J'accuse!

J. Dennis Hastert should resign forthwith--both as Speaker of the House and as a member of Congress. There is simply no possible excuse for this:

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.

(Emphasis added)

In an earlier version of the same story, the WaPo stated that "Boehner said he told House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), and that Hastert assured him 'we're taking care of it.'"

Whatever Boehner may or may not have told Hastert, there's absolutely no way that Hastert, as the No. 3 Republican in government, should have been unaware of the outrgaeous behavior of Rep. Foley. Anyone who thinks that the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee or the head of the House Page Board isn't going to copy the Speaker of the House on news of this kind is living in Fantasyland. And Hastert took no actions that anybody could remember--apart from doing his level best, apparently, to flush this scandal down the memory hole for the good of the party. Never mind protecting the teen-agers entrusted to his care by their parents for the service of the nation. Never mind taking care that the laws regarding the reporting of child sexual abuse be faithfully executed. Never mind rectifying the disgusting hypocrisy of allowing a man they knew to be engaging in the exploitation of children to continue serving as the chair of the caucus tasked with preventing that very abuse. What mattered most to Hastert and the rest of the Rubber-Stamp Republican leadership was that nobody find out about their dereliction of duty. Partei über alles is their credo.

Dennis Hastert is loyal only to the Republican Party. Despite the ad that appeared in my parish bulletin last Sunday, paid for by Hastert's campaign committee, he is not "[w]orking for the Families of the 14th District." He could care less about the families--or anything else--in this district, as long as they continue to vote him into office. The only thing he cares about is maintaining his lucrative hold on the reins of power, and the preservation of the image of the Republican Party as trustworthy and reflective of what they are pleased to call "traditional American values." His actions in the Foley incident demonstrate this quite clearly. Those same actions demonstrate with equal clarity that "values," to Republicans, are only window-dressing for campaign season.

Consequently, Mr. Speaker, I will quote to you the famous words of Oliver Cromwell as he dismissed the Rump Parliament 450 years ago:

You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately… Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!

And do let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

Contribute to Hastert's retirement: support John Laesch, Hastert's Democratic opponent in the 14th District. Donate or volunteer your time.

Comments

[Bryan]

The head of the House campaign committee, Thomas Reynolds is on the record as saying he told Hastert in February, so Hastert had the word from multiple people.

There is no way they would keep this information from the Speaker. They had to develop a plan if it blew up on them.

Their problem is that Foley didn't stop.