Hastert Must Go

[bemildred]

DENNIS HASTERT SHOULD RESIGN as speaker of the House of Representatives. Not necessarily because he failed to act quickly when shown evidence suggesting that Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) was abusing his power with teenagers — not all the details are known, though the ones that are don't look good. No, the Illinois Republican should resign because he's an unimaginative politician and an uninspired legislator. Unfortunately, these days that just makes him a typical congressional Republican.

At his job-preserving news conference Thursday, Hastert said, "The buck stops here," then proceeded to blame some of this Republican scandal on the Democratic Party. "I haven't done anything wrong, obviously," he added.

That sound you hear is Harry Truman rolling over in his grave. Still, it was an improvement over the speaker's contention Monday that critiquing his oversight amounted to nothing more than "woulda, coulda, shoulda." To repeat: Even disregarding the well-documented rumors of Foley's unhealthy obsession with young interns dating to at least 1995, and accepting Hastert's insistence that his office first heard about Foley's misbehavior last fall, the speaker had more than enough information to launch an investigation. Instead, he was more interested in protecting his party's fortunes than the safety of minors.

Is that reason enough for Hastert to resign? Perhaps. But let's give Hastert the benefit of the doubt, on the principle that it's unfair to judge a man for a single mistake. Looking at his record only makes the case for his resignation stronger.

LA Times

[MADem]

1. Buck stops here...but (whaaaaa!) George Soros swiped it! (Whaaa) NT

[goddess40]

2. Resigning from Speaker isn't enough

He needs to give up his seat and get out of politics completely. To protect a pedophile is criminal and unforgivable.

[Kikosexy2]

6. Read Buzzflash.com...

It's the Rovian tactic to have Hastert keep his job so it won't appear the party is guilty....Demand Hastert's head...keep the pressure up....

[peacetalksforall]

3. I prefer he stays through the election, at the minimum, as he

needs to stay in the spotlight The minute he opens his mouth, he gets himself in worse trouble - he is implicating himself, setting himself up for a terrible legacy - he needs to stay - perhaps until the end of this session - squirming and embarrassing all of them. He fell in a big bear trap that he made for himself - he needs to stay in it until justice is done. He will disappear if he resigns.

He also needs to be in office for the ABRAMOFF DIRT STILL TO COME.

[bemildred]

4. Well, I agree.

I thought is was interesting that the LA Times decided to call for his head loudly and in public.

[AndyA]

5. I agree.

Let the fat f*ck stay put until after the elections. Then the Dems will be in a position to find out what really happened, and dig up all the other dirt these @ssholes have been hiding.

[AndyTiedye]

7. Any Chance He'll Be VOTED OUT in the Election?

[yellowcanine]

8. Yes this is really why Hastert should resign as speaker, Foley-gate or

not. He abused his power by not following the rules of the House in order to pass Republican favored bills.