Circular Firing Squad

After years of watching the Democrats turn on each other at the first sign of trouble, it's nice to see the House Republicans doing the same thing in the wake of Predatorgate.

ABC's Teddy Davis reports: In a radio interview with 700 WLW radio in Cincinnati, House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) placed responsibility for the Foley matter not being handled properly on House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL).

"I believe I talked to the Speaker and he told me it had been taken care of," said Boehner. "And, and, and my position is it's in his corner, it's his responsibility. The Clerk of the House who runs the page program, the Page Board—all report to the Speaker. And I believe it had been dealt with."

Please note that by saying that he talked with the Speaker about Foley, Boehner is reversing course and going back to his original position.

Wow. That's the House Majority Leader squarely laying the blame for a pedophilia scandal cover-up at the feet of the Speaker of the House. (And, as the piece notes, flip-flopping in the process.)

I can't believe this is happening just five weeks before a critical election, but with the Washington Times and the Majority Leader leading the charge, we just might see a coup against Denny Hastert. No one can understand what goes on in the mind of the Moonie Times, but I've got to assume Boehner sees this as his ticket to the top.

But even if Hastert goes down, I don't think it's over. The entire Republican leadership is going to be stained by this scandal and put completely on the defensive for the rest of the campaign. Any press conference they give is going to lead to questions on this, and any snide comment they make about Democrats is going to be brushed back by a quick *cough*pedophiles*cough*!

Indeed, this thing will taint the entire Republican Congress. (Sadly, this is what it takes. As widespread as the Abramoff scandal was, it required math and finance skills and thus didn't really seize the public's attention. But a congressman preying on kids? Cue the Soledad O'Brien bridgade: "Won't someone think of the children?!?!") The Republicans are already in some tight races in unlikely places, and this is just the kind of thing that nudges the polls a point or two in each race and could very well lead to a big blue wave in a few weeks.

If you haven't already done so, now's the time to dig into your pocket and send along a little cash to your favorite Democratic candidate for the final push. If you're looking for recommendations, I'd point you in the direction of some of the House candidates in suburban Philly -- Joe Sestak, Patrick Murphy, and Lois Murphy -- or perhaps the anti-Macaca, Jim Webb, in his Senate race against Felix the Cad.

If money's tight -- and Lord knows it's tight with the Republican incompetents in charge -- just ask yourself: How much you'd spend to see real congressional investigations of this administration? How much would you pay to prevent another conservative justice from going to the Supreme Court? How much would you pay to get a two-year break from these incompetent boobs?

Yeah, I'd pay a lot, too.

Update: Courtesy of Firedoglake, check out this great piece in the Washington Post about the likely impact of all this on the election.