Posted on 10/03/2006 2:44:23 AM PDT by Dane
Oct. 2, 2006, 11:09PM Washington Times wants Hastert to resign
© 2006 The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Responding to the scandal over former Rep. Mark Foley's suggestive messages to teenage boys, the editorial board of The Washington Times called for House Speaker Dennis Hastert to step down.
"House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once," said the lead editorial posted Monday night on the Times Web site.
The Times, one of the most reliably conservative voices in the nation's capital, joined some Democrats in criticizing Hastert, R-Ill., for not doing enough to investigate questions about Foley's e-mail exchanges with teenage boys who had worked as House pages.
"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's revelations, or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away," The Times' editors wrote.
"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," The Times said.
Here are the facts. A page's parent asked that foley stop sending innocuous and non-sexually explicit e-mails. That was stopped and the parfents did not want any further investigation. The sexually explicit IM's were discovered last Friday and foley immediately resigned. How is Dennis Hastert reponsible for foley's actions especially when the original e-mail's from last year that were brought to the attention of Hastert were innocuous and not sexually explicit.
BTW, when is the Washington Times going to interview non-resigned Congressman barney frank about his take on this situation or ask for barney frank's resignation about a male prostitue ring being run out of his DC house?
he should not do it!!!..... let's all find out what the fbi knew and when they knew it....how did the emails wind up in the hands of the soros gang...this was definitely a lib/dem hit....yes, foley should be ou, no question about that...but this is just another lib/dem october surprise! Haven't heard from fat ted/barney gay/studds/william cold cash jefferson...it is only about a repubican...so far, there is no proof of actual physical contact...quite unlike clinton and lewinsky/willey/broderick...but yet the press is all over this and gave others a pass!!!
And, despite Mr. Frank's protestations to the contrary, also run from his Congressional office?
I really don't understand the bloodlust among conservatives for Hastert's head in this mess. The timeline clearly shows that Hastert wasn't aware of the instant messages until a few days ago. Has it even been proven or even suggested that Foley had sex with any of the interns?
Given the nature of the instant messages it seems likely that he did but even if he did the standard was set by the Democrats when Studds had sex with a 17 year old intern and got a standing ovation in the House when he refused to resign.
...it's easy to understand how senior Republicans might well have decided they had no grounds to doubt Mr. Foley merely because he was gay and a little too friendly in emails. Some of those liberals now shouting the loudest for Mr. Hastert's head are the same voices who tell us that the larger society must be tolerant of private lifestyle choices, and certainly must never leap to conclusions about gay men and young boys. Are these Democratic critics of Mr. Hastert saying that they now have more sympathy for the Boy Scouts' decision to ban gay scoutmasters? Where's Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on that one?
You guys aren't focusing on the right thing.
Unless I've missed out on something, the pages knew about Foley back in 2001.
Either the GOP has been willfully ignorant or they've been covering up his (and possibly other's) actions.
This happend on the GOP's watch, they better man up ASAP and start falling on their swords or else we're going to get slaughtered in November.
I am not interested in a race to the bottom with the democrats. I am a republican, I am proud of that, and the standards that I demand from my politicians are much higher than those that dummycrats demand from theirs.
On our watch, the GOP let a congressman pray on little kids that were there to learn more about our country. What kind of a sick vision will those kids now have of Washington? What should have happened as soon those friendly e-mails reached the leadership is a full investigation into this.
I don't care if the democrats are worst or if Barney Franks is a disgusting degenerate. I cannot in good conscience support a party that closes an eye on those things just to retain the power.
On election day, I am going to stay home and unless things change by 2008 I am going to be voting for the constitution party, who can hopefully bring some morality back in our glorious nation.
Uh that has been debunked.
Page Disputes Warning about Rep. Foley
Seems that the page who made that original charge has retracted it.
Expecting that fruit basket from nancy pelosi on November 8th?
They've been in the hands of the DCCC and CREW waiting for the right time to release them, NOT in the hands of the GOP.
Huh if your above was true, foley would still be a Congressman(which he is not).
Little Kid??????
That little kid is 22 years old now. Try doing your arithmetic.
When has the AP ever described the NY Times or WaPo as one of the nation's most reliably liberal voices?
maybe you did not read my the whole posting...I stated that foley should be out...no question...but it is not just a question of sinking to lib/dem standards...
congratulations...you have already stated the lib/dem agenda and will fulfill it...."On election day, I am going to stay home"...that sure will accomplish a great deal...have the lib/dems, who you stated are so low that you won't sink to their level in office....yea, that's the ticket....let them win....that will surely prove how superior you are as the country will reap all those positive benefits from lib/dem values....keep being proud as they pick you pocket with new taxes/cut & run in iraq & the world and course start impeachment proceedings on Bush...yupper...you moral high ground is jsut what the lib/dems ordered!!!!
How dare you stray from the Reservation.
Tony Blankley and The Washington Times have lost their mind ......... and the election.
wrong
I am more concerned about the lack of an investigation after those 'innocent e-mails' reached the leadership. Who here is a parent and would not be suspect if they saw that your son was exchanging that type of e-mail correspondence with a 54 year old congressman?
I don't want to make it sound like the democrats are better, they are far far worst, but in no way does that condone the behaviour I have seen from republicans recently on issues like border security, budget cuts, and now First suggesting making peace with Afghanistan. I want to vote Republicans. There are a few senators that I will do everything in my power to support, like Couburn and Brownback but it seems like they are pushed further and further to the fringes.
I am not going to ever vote for the democrats, but at this point I am so deluded that 'better than the alternative' is not enough to get me to vote.
I doubt it, since the lection is 5 weeks from today and in politics a week is a lifetime, so there are 5 lifetimes till election day. :).
What Tony Blankly and the Wash Times have done, IMO, is damage their reputation with this big wet kiss of an editorial to nancy pelosi.
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