NY Times: Hastert Lives Bachelorlike Existence with 2 “Aides”

[The HL]

Is Dennis Hastert Gay? Is that why he refused to speak on Foley???

http://www.thehollywoodliberal.com/2006/10/06/hastert-lives-bachelorlike-existence-with-2-assistants-2/

[Onlooker]

1. You sound like a Republican

Do you think gays are more like to protect child abusers than straight people?

Hastert is an unattractive, sexist, bigot -- that's probably why he lives a bachelorlike existence. The only people who would want to hang out with him are opportunists.

[The HL]

8. My point was that Hastert might be trying to protect himself

Maybe foley threatened to out him if Hastert spilled the beans

[SpiralHawk]

2. Only a republicon pervert would think this is "suspicious"

You know, documented republicon perverts like Rush "Anal Cyst" Limbaugh and Bill "Kinky felafel sex" O'Reilly.

Since I am perfectly "normal" I "believe" Hasty is totally "Normal."

[Phredicles]

3. Alert Stephen Colbert! The Speaker of the House is a BEAR!

:evilgrin: :rofl: :evilgrin:

[AndyA]

4. As hypocritical as the Republicans are, I wouldn't be surprised to

discover ANY of them are gay. From Bush right on down. And because they haven't dealt with it and accepted it in their own minds, they resent those of us who have. So, because they're tortured and unhappy, living lives that are lies, they want all other gays to be as well.

Deal with it, guys. It's not that big of a deal. Really. It isn't. Get over it and let us get on with our lives.

[Richardo]

5. So what if he is?

Gay or straight, he has plenty of (selfish and political) reasons to ignore/stonewall this without regard to his own sexual preferences.

Your subject line looks like it's directly from the McCarthy hearings. Roy Cohn would be proud.

[acmejack]

7. You beat me to the punch & much more eloquently, to boot!

Well said, Richardo!

[acmejack]

6. Who cares?

[grasswire]

9. come on, people

Nobody cares if Hastert is gay EXCEPT FOR THE FACT (geez!!) that a Congressional leader who is closeted is subject to blackmail, and that is a threat to national security.

Open your eyes.

When Jeff Gannon threatened to tattle on Joe Biden, he was threatening blackmail against the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

There are national security implications when a Senate or House leader is blackmailable.

[NYCGirl]

10. "Blackmailable"? Wasn't that the criteria for McCarthy to "purge" gays? NT

[beaconess]

14. You're dead on!

That's one of the oldest excuses in the book to stigmatize gay people.

Of course, what they never mention is that, if they are "blackmailable" it's only because they feel forced to stay in the closet by vicious homophobes in our society. If they felt comfortable being who they are, they'd have no fear of being exposed and, thus, couldn't be blackmailed.

It's been absolutely sickening to see how openly and nastily people today castigate gays. I heard a woman on C-Span this morning ranting about how homosexuals are deviants and immoral, blah blah blah. All I could think is how Jesus never breathed a word of condemnation of homosexuals (in fact, he never even mentioned homosexualiaty) but He was pretty damned rough on the hypocrites and the judgmental.

[acmejack]

12. Not if they are out.

[grasswire]

18. exactly

So that's why it's useful to ask the question the OP asked. Is Hastert gay and closeted? Is the Speaker of the House subject to blackmail?

[MoonRiver]

11. Anything is possible with these wackos.

I have heard that there are probably other predators besides Foley. I also believe Hastert and other Pukes could be straight but preying on female pages. A bunch of guys living together who like to "party" heterosexual style is not uncommon, especially if they can all blackmail each other.

[Richardo]

13. Sleaze alert: The NYT didn't use the quotes around "aides"; HL added them

...in the best tradition of clumsy innuendo.

Actual excerpt from the Times article:

Mr. Hastert ... is more at home in Illinois than in Washington, traveling back to the state almost every weekend with Scott Palmer, his chief of staff, and Mike Stokke, his deputy chief of staff. When Congress is in session, the two aides and Mr. Hastert share a townhouse near the Capitol, living a bachelorlike existence.

[The HL]

15. So What?

Does that mean that if Hastert was being blackmailed by Foley, that the story doesn't matter?

[Richardo]

16. What? That has nothing to do with my sleaze alert.

The use of quotes around a word indicates irony or sarcasm. These guys actually ARE aides. The use of quotes puts that into question.

Its' a dishonest framing of the NYT article.

[karynnj]

19. I second the slease alert

There is nothing in the text to lead to the conclusion he is gay. In fact, it seems highly unlikely. He and 2 aides share a town house when in DC. His main residence is with a wife in Ill.

From his web site:
"Hastert lives in Yorkville, Illinois, along the Fox River with his wife Jean. They have two grown sons, Ethan and Joshua who lives and works in Washington, DC. "

This thread is disgusting - as is the suggesting of any other names, Democratic or Republican.

[MsUnderstood]

17. If he were a gay man, accepting of his sexuality

If he were a gay man, accepting of his sexuality he would be the first to step up and say THIS IS WRONG!

Because I don't know any OUT gay person who would say that a 52 year old using his position of authority to sexually harass a teenager is simply a homosexual with a different slant on his sex drive.

ONE MORE TIME for those of you unaware of how this works: Men can be sexually harassed too and a sex crime is not about the SEX it is about the power.

So stop, stop, stop blaming this on the sexuality. It is all about men in power abusing their authority. If Hasert has some freaky sex secret to hide then it has to do with Hasert using HIS position of authority to OBTAIN sexual favors or gratification from others. That is wrong but it has NOTHING TO DO with his sexuality.

[demo dutch]

20. Maybe! Apparently there's a "list" See link

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2006/10/05/publiceye/entry2065637.shtml

this site where Mike Rogersposts apparently tracks those gays deemed to be hyprocritical
http://www.blogactive.com/

[maddezmom]

21. locking

When discussing race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, or other highly-sensitive personal issues, please exercise the appropriate level of sensitivity toward others and take extra care to clearly express your point of view.