Former Speaker Dennis Hastert Bids Adieu

Photo from source, VOA News

Best remembered as the hulking figure behind the President at State of the Union Addresses (looking like he was competing with Cheney to stay awake longest), Former Speaker of the House, Denny Hastert is throwing in the towel. So long, Mr. Beefy McBratwurst (™The Stephanie Miller Show), don't let the door hit ya!

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Former US House Speaker Hastert Says Farewell to Congress

The longest-serving Republican speaker of the House of Representatives gave his formal farewell to Congress on Thursday. Dennis Hastert presided over the House for nearly a decade, a period that included the final years of the administration of Democratic president Bill Clinton, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and most of the term of current Republican President George Bush. More from VOA's Dan Robinson on Capitol Hill. . .

Read more at: VOA News

Turkish "Genocide" Resolution Once a GOP Issue

Photo from source, BradBlog.com

I'll be honest, I do not understand why it is necessary for Congress to condemn something that happened in 1915. But the President's "Ottoman Empire" dig today (cribbed from Jon Stewart) at Congress for doing so, strikes me as a bit disingenuous. After all, the "Democrat" Congress, as Bush calls them was not the first Congress to bring it up.

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Note to Limbaugh, Boehner & Friends: Republicans Pushed Turkish 'Genocide' Resolution in the U.S. House in 2000 and Again in 2005

If The Resolution is a 'Democratic Ploy,' It Sure Was Clever to Have the GOP House Speaker Lead the Way!

ALSO: Recalling FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds's Claim that Hastert Called Off Full House Vote After Possibly Receiving $500k from Turkish Interests, And Additional New Information on Her Gag-Ordered 'States Secrets' Case...

Read more at: BradBlog.com

Dennis Hastert's Tenure Analyzed

Photo from Reuters.com

Earlier, I posted the news of Dennis Hastert's impending departure, but I didn't do a thorough job of explaining his abysmal performance. To rectify that, here is an outstanding dissection of Hastert's tenure. It also includes a warning to Speaker Pelosi, should she find herself with a Democratic President.

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The Worst House Speaker in American History

Dennis Hastert, who served eight years as the most lamentable Speaker of the House in the chamber's history, began a slow exit from the Congress Friday. It was on that day that the former wrestling coach, who attained the speakership not on the basis of any political skills or policy expertise but because he was willing to front for the unpalatable Tom DeLay, announced his decision not to seek reelection from the Illinois district that has elected him since 1986. [snip]

Could the shambling, ineffectual and frequently inarticulate Hastert really have been a worse Speaker of the House than a crude proponent of slavery, or a crook like Jim Wright or a conniving partisan like Newt Gingrich? Absolutely. . .

Read the rest at: TheNation.com

Dennis Hastert to Retire

Photo from source, Reuters.com

In a another case of pop-culture bleeding over into reality in my brain, I can't stop thinking of impressionist Jim Ward's impression of Dennis Hastert, and what this means for Ward's comedy. Usually, any mention of Hastert on The Stephanie Miller Show prompted Oktoberfest oom-pah music, "Oh Gaad!"s, and talks of arteries clogged with cased meat products. It'll be a tragic loss.

Oh, and Denny leaving Congress? What took so long? Don't let the door hit ya!

[Excerpt]

Ex-House Speaker Hastert to retire

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Dennis Hastert is expected to announce on Friday his retirement from Congress, a House Republican aide said on Tuesday.

"He is going to announce a retirement ... that's definitive," said the aide, who asked not to be identified.

But the aide added that it was not yet clear whether Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker before stepping down after the 2006 elections, would leave his Illinois congressional seat immediately or would serve out his term, which runs through next year. . .

Read more at Reuters.com