As Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Dennis Hastert was two heart beats away from serving as President of the United States. That is, if both the President and Vice President had died while in office, Hastert would have stepped into the Oval Office and assumed the leadership of this country.
The fact is that Hastert was a member of the U.S House of Representatives for 20 years, representing a Congressional district in Illinois from 1987 to 2007. The fact is that Hastert became the Speaker of the House in 1999 and is the longest-serving Republican Speaker of the House.
The fact is that prior to his political career, Hastert was a high school teacher and wrestling coach for 16 years. It was during that time that, according to recent reports, Hastert inappropriately touched a high school student. The reports came to light when it was discovered that Hastert evaded bank reporting requirements by withdrawing about $1 million in small amounts in order to pay that student to remain silent.
If the reports are true, Hastert has violated at least one sex offender law and could be required to register as a sex offender. If the reports are true, a sex offender was only two heart beats away from becoming President of the United States.
To many, Hastert had a distinguished political career and made many positive contributions to the nation before, during and after he served as a member of Congress. To many, Hastert is a Christian who has led a law-abiding life and never served a day in jail. To many, he is also a husband, a father and a grand father.
What is the difference then between Hastert and more than 750,000 individuals labeled as sex offenders in this country?
The answer is opportunity. Hastert was given an opportunity to make positive contributions to the nation. He was unburdened by a conviction for a sex offense. He was unburdened by the label “sex offender”.
Imagine then the contributions that could be made if those labeled as “sex offenders” had the same opportunity as Hastert. The United States would undoubtedly be a better place.
— by Janice Bellucci
Read all of Janice’s Journal
Thank you for your important thoughts on this matter, Janice. I, for one, am a very active member of my community, attending everything from zoning hearings and CERT disaster trainings to District Council townhalls and neighborhood association meetings. And despite my picture being on the Registry website, I intend to continue participating in every way that I can law-abiddingly do so. This is my country, my State, and my home – and I will continue working to make them better, safer, and fairer for all those who live here whether resident, registered citizen, undocumented, homeless or incarcerated.
(Remember, as soon as we stop defending our rights, someone will gladly try to strip them from us.)
Now, if we could just do something to rid politics of hypocrits!
Yes.. if given the chance without fear .. To be able to walk outside and not wonder if I’m going to be fired, attacked, or any other given bad things that can happen because of my sex offense…. one day hopefully
Under the table payoff to keep quiet kept republican baster ..I mean haster from being a registered sex offender….
Can you dig it….the hypocritical agenda they put on others but NOT onto themselves speaks volumes of fascists in a title of power and a crime for all except for the few who can cover it up….this registry is a fraud and sham…..that baster ..I mean haster and orange county calif secret hide trial have helped prove that.
Not one bit surprised to hear this. This nation is corrupted by hypocrites from top to bottom. These men and women make a mockery of the law and justice
Look at the sex offender (I believe the reports are true) in the picture and tell me there is not a double standard in this country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/29/AR2006092901574.html
I think it’s important to look at this from a removed perspective. While some might dislike Hastert for his politics, or love him for the same, he is no different than any other person who did something he undoubtedly regrets. He has had a remarkable professional career and by all accounts, a stolid family life. As Ms. Bellucci so eloquently stated, he has had an opportunity to make some remarkable contributions to this country. He was unburdened by the stigma of the “sex offender” label because, as many of the pitchfork and torch carriers, his sins were never discovered in an early morning raid on his home, or by something found on his work computer. In that regard too, he is no different from a great many people.
As many of us have opined, many individuals of power and influence who scream the loudest against the sex offender are hiding some dark secret of their own. It is rare that they are dragged into the searing glare of public humiliation as so many of us have been, whether that is due to money, power, luck or a combination of all three.
Maybe events such as those that have happened to Mr. Hastert and Mr. Foley will have a positive impact. It may serve to narrow the gap between “them,” the moral and noble defenders of the masses, and “us,” the dirty, perverse miscreants who must be beaten into the shadows. One can only imagine what Mr. Hastert was thinking when making his comments on Mr. Foley back in 2006: “That could have been ME?”
In the end, maybe this will convince the pitchfork and torch set that the only difference between “them” and “us” is their good fortune. Maybe when one of those political power brokers reviews the next piece of legislation aimed to carve some more rights away from a registered citizen, he or she realizes, “This could be ME.”
There is another side of the coin. Is there someone who believes that Dennis Hastert is a threat to his community and ought to be registering as a sex offender? I don’t. And I don’t think that hundreds of thousands of people who did exactly what Hastert did (and far less than what he did) are any more of a danger. Just as Hastert never had an onramp to the registry, there ought to be many off ramps for registrants.
There won’t be any charges for sexual misconduct because they say there isn’t enough evidence to convict him. What bs thousands of people are convicted with far less evidence just on the word of a aledged victim. This guy is caught paying that victim off and that’s not proof enough. It sure would be for anyone without money. Wow shouldn’t surprise me but wow.
mike r said “There won’t be any charges for sexual misconduct because they say there isn’t enough evidence to convict him. What bs thousands of people are convicted with far less evidence just on the word of a…”
Or I heard some say that there won’t be any charges because the Rehnquist SCOTUS decided sex crimes can’t be prosecuted from that far back. But, I saw some victims rights type people on some legal website talking about trying to get that Rehnquist court decision overturned, under a different SCOTUS of today with a few different members, and then Hastert could be prosecuted hypothetically, as could John Walsh. Hastert having to register does seem like overkill and he is in poor health. I think diabetes.
As far as making Hastert and Walsh register as SO’s if the Rehnquist Court decision is overturned, I would say Yay to Walsh having to register, and Nay to Hastert having to register. After all, Walsh was unrepentent and seems to have bragged about his crimes, whereas Hastert seems more aware of right and wrong. I think Hastert, at least realizes he is a hypocrite and thats why he paid to cover it up.
Unfortunately, this incident will probably be taken up in Congress to create a law to “incentivize” states to drop statute of limitation laws for sex offenses. (“Incentivize” is a “nice” way of saying “change your laws or we withold your money.”)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/06/08/how-josh-duggar-and-dennis-hastert-could-help-change-the-laws-on-sex-crimes/
Lil by lil the gov is enchroaching .on our rights and the ignorant masses won’t see it coming because their blinded by hate and disgust for rso. Our constitution and everyone’s rights aren’t going to mean squat pretty soon and that’s a shame considering all the lives that have been lost in vain to protect our civil liberties if our country stays on this same path. My greatgrandfather grandfather and dad all served to protect our rights only to have the politicians and courts ignore those sacrafices and our bill of rights. Disgusting.
Dennis Hastert seems to be getting a taste of what many of us have gone through. I’m sure he will eventually come out smelling like a rose, but my hope is this (3rd in line for president) high profile individuals self created plight will soften the obstinate hearts of many of the hard liners in relation to these useless laws, statutes and everything else. This could very well start a new set of dominoes (unconstitutional laws) falling.
http://news.yahoo.com/hastert-1st-court-appearance-hush-money-case-065128847.html
Q, you are quite the optimist! History shows that the hard-line right don’t “evolve” to show any compassion until circumstances affect them directly & personally. Example: conservative Ohio Senator Rob Portman “evolving” his view on gays when his son, Will, came out.
Until S.O. laws affect their brother, son, etc, they will not change. Besides, they’re all buddies, right? Yet far enough removed to comfortably distance themselves from Mr. Hastert.
I said “Hastert having to register does seem like overkill and he is in poor health. I think diabetes.”
Q said “It may be overkill, but do you think the courts would care about, let alone consider, if one of us were suffering ill health? This guy needs to be made an example of; and if it kills…”
Joe said ““On March 19, 2015, Farnham was sentenced to eight years in prison. U.S. District Judge Edmond E. Chang also ordered Farnham to pay a $30,000 fine. He must surrender to the Federal Bureau of Prisons by May 19, 2015, to begin serving his sentence.[15] Farnham has pulmonary fibrosis, bladder cancer and hepatitis C, and is expected to die within three months.[16]” ”
The California Supreme Court did consider the medical conditions and needs of the plaintiffs in Taylor. I think one of them had extensive medical needs and was living in the cold outside in an alley. I think courts do consider the health of defendants. Whether they believe what the defendants attornies claim is another story. By the account of Farnhams attorney, Keith Farnham should be dead in 9 days, on June 19, 2015. We’ll see. Democrats do seem to throw their own to the wolves moreso than Republicans when it comes to sexual misconduct. Weiner, got ousted and shamed. Vitter gets redeemed and is looking to be Governor of Louisiana. Foley’s evidence is not acted upon and no charges filed, due to Hasterts help of his fellow offender Congressman buddy Republican proponent and architect of SORNA. Bob Filner, Democrat Mayor of San Diego, thrown to the wolves. You get the idea. So now that both sides, prosecution and defense in the Hastert money laundering case don’t object to having a judge with ties to Hasterts son and has a history that includes donating to Hastert, we’ll see if Hastert gets off on the charges. Republican that he is. But even if convicted, Hastert will not have to register, since he is not on trial for sex crimes. Hastert paid the hush money to protect his reputation from crimes allegedly committed decades ago and we have no reason to believe there are more recent crimes, but I guess it is possible since he had this great false sense of security attributed to himself by his tough on crime posturing. I wonder if Hastert and Chris Smith travelled together at all. But back to the point of Hastert having to register. What I said before about Hastert and Walsh having to register, that’s just my opinion about if I think they should. Not what I predict will happen, as I predict both of them will never have to.