NO BIG DEAL

TONY SNOW

Attention! Attention!! The new GOP talking points are out! Hot of the presses!

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow was the first to introduce them as the Republicans try desperately to put the cat back in the bag in regards to the Mark Foley controversy/coverup. Knowing full well that a scandal of this nature could potentially keep turnout down among evangelicals (the bread-and-butter of the GOP base), the Republican apparatus kicked into high gear in a transparent effort to minimize the political fallout that could end up costing some high-ranking House members their jobs.

Bearing in mind that the best talking points are the simplest talking points (cut-and-run Democrat, Kerry is a flip flopper, tax-and-spend liberals), Snow began the effort to downplay the entire controversy by calling the whole thing "simply naughty emails". He implied that this scandal was minor in the grand scheme of things when he said, "I hate to tell you but it's not always pretty up there on Capitol Hill and there have been other scandals as you know that have been more than simply naughty emails." So, emails and explicit instant messenging exchanges between a member of Congress and underage boys is no biggie in Snow's (and one would assume by extension, the White House's) world. The fact that the GOP House leadership has been aware of Foley's predatory ways for over five years yet did nothing about them is barely a blip on the radar according to Snow.

To Republicans, power is everything. They would rather coddle and protect a sexual predator than risk potentially losing control of the house. Since they like talking points so much, how about if we start referring to the GOP as the party that protects pedophiles. Or the party with no soul.