By Loren Adams, 27 March 2011
My name is Jonathon.
I became interested in politics while a junior in high
school during Clinton's second term which seemed, unfortunately, to have been
dominated by the Lewinsky affair, whether by design or happenstance. The
majority in the Lakeland area were up in arms about the President's
extramarital relations performed right in the nation's sacred Oval Office.
Thus, they not only wanted him impeached, but beheaded. Central Florida is
predominantly right-wing, the extreme intolerant variety. It is commonly known
as the "I-4 Corridor" for Interstate 4 which slices the state in
half, from Tampa to Daytona.
As a non-conformist, I refused to share their sentiments,
although declaring myself a Libertarian and registering Republican when finally
reaching 18 a year later – for nothing other than the sake of my own best
interest. Yes, I was an opportunist, guilty as charged. Because I really didn't
believe in basic GOP doctrine. I was no ideologue either, which type dominates
the party at present. But I wanted to take advantage of the situation to
further my own ambitions. The GOP was simply a stepping-stone.
In 1998 I inquired about serving as an intern or
congressional page in Washington. Soon thereafter, Representative Mark
Stadler's administrative assistant called to congratulate me on being selected
to serve as a page on Stadler's staff. It seemed such an honor to have been
chosen from among hundreds of applicants.
At the end of the semester, I hastily packed and drove my
old '88 Honda to Washington DC. It was an adventure about which I'd only
dreamed.
The morning I met Congressman Stadler was an eye-opener.
Stadler had arrived in Washington with dozens of other freshmen Republicans as
a direct result of Gingrich's Republican revolution of '94 where GOP leaders
presented their 'Contract With America.' I honestly was not impressed with this
bullshit which was generously dished out to an ignorant electorate. But I went
along for the ride despite misgivings.
Mark Stadler was strikingly handsome – with his red
hair, green eyes, and great physique indicating he worked out rigorously. I was
impressed. But what really caught my attention was the way his eyes darted
about the room focusing on particular young men, fresh recruits to his
congressional page brigade. Stadler was allowed ten, and nine of them were
males – just out of 11th grade. Only one female was present, probably a
token or the daughter of some big contributor. All nine guys were attractive.
My first thought: "How could a so-called conservative
Christian politician whose electability solely depended on his behavior while
in office act in such a manner to compromise his re-electability?"
Lakeland-Winter Haven is a right-wing bastion, not some freaky left-wing
Massachusetts district on Cape Cod which elects a Barney Frank every term.
Then it dawned on me, "There's method to his
madness." All politicians caught in the web of scandal seemed to have been
implicated by affairs with females, not males. So, having a secret affair with
another man, at that time anyhow, seemed less risky. Especially if the
politician was skilled enough to put out a believable anti-gay message. It's
like Jimmy Swaggart preaching against adultery all those years so he could
divert attention away from his own affairs. Congressmen pull the same trick, I
learned.
These were the days before Mark Foley was caught and
Wide-Stance Larry was arrested (but continued serving out his term with
impunity).
Ken Starr had just uncovered Clinton's affair with Monica
Lewinsky, a female, and the discovery provided red-meat to a right-wing
movement determined to take power at any cost, ethics and the nation's best
interests be damned.
House Speaker Newt Gingrich also left himself wide open to
attack by his careless trysts with female staffers. And guess who outed him?
Tom DeLay, who seized the opportunity, thereby arranging Gingrich's premature
departure so he could take his place or else choose his replacement thereby
accumulating more power for himself. Gingrich had earlier outed Speaker Jim
Wright of Fort Worth so he could take his place; then Tom DeLay outed Newt to
take his place; now Tom DeLay is sentenced in Texas for political finance but
never got caught for protecting the sex-slave trade in the Mariannas. It's dog
eat dog.
Capitol Hill and all inside the Beltway were awash in
scandal; it was a sea of corruption (still is) where bigger fish swallow the
smaller as accepted behavior. It's a game of "Who can out whom the
quickest." Or "Who can cover up the most the best." Those that
hid the most corruption and cronyism were called "successful," and
those who made careless mistakes that were later uncovered were called
"failures." It wasn't the crime, it was getting caught committing the
crime.
So, this was the atmosphere I walked into the summer of '98.
Stadler was unusually handsome, had packed his page complement with spry high
school boys from throughout his home district, and was obviously a closeted gay
himself – or else deeply appreciative of male anatomy; I wasn't sure
which. At first.
Six weeks went by after we had undergone orientation and got
our feet wet. More or less we were simply "gofers"
("go-fors") as they called them. But we were privileged to sit behind
the congressmen at committee meetings televised by CSPAN. I honestly think it
was for window-dressing, because all we did was sit there and look attractive.
Millions watch CSPAN, so the more attractive the people in the background, the
better for the politician. It was all a PR stunt.
Once in a while we'd do actual work, like helping compile
records, research topics limited to unclassified materials, opposition research
("dirt-digging"), and editing speeches and articles published in
national and regional periodicals. Seldom were we allowed to speak directly to
the congressman's constituents, at least never about policy. We were allowed to
respond to emails, but only with preselected text, never our own. It boiled
down to they had no trust in us.
Ironically, most of the representative's policy papers
originated from RNC headquarters and arrived daily as
"talking-points." Yes, the congressman read a canned script written
by people over him seldom seen. He was rarely allowed an original thought, much
less permitted to introduce resolutions and/or amendments outside what
headquarters produced that was, in truth, created by lobbyists. In effect, only
party-sanctioned lobbyists were allowed to propose legislation; congressmen
simply served as conduits who "on-the-record" introduced legislation
for the camera-eye, but such legislation was composed by lobbyists behind the
curtain. Congressmen were downgraded to spokesmen for lobbyists and lobbyist
served as puppets to major corporations and special interests who, in turn,
never propose anything in the general public's best interest, only their own.
No wonder the country's falling apart. Everything that masquerades as patriotic
is destroying democracy as we once knew it.
The "K Street Project" was designed by Stadler and
DeLay to solidify one-party rule. The plan went like this: DeLay and team
signed contracts with lobby firms which denied employment to non-party
lobbyists while guaranteeing positions to retired and former congressmen loyal
to the party. All others were excluded, hence, guaranteeing the GOP a lock on
power. Lobbyists outside the "Project" were essentially neutered,
carried no influence on legislation whatsoever. As a result "K
Street" firms hired only Republicans and approached only a few token Democratic
legislators on Capitol Hill because Democrats had no authority to introduce
bills. The effect was the reintroduction of fascism, not representative
democracy by any stretch.
Oh, I almost forgot. The most unusual twist occurred at
orientation when Congressman Stadler's assistant presented us with
non-disclosure agreements and informed us that our signatures were mandatory,
not optional, if we were continue on staff. Although not on payroll, we
were compelled to sign.
We read over the contract and one paragraph stood out:
"Current and past pages under the supervision of Representative Mark
Stadler will not disclose to the media or to any other person(s) outside this
office any conduct or perceived conduct of the Congressman or his associates at
any time, current or future, ad infinitum."
In other words, we were not allowed to rat on the
congressman no matter what the offense, no matter what he did, good or bad.
Whistleblowing was out of the question and we weren't provided immunity under
any federal statute should we squeal to law enforcement, to the media, or to
the ethics committee. Federal whistleblowing protections defaulted to the
congressman's contract by way of our signatures, and no one in government would
back us up if we did. It was more than a threat; it was a promise.
We signed, of course. But it raised a big red flag. What was
Stadler hiding? What was he like behind the mask?
(Continued with next posting, April 10, 2011)