I Write Letters

To the Orlando Sentinel:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the man who is in charge of the Congressional Page program, says he won't resign "unless it would help the GOP."

Because in Mr. Hastert's mind, it's not about the fact that the Republicans protected a child predator to keep his seat Republican. It's not about the fact that they took hush money from Rep. Foley (in the form of a $100,000 contribution). It's not about Rep. Reynolds begging Foley to run for a seventh term even after they discovered that he has a fondness for teenage male pages. It's not about trying to coverup what they'd (not) done when the facts began to surface.

And it's certainly not about protecting the young people we place in their care.

No. To Dennis Hastert and the rest of the Republican leadership, it's all about retaining power. Nothing else matters. Why else would Foley's behavior have only been discussed (before the story broke publicly) with Republican election officials instead of nonpartisan authorities?

No party that shelters molesters deserves to continue in office. In this upcoming election, to borrow a phrase, you're either with the Democrats -- or you're with the child predators and those who protect them.