a political party in some abstract way, it’s because Republicans were in charge of all of the institutions at the time when this happened. Perhaps you’ve heard of the idea of responsibility?
If it happened in a school, would you say “let’s leave the school out of it and focus on the person!” or would you say that the principal is responsible if he failed to get rid of the predators because it would make the school look bad?

i’m a Republican (although these days, hate to admit it). I’ve been listening to Rush (as usual) and he keeps going on and on about “cut and run conservatives” when he talks about all the polls saying that conservatives were staying home this time around. he’s right. I was thinking of staying home… but actually i think i will go vote.. Democrat! These guys have had too much power for too long and it’s gone to their heads.. period. time for new blood.

Does it strike anyone else as a little crazy that there are enough congressman who act inappropriately with pages to require the clerk to CREATE A LIST? And also give explicit warnings? Like others, I doubt its only Republican names on that list…

Let me tell you Republican voters out there something,”your all idiots”

To Dennis and Eric: If you two read anything of substance. This was an ABC investigation on Mark Foley. Not the Democratic Party. Although at the onset of this Mark Foley’s Campaign Manger tried to “blame” Tom Mahoney, Foley’s challenger. But when ABC broke the news on Foley. The Foley camp apologized to Mahoney. The GOP scambled to get a replacement almost immediately and came up with a guy that had lost a bid to be the nominee for Attorney General for the state of Florida. One Joe Negron. It is unfortunate for Negron, because of Florida Laws. His name is not on the ballot. The GOP went to court to try to over turn the law in place for decades. The GOP lost. Those who do vote for Foley (I can’t phantom why)will go to Negron. The GOP also tried to have signs placed at precincts stating that a vote for Foley is for the Republican candidate Negron. This failed as well. Every Supervisor of Election in that district said no to that. Foley’s former district has at least 7 or 8 counties. Then the GOP asked all the Supervisor’s to include a flyer in the Absentee Ballots stating that Negron has replaced Foley. This failed as well. When will the GOP stop trying to dupe the public. If the GOP could ever run a fair contest, they might be better appreciated. But, as we all know the GOP has to be deceptive cunning manipulative….As there are more Democrats and Independents in this country. If the Gop ever ran a real honest race they would still be in the minority. The “mantra” for the GOP……Lie, Lie, Lie…..Oh! BY the bye, did I mention “lie”

way to go abc,you have stated that the cowardly republican child molisters just dont get the respect you think they deserve.my parents taught me to hate child molesters,i guess yours taught you to respect them.

I don’t care if they’re Democrat or Republican…their actions are reprehensible! They should be routed out and gotten rid of. These people are supposed to be LAWMAKERS, not LAWBREAKERS…and, yes, they should be held to a higher standard. If you’re not up to the challenge, don’t run for office!

It is a Republican issue. It is the party of sexual repression, especially if you’re gay.
It’s the same thing as the priest sex scandals: put men in positions of power, tell them to hide their urges, and those urges will come out in perverted ways…that is to say, against children.

It isn’t just some coincidence that this scandal or any of the other half dozen national Republican leadership members “influence peddling” are overwhelmingly Republican.
The current Republican agenda is absolutely nothing like the Barry Goldwater Republicanism. Even Nixon would probably be a Democrat today. He was huge on education and infrastructure. In fact, Goldwater and John Dean had many conversations in 80′s about what was happening to the party their party. They were both increasingly concerned about the extreme direction their party was heading. Fast forward to today, John Dean has just written a book “Conservatives without Conscience” about that very subject. A decade after those conversations with Goldwater, Dean started to became aware of some behavioral science research on Authoritarianism. Following WWII, there was a great desire to understand how the Nazis could do such horrible things to their own people without remorse or conscience. One of the behavoral catagories constructed to explain the immoral and inhumane actions of those “just following orders.”
Today, Dean points out the social science indicates about 23% of the US population are Authoritarian personalities. These are folks who are fairly weak willed and begging for someone to tell them what to do and who to blame. Interestingly, Authoritarian personalities are not spread equally accoss the political spectrum, as you might expect, but rather overwhelmingly concentrated in people who self-identify as Republicans.

Steve:
I’m an independent and typically vote against the press. The press is pressing against this guy, so, I will likey vote with him.
So, did you vote for Clinton?

This is not a republican or democrat issue. This is an ethics issue. For those who believe this is the democratic party out on a republican witch hunt. I wonder if these were you’re children, if you’d feel the same way.

Republican or Democrat; does it really matter. The people involved in this terrible scandal should be made to pay for their actions. For those who believe this is a Republican witch hunt staged by the Democrats. I wonder if you’d feel the same way if these were you’re children.

I remember another witch hunt back in ’98… a $60 million dollar one by the Republicans aimed at a Democrat, in the time period leading up to midterm elections.
I also remember another witch hunt leading up to this war, in which we ruined a country searching for the mysterious “WMD’s.”
So don’t go whining about witch hunts. NBC gets ratings by exposing pedophiles, and I think that’s great. If it takes an election season to expose these perverts so be it. Sticking up for them makes you look like a supporter of pedophile rights.

I agree with Dennis and Vivian. Takes me back to the Bill & Monica
witch hunt, …. oop’s wrong party. Sorry bout that !!!!!!

Wow! What a news story! Kolbe had dinner and went to sporting events with Pages (and lots of other people of all races, genders, ages, etc). House staff warned him that the appearance of that would raise questions. Did Kolbe continue to socialize? Did he stop? Did Pages complain about inappropriate actions? The story doesnt’ say. We are left to reach our own conclusions. Where is the news story? I don’t get it!

As a gay man I am absolutely sickened by the behavior of these Congressman. Gay people suffer enough discrimination and misunderstanding as it is. We do not need elected leaders who should be setting an example of how upstanding gay Americans live their lives giving us a bad name. It’s bad enough they are gay and Republican, which is a weird contradiction in itself. Their uncontrolled horndog behavior only proves they are truly nothing more than hypocritical pigs. I hope the rest of America understands that most gay people are as appalled as they are by this deplorable behavior.

It is nice that republicans are willing to share their pedophiles with us by saying thats it is a democratic problem as well but I just wish that the gay old party would just take these child predators back into their right wing religions where they come from in the first place. If you dummies insist on protecting them then let them prey only on your children.

I am hopeful that the American people are getting a whiff of the wretched sewer Karl Rove created by getting George Bush and his Republican ilk elected, and will now throw the bums out. I also know the Reublicans will use all means necessary, whether legal or not, whether ethical or not, to retain their greedy hold on power.

So the page who reported Foley’s inappropriate behavior was a Democrat? Am I missing something?

Well… at this point in time we don’t really know much other than some vague allegations. And while I’d love to see the Republicans go down in flames right before the election, I have to adopt a wait and see attitude on this. I’m sure more information will be out soon. Untill then, don’t witch hunt.
I trust that Brian Ross wouldn’t publish this stuff if the un-named source wasn’t trustworthy. But we’ll just have to wait and see.

To Ted: “and they lambasted Clinton for Years, for having a stint with a White House Intern.
You know, Interns: The big brothers & sisters of Pages.
I wonder how many Democrats are on that list.
Posted by: Ted | Oct 26, 2006 4:35:22 PM”
Ted, at least the interns are of age, wouldn’t you agree?
Witch Hunt? Whatever. It doesn’t matter, Republican or Democrate, a pervert is a pervert. Anyone harming a child should be punished.
I agree with nwilson, the house and the senate wanted to impeach Clinton for heterosexual conduct with a consenting adult but won’t impeach Bush for sending us to war for no good reason! I think all those involved with the page scandal should be removed from office – PERIOD – regardless of party affilition!

Wow! More scandal is coming from the “family values” party. This is pretty sick stuff, even for a society as jaded as our own. You can bet that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Do you really think these guys stopped with underage pages, or could there be a whole call boy ring behind these powerful men? We heard all about Clinton’s overage sexual peccadillos, let’s here about some serious deviance.

“16 years olds have been having sex for years already. they start quite young these days. what is the big deal? they can defend themselves and are capable of taking care of themselves. this is not pedophilia, look it up. they are not young boys, they are just shy of being able to vote and for selective service
Posted by: Steven | Oct 26, 2006 5:01:52 PM”
Ah yes, I knew it would only be a short while before someone would start blaming the victims.

Congrats to the Republicans! They have beaten Democrats at the corruption game in 12 years. It took the Demos 40+ years to be this bad.
Well done! You have duped the Christians, taken money from every interest counter to the well being of the country and now you are molesting children.
I am sure your parrents are very proud.

It really sickens me that we have a group of elected people who have made being in office a serious disgrace and turn a blind eye to alot of questionable behavior. There needs to be more oversight on the pages and not a stable for questionable behavior by questionable people.

Any one on this page who is saying it’s the dems is as dumb as they sound!! period. Any one who wants to take me up on that let me know. There is a laundry list of things these people have done WRONG!!!!! The list is to long to name and what do they do when they get in trouble blame the democrats like some school children. Wake up you sheep and stop being led by the nose. By the way the republicans have control of all THREE branches of government. It’s all them. By the way i am a republican!!!!

If it’s a mere witchhunt against Republicans, I’m sure the Republicans would quickly announce who the Democrats are.
So, I’m waiting. Who are they?
Cat got your tongue?

16 years olds have been having sex for years already. they start quite young these days. what is the big deal? Posted by: Steven | Oct 26, 2006 5:01:52 PM
Pretty sick, Steven. Brush aside a 50 year old propositioning a 16 year old? It’s still pedophilia. Try choosing common decency over your political party. Be a man / human / American first.

the hypocracy of the right wing is so obvious .. the same clinton haters are defending pedophiles … this is SICK!
i hope these people are brought to justice, but i do wish this scandal would take a back burner because it is a distraction from the really big scandals that the republicans and fundamentalist christians have brought us into, namely an immoral war that destroyed a country that was not a threat to the usa… would iraq be better off with sadam in power? YES! the immorality of the bush administration is frightenly defended by so-called christians because of their prophesy theorys (funny, they believe in prophesys but not real science like evolution)… then it’s discovered that the greedy republicans have been stroking the right wing christians just for their vote but think they are nuts behind their backs… more hypocracy!
the emporer is wearing no clothes people… wake up!

Really interesting how the Republicans are crying Witch hunt. hmmmm What’s interesting is they only remember when Dems or others do this things… Turnabout is fairplay. Remember When they wanted to Witch Hunt Clinton? How does it feel. There is pervs in this world all over. Those who claim to be moral, are the ones that have closets full of freaks.

“Do as i say not as a i do” amazingly grotesque! These guys are just like those pedo-priests, they preach morality, they try to take the splinter out of your eye, when clearly a plank is stinking out of their own.

There are no clean hands in this matter …it boils down to Why should I do the right thing and screw up my future revenue stream? Me Me Me, what about me?
“When the rest of the trees blow down, Jeff Trandahl will be left standing up,” said Craig Shniderman, executive director of Food and Friends, a charity here, who has known Mr. Trandahl for nearly a decade. “This is a pretty complicated situation, but I don’t have any doubt that he did the right thing.”-the Queerty
“Trandahl’s testimony went on for so long that an ethics committee employee bought lunch for lawmakers in the cafeteria in the Capitol’s basement. She ordered four hotdogs, two tuna sandwiches on rye bread, and a turkey sandwich on wheat bread.” -the Hill

Are these the same congressmen who voted to impeach Bill Clinton for his sexual behavior and were disgusted by his immoral behavior? Does anyone know if their large pensions (over $100,000) will be taken from them when they leave, retire or quit the congress?

This story made it’s sordid appearance in close proximity to Election Day. Most members of the media are supporters of the Democratic Party, and the Harry Reid real estate deal episode has been effectively buried on page 4. The connections are painfully obvious, and the conclusion inescapable. Do you honestly think the media are going to explore whether the Democrats sat on this story before the elections? Not a chance.

“16 years olds have been having sex for years already. they start quite young these days. what is the big deal? they can defend themselves and are capable of taking care of themselves.”
Then why all the parental consent laws that require parents be told about a minor female’s abortion? After all, they’ve been having sex for years without parental notification. These young women, apparently, can defend themselves and are capable of taking care of themselves. Why the Republican double standard? Shouldn’t the parental notification laws be tied to age of consent laws?

Kolbe is such on obvious choice for a GOP scapegoat. He’s the ONLY openly gay GOP congressman, he is RETIRING, and his seat has all but been conceded to the Dems. Why wouldn’t the GOP scapegoat him to re-inforce their image as the party of homophobes amongsts the fundies and bigots in their “big tent”. They are just desperately trying to hang on to power, why not sacrifice a retiring gay man?
The question is why is ABC playing along? Wasn’t it enough to give the neocons 4 hours of commercial free network airtime to blame Clinton for … well everything.
You can take this to the bank … the “source close to former House Clerk Jeff Trandahl…” will turn out to be an operative in Karl Rove’s political machine. Open your eyes people, and enough of the gay-bashing by proxy ABC, it makes us all look bad.

RE: TSM
“What Kolbe and Foley have in common is that they are gay. Why doesn’t the story mention that? Kolbe is the only openly gay Republican. His preference is as important to this story as his political affiliation.”
Being gay and being a child molester are two completely different things. Statistics show that the VAST majority of child molesters are straight, even when the molestation is man-boy.
Don’t confuse sexual preference for men with sexual preference for children.

Oh Well so they don’t call them the
GOP-Gang Of Perverts for nothing
you know folks!

When is ABC News going to report the names of all the people on the LIST! Is it only gay people that get reported?!!! How many other gay people are you investigating? Elton John he’s gay, Rosie O’Donnell she’s gay, Nathan Lane, Ron Oden, Michael Kors, Migel Marquez. When are they going to be investigated, HUH? This ISN’T reporting! It’s an anti-gay attack. When Jim Kolbe is cleared I hope he sues you for all you’re worth. Every cent.

As much as I am for a change right now in our leadership, this just reeks of an “october surprise”

All you judges, jurists and would-be executioners need to get a grip. The info provided in this report is, thus far, unsubstantiated. Even if proved to be true, the behavior ascribed to Kolbe hardly supports charges of rape…or even impropriety.
Kolbe’s relationship with pages could very well indicate an effort to mentor these young people. I suspect it is ONLY because he’s gay that people are giving these rumors such weight.
Kolbe has been out of the closet for some time. I would suggest that in-the-closet gays are MUCH more likely to engage in bad behavior…after all, their entire lives are spent in dissembling and covering up their nature. Let’s wait until the facts are in before we all begin sharpening our knives and calling for Kolbe’s head.
[btw...I am decidedly NOT a Republican, and I don't approve of Kolbe's politics (which are a matter of record)]

>Makes me think of a witch hunt just before an election.
YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!?! What would you do–wait till after he gets re-elected?!?