Waterboard Armey and DeLay

Congressional pages were warned about former Rep. Mark Foley as long ago as 2001-2. John in DC posted the ABC News video at AmericaBlog, and also relates how Page board boss Rep. John Shimkus let Foley spend time alone with pages even after such warnings were given.

Rep. Dennis Hastert was already Speaker at that time; the GOP leadership in the House then included Majority Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay. What did they know? Let's waterboard 'em; it's not like it's torture...

And speaking of Armey: Armey Lashes Out Against Dobson, Values Voters

Pete Winn, associate editor, family.org (Focus on the Family):

Former Texas Congressman Dick Armey, once a stalwart ally in the culture wars, appears to be turning his back on Christian conservatives and their leaders.

The former majority leader of the House of Representatives reportedly told Ryan Sager, author of a new book on the Republican Party, that values voters and their leaders — especially Focus on the Family Action Chairman Dr. James Dobson — are "nasty bullies."

In the interview, Armey responded pointedly when Sager asked why he thought Christian conservatives seemed more powerful now than in the 1990s.

"To a large extent, because Dobson and his gang of thugs are real nasty bullies," Armey said. "I pray devoutly every day, but being a Christian is no excuse for being stupid. There's a high demagoguery coefficient to issues like prayer in schools. Demagoguery doesn't work unless it's dumb . . . These issues are easy for the intellectually lazy and can appeal to a large demographic."

Focus on the Family Action President Jim Daly said it's shocking the former congressman would attack millions of values voters who helped Armey and other social conservatives gain control of Congress.

(Thanks OfftheKuff)