I almost fell for this. LOL!!

The Plank: “I am ashamed that The New Republic, Harpers and these other magazines didn’t publish what they knew about the Foley story long ago. After all, in addition to ruling the country and trying to help the terorists who are out to destroy America, the liberal media elite are also in charge of overseeing the Congressioanl page program. I’m sure Speaker Hastert and the rest of the congressional leadership desperately wanted to deal with Foley just as I’m sure they wanted to send more troops into Iraq, but let’s face it, none of those things were their responsibility.”

This is a comment posted to THIS at TNR:

HOW ROVE TWISTED FOLEY’S ARM:

It seems increasingly clear that the GOP congressional leadership, eager for every safe incumbent in the House to run for re-election, looked the other way as evidence accumulated that Mark Foley had a thing for pages. Holding onto his seat became more important than confronting him over his extracurricular activities.

But there’s more to the story of why Foley stood for re-election this year. Yesterday, a source close to Foley explained to THE NEW REPUBLIC that in early 2006 the congressman had all but decided to retire from the House and set up shop on K Street. “Mark’s a friend of mine,” says this source. “He told me, ‘I’m thinking about getting out of it and becoming a lobbyist.'”

But when Foley’s friend saw the Congressman again this spring, something had changed. To the source’s surprise, Foley told him he would indeed be standing for re-election. What happened? Karl Rove intervened.

According to the source, Foley said he was being pressured by “the White House and Rove gang,” who insisted that Foley run. If he didn’t, Foley was told, it might impact his lobbying career.

“He said, ‘The White House made it very clear I have to run,'” explains Foley’s friend, adding that Foley told him that the White House promised that if Foley served for two more years it would “enhance his success” as a lobbyist. “I said, ‘I thought you wanted out of this?’ And he said, ‘I do, but they’re scared of losing the House and the thought of two years of Congressional hearings [I love that part! YoBimbo], so I have two more years of duty.'”

The White House declined a request for comment on the matter, but obviously the plan hasn’t worked out quite as Rove hoped it would.

–Ryan Lizza”