A Story to Tell (Masturgate Redux)

"We have a story to tell, and the Democrats have — in my view have — put this thing forward to try to block us from telling the story. They're trying to put us on defense," Hastert said.

This quote from Speaker of the House Denny Hastert (R-IL) struck me as a bunch of garbage. I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker, but what "story" do you have to tell?

The story so far is this: Either A) you were completely out of the loop, in which case, at best, you're guilty of gross incompetence and should be removed as Speaker, or B) you were completely in the loop, in which case you are complicit in protecting a man who under any other circumstances would be in jail right now and probably facing a lynch mob. By aiding and abetting this coverup, you should be removed as Speaker.

Those are the only "stories" that count. Pointing fingers at the Democrats doesn't work. As far as we all know, there's NO evidence the Democrats were responsible for sharing this information with the rest of us (which is something you should have done way back when, anyway). Whether it was six months ago, a year ago, or last week, the minute you learned of Rep. Foley's misbehavior, you should not only have called him on it, but you should have taken care of the problem immediately. Instead, it's out here, festering, and it's on YOUR doorstep, *not* the Democrats'. Maybe you and your crew need to learn the meaning of the word "accountability"...?

The "timetable" also isn't important. Sexual misconduct and predatory behavior doesn't hew to a timetable, and you shouldn't be either. As it is, the latest is that Kirk Fordham, Foley's former chief of staff, informed you, Mr. Hastert, of this situation three years ago. That's 2003, in case you're chronologically impaired. As far as I can remember, there wasn't any crucial election back then, so certainly no reason not to have taken care of the problem then.

Oh, and the subsequent behavior from Foley, Reynolds, et al doesn't impress me either. So far we have Foley saying he's an alcoholic. I come from a line of alcoholics, and to the best of my recollection, none of them tried to fool around with minors. Then we have the revelation that Foley is gay. This old chestnut, a favorite of the Right, doesn't work either. Yes, Foley is without a doubt gay, but gay= child molester doesn't fly. My personal experience is that of all the people in my life that I've known who were molested as children, the vast majority were girls molested by men (and usually family members, at that). The Catholic Church and media-hyped stranger abductions notwithstanding, the majority of molestations in this country are committed by family members and people familiar to the victim.

So we have finger-pointing at alcoholism, gays, and the Democrats. Such convenient targets. But nowhere have we had any personal responsibility. I'm sure quite a few right-wing bloggers will try to point to sex scandals involving Democrats, which there are a few of. But again, that's trying to equivocate the matter, and lead people down the road to a straw man. Each scandal is unique to the people involved, and should be dealt with on its own. The fact of the matter here is that we have a Congressman who was known among the rank and file of the Congressional pages to be "overly friendly," a legislator whose own chief of staff (Fordham) ran interference to prevent public exposure, a person in a position of power whose superiors looked the other way, and merely rapped him on the knuckles. National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (R-NY) said he brought the matter to Hastert's attention, and later defended this decision by saying that acted responsibly by bringing the matter to his supervisor's attention.

Uh, no. The responsible, NORMAL thing to do would be to run, not walk, to the police. This is what the average person would do, and it's a very easy responsibility to understand-- which probably explains the low poll numbers the Grand Old Perverts are experiencing right now. This situation isn't a great example of "family values"-- a political party putting its political future ahead of the moral and ethical responsibility to protect minors under your care. It's also inexplicable how Hastert, a former high school wrestling coach, wouldn't understand how to protect high-school age minors, and wouldn't understand how easy it is to influence individuals of that age and maturity level? Makes you wonder...

SO... Mr. Hastert & Co. Care to revise your story?