Adam Graham
October 1, 2006
Betrayed: Why Dennis Hastert must resign
By Adam Graham

The recent resignation of Congressman Mark Foley (R-Fl.) is the latest in a string of disgraceful performances by the Republican Conference. A story of "too friendly" e-mails to a former page opened a dam when another page turned over damning Instant messages that showed the Congressman soliciting sex from teenage boys who had served as pages.

The e-mails from the first page were reported to the boy's Congressman, Rodney Alexander by the boy's parents. Alexander reported the e-mails (directly or through others) to multiple sources, including National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds and House Majority Leader John Boehner, as well as the Republican member of the page board, Rep. John Skimus (R-Ill.)

Both Boehner and Reynolds claimed to have told Hastert, although Boehner later recanted when Hastert stated he had not been told. Now Hastert is claiming he "doesn't recall" the conversation, but won't dispute it, either; a very interesting flip flop on a previous statement.

With Hastert, we're left to conclude either he lied, or has a very bad memory. Given the reports from two congressmen, plus the unusual circumstances, I lean towards the former. However more damning than that is that incoming pages were warned about Foley's conduct five years ago, according to the President of the Page Alumni Association.

Now, we're left with two conclusions regarding Dennis Hastert's knowledge of Mark Foley's behavior towards young congressional pages. Either, Mr. Hastert is so aloof he has less knowledge of what's going on in the US House than a staffer supervising teenagers, or he willfully chose to ignore the information and let a member of his leadership team engage in this conduct while also serving as co-chair of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children.

Neither the image of the aloof and clueless leader, or the enabler of bad conduct are good images for the House speaker. Dennis Hastert, as Speaker of the US House, is charged with upholding the dignity and honor of that institution. His failure to address this issue, either through unbelievable ignorance or utter disregard for the safety and welfare of the House's young charges, is a failure in leadership and a betrayal of conservative principles for which he must stand down as Speaker for the good of the House and the Republican Party.

© Adam Graham

 

The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)

Click to enlarge

Adam Graham

Adam Graham was Montana State Coordinator for the Alan Keyes campaign in 2000, and in 2004 was a candidate for the Republican nomination for the Idaho State House... (more)

Subscribe

Receive future articles by Adam Graham: Click here

Latest articles

 

Alan Keyes
Why de facto government (tyranny) is replacing the Constitution

Stephen Stone
Will Obama be impeached now that Republicans control both houses of Congress?

Wes Vernon
Did lawmaker hand Rush the cat out of the bag?

Cliff Kincaid
Sanders adviser says repeal Columbus Day

Matt C. Abbott
Priest-theologian: if worst-case scenario at synod occurs, Catholics must resist changes

Bryan Fischer
Finding a wife - Boy to Man Book, Chapter 17

Rev. Mark H. Creech
Marriage, a wolf, and Little Red Riding Hood

Kevin Price
Big business and its love affair with minimum wage

Judie Brown
The Good Shepherd, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted

Rev. Austin Miles
BREAKING! U.N. dictates global sodomite acceptance

Ellis Washington
Adolf Hitler: The Early War Years (1939-42)

A.J. Castellitto
Carry thy gun, love thy neighbor

Selwyn Duke
What really drives Obama's destructive mideast policy?

James Lambert
Barack Hussein Obama has no interest in upholding laws he does not like
  More columns

Cartoons


Michael Ramirez
More cartoons

RSS feeds

News:
Columns:

Columnists

Matt C. Abbott
Chris Adamo
Bonnie Alba
Jamie Freeze Baird
Chuck Baldwin
Kevin J. Banet
J. Matt Barber
Fr. Tom Bartolomeo
. . .
[See more]

Sister sites