House Leadership Responding Too Little, Too Late

The GOP House leadership has a real mess on its hands. There are stories out now that the leadership knew about Rep. Foley's predilection for teenage boys as long ago as last year, but for reasons unknown at this time, did not take immediate action. Foley was allowed to remain in the GOP leadership and to head up a caucus dealing with at-risk children. The leadership says the early messages to the teen were "overly-friendly", but not sexual. There was a big red flag waving and nobody bothered to notice it.

Now in an effort to stem a tidal wave of negative stories, Speaker Hastert has requested a federal investigation into Rep. Foley's actions. This mess is going to have long-lasting implications for the GOP and for the Speaker.

After ignoring an obvious problem in this case, and after the way Hastert jumped to Rep. William Jefferson's defense following the search of his House office (and despite the fact that authorities had found $90,000 in Jefferson's freezer and clearly had something fishy going on), I can only come to the assumption that Hastert is more interested in protecting House members and House privileges than in protecting the people he supposedly serves. Therefore, even if the GOP manages to retain control of the House, I think it's time for a new Speaker.