Laesch (Hastert's Dem. opponent) Calls for Hastert's Resignation

Bucky

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Mon Oct-02-06 05:53 PM
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Laesch (Hastert's Dem. opponent) Calls for Hastert's Resignation

(mods, please note the following is the text of a press release statement, which is intended for full text republication by all media sources)

Laesch Calls for Hastert's Resignation

Following is the text of John Laesch's remarks as prepared for his news conference in Chicago on October 2, 2006.

My Name is John Laesch and I am running for Congress, against Dennis Hastert in Illinois' 14th District.

I want to thank you for coming here today and I would like to thank the netroots for following this important story.

Let me be clear about why we are here today.

We already know that Mark Foley crossed the line and maybe even broke the law � nobody disagrees on this point.

We are here today to ask, why did Dennis Hastert and Republican leaders try to cover this story up when they are always politicizing family values on the campaign trail?

Let me give you an example with a few words from a very famous man:

"Even though our children may be at home with the doors locked that doesn't mean that they are safe. We must continue to be proactive in warding off pedophiles and other creeps who want to take advantage of our children...."

These are the words of Speaker of the House, J. Dennis Hastert from a 1998 press release that announced the passage of the Child Protection & Sexual Predator Punishment Act, H.R. 3494.

Those are pretty strong words from a former teacher who tried to cover up the fact that one of the Republican members of his house was preying, in a sexual manner, on underage, male pages.

We know for a fact that both John Shimkus and Dennis Hastert knew about Mark Foley's sexual advances towards underage boys.

Eleven months ago, Shimkus and Hastert were finding ways to cover up Foley's affection for pages.

Surprisingly, today, they think that Mark Foley should be tried under the full weight of the criminal justice system.

Eleven months ago Foley deserved a slap on the wrist and today he should be in jail.

Apparently the word proactive to Dennis Hastert means wait eleven months then act as soon as you are caught by the media.

Here is what is going on...

Dennis Hastert is playing a smoke and mirrors game with the media to divert attention from the fact that he knew and that he was responsible.

Dennis Hastert has said that he is responsible for everyone working in the Capital. On page 235 of Hastert's book, Speaker, he says that he is responsible for the young boys who open mail in the clerk's office. This is a short excerpt from the book about the anthrax scare in Washington D.C. � These are Dennis Hastert's words:

We said, 'We have _kids_ opening that mail.' I'm responsible for the people who work in these buildings on Capitol Hill, so I decided we were better off shutting down and sending everyone home."

In 2001, Dennis Hastert is responsible, but by 2005 he felt that investigating a possible sex offender is just too much work. It was so important that maybe he even forgot about it.

We have been watching Shimkus and Hastert squirm for the last several days and I think it is important that we call them out on their flip-flopping. Here is the timeline.

At first, Dennis Hastert said that he knew nothing about Foley's addiction to young male pages.

Then, Dennis Hastert has said that he can not remember if he heard about Foley's predeliction for young pages or not.

Now he is saying that maybe he had heard about it but he did not know the details. He didn't know how bad it was.

Hastert wanted to see and sniff all of the dirty laundry when it was Bill Clinton's affair with a grown woman. But Hastert doesn't give a damn when it is a Republican hitting on underage boys.