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Denny's Goin' Home
CQ reports that former-Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) is serving his last term in Congress:
After less than a year as a rank-and-file House member, former Speaker J. Dennis Hastert is expected to call an end to a political career that made him the longest serving Republican Speaker in the history of the House of Representatives.Several Illinois newspapers, including the Aurora Beacon News and the Chicago Tribune, reported Tuesday that the Illinois Republican has scheduled a Friday announcement on the steps of the Kendall County Courthouse in Yorkville, Ill. While Hastert aides are refusing to discuss what he plans to say, he is expected to announce that he will not run for a 12th term in 2008, according to Republican sources.
There will be some who'll remember Hastert mainly as ex-Majority Leader Tom DeLay's (R-TX) plaything.
But we here at TPMmuckraker prefer to remember him for his even lower moments, such as convening Republican leaders after the Mark Foley scandal broke to get their stories straight for the press. Unfortunately for Hastert, not even that ten-thumbed effort managed to keep the inconsistencies from piling up. Even the toothless ethics committee report on the scandal found that Hastert and others had "willfully" ignored Foley's interest in House pages.
Josh
Zachary
He got what he came for- a sweet land deal in Illinois made more valuable by a highway earmark.
August 14, 2007 5:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
a questionable tic makes retirement announcement. same tic is involved to it's weight with several justice department investigations. most tics are dumb, but not stupid. they have troubles, they declare they are running again, hurrah!, to raise money for legal defense fund.
said tic says it's going home. tic has blabbed all it knows to get out of jail. tic has no friends left except the ones it now wrestles with.
August 14, 2007 6:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
As John Edwards said in another context (Karl Rove): "Goodbye. Good riddance."
Does anyone know if his district is solid red, or if there is a possible Democratic win here in the 2008 election?
August 14, 2007 7:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
good grief, What a terrible politician. That's all that can really be said of the man.
August 14, 2007 8:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
My goodness! The house cleaning has begun! Remember, Rove said that it was the GOP's own fault(not his!) for a scandal-ridden 2006. Because, according to THE Math (Rove's math), both houses should have been in the GOP's corner last year. Soooo, fresh legs need to be introduced and groomed early for THE Math to work. One of the many reasons why Karl left to start working the numbers and strategy. Hastert is an early choice for "out to pasture" because he is way too vulnerable and the taint layer is too thick.
August 14, 2007 8:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
his district is pretty much bleeding.
August 14, 2007 8:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
He's not going to make his announcement on the steps of the Kendall County Courthouse (which is one-story and has no steps), but on the steps of the 1864 Historic Courthouse, where he made his first announcement for Congress (back when it really was the courthouse).
Denny's district is strong GOP, but Laesch got 40 percent of the vote in '06, which means times are changing. Without Denny as incumbent, there's a (slight) chance the district could go Dem. Especially if the economy keeps going south. The number of foreclosures in the district is increasing and the mood is not happy.
August 14, 2007 8:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
The district is main street rep not brain dead wingnut red, so without strong incumbent who knows.
August 14, 2007 8:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
no more congressional "happy meals" for Jabba...... good riddance porky.
August 14, 2007 9:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
PS
http://dyn.politico.com/members/forums/thread.cfm?catid=1&subcatid=2&threadid=95342¤tPage=1
READ ROVE'S COMMENTS DEMOCRATS - THE ONLY WAY TO STOP THIS GUY FROM HURTING YOU IS TO DO THE RIGHT THING AND HOLD HIM RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS ACTIONS. He's very slippery. Hasn't been caught yet. And, Dems, I hate to break it to you, but you aren't very good at this catch the corruption game. You are getting played while the Fox-Republicans run circles around you to run out the clock. Bush's Brain Rove is your most important guy at the center of it all - investigate and hold him accountable.
August 14, 2007 10:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, oldtree, I never thought of that. Hope he has indeed blabbed. My first thought on hearing of retirement was that Denny was on the DC Madam's list. OTOH, maybe its both.
August 14, 2007 10:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, oldtree, I never thought of that. Hope he has indeed blabbed. My first thought on hearing of retirement was that Denny was on the DC Madam's list. OTOH, maybe its both.
August 14, 2007 10:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Seeeeya, Denny. A generation of Republican leaders accustomed to getting away with sexually abusing male pages will be sorry to see you go.
August 14, 2007 11:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
denny seems to want to wrestle with boys, maybe he has a white knight mentality behind all the corrupt practices. or he is perhaps ill due to his corpulence? but no one of these creeps retires without a hell of a defense fund, so it doesn't make sense on that level. maybe he has years of buildup due to low level challengers?
August 15, 2007 2:02 AM | Reply | Permalink
But what happened to all the investigations and questions about Hastert handing out cash on the House floor. Isn't he the one who was receinving bags of cash in some money laundering and drug dealing operation involving the sale of state secrets and the State dept.? Isn't he one of the main characters in the testimony of Sybil Edmonds that, upon hearing, AG Ashcroft immediately marked classified and hit Sybil with a gag order which AG Gonzales refuses to remove.
Hastert's "I'm leaving so what difference does it make now" nostalgia is earmarked for death he thinks. One of the headmasters of the Culture of Corruption is finally letting go. Good riddance.
August 15, 2007 2:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
I still say that he ain't quittin' . . .
He's going on a diet cuz Future President Huckleberry . . . Sorry . . . Huckabee challanged the Has Been Hastert to join him losing weight.
Jus' ya all wait and see . . . When the man mountain Hastert gets back from buggering Asian hookers next week . . . He tell you all . . . .Yep.
Tee Hee. :o)
August 15, 2007 2:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
If the Congress would remove Sibel Edmonds gag, Denny will not be going home, but straight to jail for treason!
His criminal actions working as an agent for Turkey is know to the Congress and the FBI, but because Turkey is a partner in the so called "war on terror" no action has been taken other than punishing the person (Sibel Edmonds) who detected the crime rather than the criminal.
August 15, 2007 8:31 AM | Reply | Permalink