Sellout

John Aravosis has been all over the Ethics Committee report on the Foley page scandal, and understandably so. This has all the earmarks of a coverup. That so many examples of criminally negligent behavior can be described within the report, yet nobody is blamed for breaking any laws or even reprimanded by the committee, is unconscionable. Look at some of the highlights of the report:

• Rep. Jim Kolbe clearly obstructed justice by knowing about sexually explicit messages from Foley to a page he sponsored in 2001, and telling the page to keep his mouth shut about it.

• Rep. John Shimkus, chairman of the House Page Board, admitted to not telling the Democrat on the panel, Rep. Dale Kildee, about his knowledge of the Foley situation because "Dale's a nice guy, but he's a Democrat, and I was afraid it would be blown out of proportion."

• The Committee decided that some members of the House leadership may have covered up the crime because they didn't want to out Rep. Foley as gay, despite nobody claiming that to be the case.

• The Congress presents a present danger to the House pages, which you have to assume means it's ongoing.

I don't know how nobody could be held responsible for coverups and criminal behavior. The Ethics Committee didn't even recommend that Rep. Foley's Congressional pension be taken away from him. Or Rep. Kolbe's (he retired this year), for that matter. Why are taxpayers still footing the bill for someone who exhibited criminal behavior?

The Ethics Committee is dysfunctional. The Republicans obviously are interested in sweeping this under the rug. Rep. Berman's conduct does not surprise me. However, the presence of Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio, a solid progressive, on the investigating subcommittee can only lead me to the conclusion that there is an instinct for self-protection and self-preservation among the members of Congress. You cannot run investigations where the members police themselves, that much is clear. A nonpartisan Office of Public Integrity outside of Congress, maybe run by the judiciary, is desperately needed.