Posted by
Bruce Armstrong on Thursday, October 05, 2006 3:17:39 PM
I just watched the Hastert presser and I was struck by how much he resembles Phillip Green.
Who is Phillip Green, you might ask?
He was the character played by Kevin Pollack in the great 1995 movie Casino, about the mob in Vegas in the 60s and 70s. Phillip Green was the front man for the mob to take control of the fictional Tangiers casino, with the benefit of a Teamsters Union pension fund loan, so that the mob could skim millions from the casino's income.
Nicky Santoro, Joe Pesci's character in Casino, said of Phillip Green, "He didn't know too much, he didn't want to know too much."
That description, sadly, seems to fit Hastert to a "T" with regards to Foleygate.
Hastert didn't know too much, he didn't want to know too much. Was he poorly served by his staff? Certainly. But that doesn't absolve Hastert of responsibility.
In the Navy, a captain is responsible for his ship, whether he is on the bridge, asleep in his quarters, dining in the wardroom, or inspecting some part of the ship. If a lieutenant standing watch on the bridge causes the ship to run aground, the captain's head will almost certainly roll. Command responsibility.
Hastert said during his presser that he was deeply sorry. I don't doubt that. There is no doubt in my mind that he didn't know of the instant messages (as opposed, perhaps, to the e-mails, the rumors, the staff warnings to incoming pages, and Foley's drunken visit to the page dorms). With his background in coaching and teaching, had Hastert known of Foley's most egregious behavior, he would have grabbed Foley by the collar and kicked his a** down the Capitol steps. Dennis Hastert is a good, decent man.
But he should still resign. So should the entire Republican leadership in the House - Representatives Boehner, Reynolds, and Blount. Make a clean sweep of the Republican leadership. That's the best way to avoid Hugh Hewitt's worst nightmare - Pelosi - Murtha - Rangell - Conyers - and to maintain the moral high ground which the Republican Party had, sadly, begun to retreat from.