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Ya know, many conservatives just have to shoot themselves in the foot and apparently Tony Blankley and Co. at the Washington Times fall into that category. Hastert has said he did know about emails but not instant messages. By all accounts the emails between Foley and the page were fairly innocuous, asking questions about vacations, how ya doin', etc. The IMs were sexual in nature and are from three years ago.

It is crazy to believe that Hastert, Boehner and the rest of the House GOP hierarchy knew about these IMs and chose to look the other way in order to preserve control of that body. While Democrats doing so is well within the realm of possibility since in the past such behavior has been spun and condoned by the them it has not been done so by Republicans, ever.

The Times evidently is willing to throw good people over the side in lieu of the facts in order to appear moral and righteous. That willingness is pointless. It is however self-congratulatory, self-absorbed and self-defeating in the long run and an example of why conservatives are referred to as reactionary.

"It is crazy to believe that Hastert, Boehner and the rest of the House GOP hierarchy knew about these IMs"

I feel sorry for Hastert. I have no doubt that Foley led a highly deceptive life and Hastert and the people around him were deceived. In time, more information will come out and in situations like this it will get far more ugly and far more significant than IM's.

"By all accounts the emails between Foley and the page were fairly innocuous, asking questions about vacations, how ya doin', etc. The IMs were sexual in nature and are from three years ago."

When a 50yo gay man (and, by the way, everybody on Capitol Hill knew Foley was gay) starts sending emails to 16yo boys asking for pictures, it's time to ask some serious questions. The emails were very odd.