The [tag]Washington Times[\/tag] exists, by its own admission, to promote a conservative spin on the news. As far as objectivity is concerned, the Times is slightly to the right of Fox News — and it’s proud of it.<\/p>\n
And as of today, the paper’s far-right editorial believes House Speaker [tag]Dennis Hastert[\/tag] needs to resign<\/a> his leadership post over his failures to respond to the [tag]Mark Foley[\/tag] sex scandal.<\/p>\n House Speaker Dennis [tag]Hastert[\/tag] must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once. Either he was grossly negligent for not taking the red flags fully into account and ordering a swift investigation, for not even remembering the order of events leading up to last week’s revelations — or he deliberately looked the other way in hopes that a brewing scandal would simply blow away. He gave phony answers Friday to the old and ever-relevant questions of what did he know and when did he know it?<\/p>\n Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Times actually raises a good point. Given what we know Hastert either intentionally helped cover up the misdeeds of a sexual predator in his caucus, or he was so incompetent, he managed to ignore warnings from his own leadership team. Either way, the Speaker is in a tough spot.<\/p>\n Just as importantly, it’s not just the Washington Times that thinks so. * Conservative \u00fcber-activist Paul Weyrich, who participated in a conference call with other far-right leaders yesterday, said conservatives everywhere “are outraged by how Hastert handled this<\/a>.”<\/p>\n * Conservative talk show host Michael Reagan and Citizens United President David Bossie have called on Hastert to resign immediately<\/a> over his role in covering up [tag]Foley[\/tag]\u2019s inappropriate behavior.<\/p>\n * The far-right blogs are turning on Hastert<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n * Bay Buchanan is piling on<\/a>.<\/p>\n * Cliff Kincaid, editor of the conservative Accuracy in Media Report, wrote in an editorial circulated by the pro-Republican Web site GOPUSA.com, “It’s one of the worst congressional scandals ever<\/a>.”<\/p>\n
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\n* A growing number of House Republicans are expressing concern<\/a> about their leadership’s failures. Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) said he is “disgusted” by his leaders’ response. In a written statement, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) said the Republican leadership needs to be shaken up. “If they knew or should have known the extent of this problem, they should not serve in leadership,” he said.<\/p>\n