By Bill Press
Throw the Bastard Out
For once, I join voices with conservatives.
At least, two conservatives: talk-show host Michael Reagan and author David Bossie. Both of whom have called for the resignation of House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
I saw Bossie yesterday at Fox News. "This is nothing but failed leadership," he told me. "Forget politics for a moment. Some things are just wrong. What Mark Foley did was wrong. Denny Hastert knew about it, at least five months ago and took no action. He failed as a leader. He must go."
Strong words, especially coming from a conservative. But absolutely dead on.
Remember, Hastert first said he'd never heard of the emails, until his own colleague, Tom Reynolds of New York, contradicted him.
Then, Hastert tried to defend his lack of action by claiming he didn't realize the emails were sexually explicit. He thought they were just "overly friendly," he says.
Bull! The page who received those emails from Foley said they were "sick, sick, sick, sick, sick." Surely, that implies something more serious than "friendly."
No, Hastert made a deliberate decision to cover up the Foley emails because he didn't want to lose Foley's seat.
In other words, he put party and politics over principle and morality. Over protecting kids.
As Michael Reagan and David Bossie say, that's not the kind of leader we need, want, or deserve.
Dennis Hastert should resign - the sooner, the better.