{"id":663,"date":"2006-10-04T01:10:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-04T07:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/10\/for-shame-hastert-should-step-aside\/"},"modified":"2006-10-04T01:10:00","modified_gmt":"2006-10-04T07:10:00","slug":"for-shame-hastert-should-step-aside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/10\/for-shame-hastert-should-step-aside\/","title":{"rendered":"For shame: Hastert should step aside"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In early 2005, I did a series of articles for the Las Cruces Sun-News<\/a> on seven child abuse deaths that had occurred in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I recall sitting at a table in the district attorney\u2019s office and looking through autopsy photographs of children who had been raped, beaten, thrown and shaken to death. To say I was lightheaded and nauseous would be an understatement.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

How could anyone do that to a child?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>To learn now that former U.S. Rep. Mark Foley of Florida was apparently having Internet sex<\/a> with a teen while on the House floor, that he arranged an in-person meeting with at least one teen, all while being a champion of the protection of children, makes me sick.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Even worse, however, is that the speaker of the House didn\u2019t stop it. Dennis Hastert has known for months about some of the e-mails. Though he claims he didn\u2019t know about the most egregious ones until Friday, when ABC News<\/a> broke the story that led to Foley\u2019s resignation, those he did know about months ago should have led to further questioning.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

ABC News found the e-mails with relative ease. Hastert could have, too.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t put it any better than did the ultra-conservative Washington Times<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026The original e-mail messages were warning enough that a predator \u2013 and, incredibly, the co-chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children \u2013 could be prowling the halls of Congress. The matter wasn\u2019t pursued aggressively. It was barely pursued at all. Moreover, all available evidence suggests that the Republican leadership did not share anything related to this matter with any Democrat,\u201d the editorial states.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHouse Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once. Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week\u2019s revelations \u2013 or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away,\u201d it states. \u201cHe gave phony answers Friday to the old and ever-relevant questions of what did he know and when did he know it? Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

The egregious actions of one Republican House member might not have had much effect on the November election. Hastert\u2019s action, or inaction, ensures that there will be an effect, and Democrats are more likely because of it to take control not only of the House, but the Senate, too.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, Foley\u2019s attorney is now claiming that Foley is an alcoholic, was molested by a clergyman when he was a teen, and is gay. He clearly suffers from the disease of sexual addiction. Hastert did a disservice to him by not confronting him and pushing him to seek help.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Most important, Hastert left a very sick man in a position that indicated to parents and their children that he could be trusted.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Hastert should have done more. Republicans will pay. Foley will pay. Regardless of whether Foley ever had a physical encounter with a teen (his attorney insists he did not), children have already paid.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

For shame.<\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In early 2005, I did a series of articles for the Las Cruces Sun-News on seven child abuse deaths that had occurred in Do\u00f1a Ana County. I recall sitting at a table in the district attorney\u2019s office and looking through autopsy photographs of children who had been raped, beaten, thrown and shaken to death. To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}