Hastert says he’ll stay as Punching Bag of the House
Hastert to “Take Responsibility”
House Speaker Dennis Hastert will take responsibility for the unfolding page sex scandal but insist he will stay on as leader of House Republicans, a House GOP official said Thursday, as leaders of the ethics committee weighed when and how to act.
Hastert will ask former FBI director Louis Freeh to examine the page system and make recommendations on how to improve program almost as old as the Congress itself. Freeh headed the FBI from 1993 to 2001 during Bill Clinton’s presidency.
Update: Pelosi nixed Freeh. Hastert will talk to her about other candidates.
Republicans should not despair though, Powder Line says it’s not a problem:
I want to focus … on the question of how [the Foley] matter will affect the election next month.
I’m not convinced that it will. The battle for control of the House will come down to individual races in which Republican incumbents are being challenged. I doubt that Rep. Foley’s misconduct or the ins-and-outs concerning Speaker Hastert’s response will have much bearing on the decision of voters in [other states].
Most bloggers, whatever side they are on, do not actually wear cheerleading outfits for their team.
Even this oft-criticized source:
FOXNews.com - Internal Poll Suggests Hastert Could Devastate GOP
House Republican candidates will suffer massive losses if House Speaker Dennis Hastert remains speaker until Election Day, according to internal polling data from a prominent GOP pollster, FOX News has learned.
“The data suggests Americans have bailed on the speaker,” a Republican source briefed on the polling data told FOX News. “And the difference could be between a 20-seat loss and 50-seat loss.”
Most GOP lawmakers have stood by Hastert, pending a full airing of the facts in his handling of the Mark Foley affair, in which the former Florida representative was caught exchanging salacious messages with teen pages in Congress. The new polling data, however, suggests that many voters already have made up their minds.
Actually, on that Fox News “internal polling data from a prominent GOP pollster,” that sounds to me like someone high up … umm … maybe an “unnamed highly placed White House operative who frequently parks in Karl Rove’s garage?” … who is putting out a message to Hastert.
(As an aside — Kissinger really was once identified in the NYTimes as a “senior administration official who travels frequently on the Secretary of State’s plane.”)
Anyone but himself
Highway to Hastert’s Heaven
Hastert countdown
Waterboard Allah!
Interpreting the Geneva Conventions