Crossposted
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, today:
Congressman Foley duped a lot of people. He lied to Mr. Shimkus and he deceived his in-state newspaper when they each questioned him. He deceived the good men and women in organizations around this country, with whom he worked to strengthen our child predator laws. I have known him for all the years he served in this House. He deceived me, too.
That's the last paragraph in a larger statement, but when I read that paragraph a specific word popped into my mind. It's a word that I think fits the Republican leadership in this country, but I'm not going to use it yet because I want to frame the point.
If you go to Speaker Hastert's web site, in the right-hand column you'll see this question:
Who is the Speaker?
Immediately below appears this quote:
The most powerful Republican outside the White House is also the most anonymous. Few seem to notice the existence let alone the large and growing influence of House -- Speaker J. Dennis Hastert.
- David S. Broder , Washington Post
I have no doubt that any of that is or was true. It's also worth nothing that the Speaker of the House is third in line to the presidency. Which is why it's so odd to me that Speaker Hastert was so easily duped.
But then that seems to be a particularly Republican disease, doesn't it?
President George Bush, on 9/11:
"Had I know that the enemy was going to use airplanes to kill on that fateful morning, I would have done everything in my power to protect the American people," Mr. Bush told U.S. Air Force Academy football team members who were visiting the White House on Friday.
Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on 9/11:
"I don't think anybody could have predicted that ... they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile," National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said Thursday.
The facts:
Two years before the Sept. 11 attacks, an analysis prepared for U.S. intelligence warned that Osama bin Laden's terrorists could hijack an airliner and fly it into government buildings like the Pentagon.
President George Bush on Katrina:
I don't think anyone anticipated breach of the levees.
The facts:
Whether or not a "breach" was "anticipated," the fact is that many individuals have been warning for decades about the threat of flooding that a hurricane could pose to a set below sea level and sandwiched between major waterways. A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) report from before September 11, 2001 detailed the three most likely catastrophic disasters that could happen in the United States: a terrorist attack in New York, a strong earthquake in San Francisco, and a hurricane strike in New Orleans.
Speaker of the House Denny Hastert on Mark Foley:
Congressman Foley duped a lot of people.
The facts:
What are some warning signs that a person we know may be a pedophile?
Above all, you should trust your instincts. If you sense something is not quite right, you should cut off all contact between your child and the person in question, call protective services or the police, and consult with a professional.
They have low social boundaries.
They encourage (instead of setting limits on) inappropriate "potty" talk or sexual talk.
They do not have age-appropriate peer relationships.
Speaker Hastert, one of the most powerful men in Washington, if not the world, wants you to believe that he was powerless to call any protective services or consult any professionals about the conduct of Mark Foley. Which brings us to the word that popped into my mind when I read Speaker Hastert's defense of his own duping.
Impotence.
The third man in line to the presidency, the most power Republican outside of the White House, and he was impotent to do anything about Mark Foley.
Katrina? Impotence.
9/11? Impotence.
IED's? Impotence.
Civil war in Iraq? Impotence.
Do-Nothing Congress? Impotence.
And that's what this Republican Congress and this Republican President are.
Impotent.