PUBLIC MARKS with tags republicans & new

Republicans on Capitol Hill are desperately hoping to divert us from the Mark Foley scandal with a new storyline: Dem dirty tricks. Why did these disgusting e-mails come out just a few weeks before a critical election? It is true the party of Bill Clinton, Gerry Studds and Barney Frank is not going to clean out the sexual cesspool, but frankly I don't care: I'm not responsible for what they do. Rep. Dennis Hastert is a basically decent man who happens to head up a party that failed to investigate evidence that a GOP congressman (widely known among insiders to be gay) was seeking inappropriate contact with minor boys entrusted to his care. The Washington Times is right: He should resign his leadership post. ()() My question is what did the Democratic leadership know and when did they know it? Aren't they just as responsible? Maybe Nancy Pelosi should resign?

Perhaps you've heard the one about the 700 firefighters from a variety of states who volunteered to do rescue work following Hurricane Katrina? They sat in a hotel room in Atlanta for days getting sexual harassment training from FEMA officials. No joke. Note to Republicans eager to shovel new money at federal agencies: This is the way government works.