The Wife points out that the GOP seems unmoved (and unaffected) by massive corruption, by lies that take us into war, by attempts to destroy the Consitution, but they are peculiarly sensitive to sexual scandal—even run-of-the-mill sexual peccadilloes like the Clinton-Lewinsky naughtiness. So, surely, they must want to tear the house apart on this Rep Foley thing:

… By Friday, other pages had come forward with more blatant instant messages. “What ya wearing?” Mr. Foley wrote to one, according to the network. “Tshirt and shorts,” the teenager responded. “Love to slip them off of you,” Mr. Foley replied.

ABC News said it had read him other messages that were far more graphic. Within hours, Mr. Foley resigned in a one-sentence letter to Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. He left the Capitol without answering questions.

And the story continually changes about who knew what when. Brad DeLong points out:

Weisman and Babbington of The Washington Post this morning:

Rep. Foley Quits In Page Scandal - washingtonpost.com: House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of inappropriate “contact” between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he then told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). Boehner later contacted The Post and said he could not remember whether he talked to Hastert. It was not immediately clear what actions Hastert took. His spokesman had said earlier that the speaker did not know of the sexually charged online exchanges between Foley and the boy…

Weisman and Babbington last night:

House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) told The Washington Post last night that he had learned this spring of some “contact” between Foley and a 16-year-old page. Boehner said he told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), and that Hastert assured him “we’re taking care of it.” It was not immediately clear what actions Hastert took. His spokesman had said earlier that the speaker did not know of the sexually charged e-mails between Foley and the boy…

Boehner’s scramble to get back on message sounds much more credible when Boehner’s claim that Hastert told him “we’re taking care of it” is removed. Had Weisman and Babbington left that “we’re taking care of it” in, the story would be less friendly to Majority Leader Boehner. And the story would be much less friendly to Majority Leader Boehner had Weisman and Babbington added in the third story Boehner was telling last night–the one he was telling to Roll Call:

Boehner strongly denied media reports late Friday night that he had informed Hastert of the allegations, saying “That is not true.”

Not “I don’t remember.” Instead: “That is not true.”

You cannot read Roll Call and both versions of the Post story without concluding that Boehner was lying to somebody last night: three different stories in quick succession defeats all credulity.

You cannot read the Post this morning without concluding that Weisman and Babbington are unseemly eager to keep their readers from learning that Boehner was lying to somebody last night.

So not only had this been going on for months—perhaps years—but the GOP leadership had known about it. But—in strange contrast to Clinton-Lewinsky—the GOP leadership tried to keep it quiet and let it continue.

Too bad the House Ethics Committee is completely worthless.