The most interesting spin control of the year
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) has come up with an interesting line of argumentation to protect himself from the Foley fallout: From Ray Long’s story in the Chicago Tribune: The Illinois lawmaker who oversees the Congressional page program said Wednesday that teens who participate are “safer in our program than in a lot of homes.” Rep. ...
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) has come up with an interesting line of argumentation to protect himself from the Foley fallout: From Ray Long's story in the Chicago Tribune: The Illinois lawmaker who oversees the Congressional page program said Wednesday that teens who participate are "safer in our program than in a lot of homes." Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) defended his actions as chairman of the page board in an interview with the Tribune on Wednesday, saying he moved quickly to confront former Rep. Mark Foley of Florida based only on information about 2005 e-mail traffic that wasn't sexually explicit. Shimkus acknowledged he did not ask Foley if there were any other electronic exchanges with pages, such as the sexually suggestive instant messages from 2003 that first surfaced on Friday and led to Foley's swift resignation. "The thing that's frustrating to me is that I'm not the bad guy here," Shimkus said. "Leadership's not the bad guy. The bad guy is whoever had these explicit instant messages that were done in 2003 and held them. That's the bad guy.... because those instant messages are what put these kids at risk." He insisted the page program is safe. "They are as safe there as they are at home," he said. "In fact, in a lot of homes?they're safer in our program than they are in a lot of homes." (emphasis added) Am i reading this incorrectly, or is Shimkus actually claiming that large numbers of parents of being so negligent that they'd be more likely to overlook a sexual predator than the United States Congress?
Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) has come up with an interesting line of argumentation to protect himself from the Foley fallout: From Ray Long’s story in the Chicago Tribune:
The Illinois lawmaker who oversees the Congressional page program said Wednesday that teens who participate are “safer in our program than in a lot of homes.” Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) defended his actions as chairman of the page board in an interview with the Tribune on Wednesday, saying he moved quickly to confront former Rep. Mark Foley of Florida based only on information about 2005 e-mail traffic that wasn’t sexually explicit. Shimkus acknowledged he did not ask Foley if there were any other electronic exchanges with pages, such as the sexually suggestive instant messages from 2003 that first surfaced on Friday and led to Foley’s swift resignation. “The thing that’s frustrating to me is that I’m not the bad guy here,” Shimkus said. “Leadership’s not the bad guy. The bad guy is whoever had these explicit instant messages that were done in 2003 and held them. That’s the bad guy…. because those instant messages are what put these kids at risk.” He insisted the page program is safe. “They are as safe there as they are at home,” he said. “In fact, in a lot of homes?they’re safer in our program than they are in a lot of homes.” (emphasis added)
Am i reading this incorrectly, or is Shimkus actually claiming that large numbers of parents of being so negligent that they’d be more likely to overlook a sexual predator than the United States Congress?
Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Twitter: @dandrezner
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