October surprise

An October surprise is American political jargon describing a stunning news event with the potential to influence the outcome of an election, particularly one for the presidency. It is so called because Election Day in the U.S. is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and events shortly before the election have greater potential to swing votes. Most of the time, the term is used to label actions of a sitting president, especially with regard to military or foreign policy matters, but it can also apply to news stories unfavorable to the incumbent administration. "Historically, news outlets avoid investigative pieces critical of candidates within days of an election to avoid appearing partisan." [1] Particularly since the 1980 election, the term has been pre-emptively used to discredit late-campaign news by one side or the other.

If there were any doubts, about what month it is, they have certainly been removed.

It is October, we have an ontime delivery of an October Surprise, and it is a doozy.

It seem a Republican Congressman by the name of Foley has been a very bad boy indeed.

The first reports were of some emails, which strange as they sounded did not qualify as a smoking gun.

They could be taken as ominous or harmless, depending on what viewpoint one wished to take.

It is not hard to guess how those viewpoints lined up.

But then there appeared some very damaging Instant Messages.

They allowed for no misinterpretation, and as 20/20 Hindsight is always perfect, created a solitary view of the previous emails.

So Congressman Foley has resigned and at last reports is in an Alcohol Treatment Center.

That is no real surprise, the Instant Messages show evidence of diminished capacity, which is staggering/

The moral and ethical issue is damning enough but a position of National Responsibility should not be in the hands of a practicing alcoholic and certainly not in the hands of someone with such an abysmal sense of judgment.

In the general mudslinging that ensued, the meme has been broached that the Republican Leadership knew ALL of this and covered up for the Congressman.

Big Lizards has an excellent article Bearing False Witness showcasing the edited and slanted coverage of these incidents by the Mainstream Media.

If there were any doubts as to whether our Major Media is truly a source of neutral journalism, they are now dispelled.

I do not wish to diminish my total disgust for the actions of Congressman Foley. He has earned the consequences of his actions.

If indeed the Republican Leadership did know the full story and attempted a cover up, they too have earned the consequences of their own action.

There are other parties to this. These emails and instant messages did not suddenly manifest themselves out of the ether or jump forward in Time.

SOMEONE knew these details. SOMEONE waited until the perfect moment to optimize political damage.

Anyone one who sat on this information, and did not report it for partisan political gain, engaged in a coverup themselves of an equally venal nature to the actions of Congressman Foley.

Pelosi has called for a full investigation, including polygraph testing of the Republican Leadership,

I feel the actions of those who sprung this October Surprise deserve some public scrutiny as well.

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