Lazy Gopher Pachyderm

I was all set today to write a piece on how losing seats in an off-year is, historically speaking, no reason to throw over House Speaker Hastert. No matter now. Today Hastert gave us reason enough not to elect him to a leadership post in the next Congress.

While the North Korean ‘nuclear test’ pushed the Foley kerfuffle off the front pages, Hastert brought it right back by calling a news conference to discuss it! The only word for this is ‘stupid.’ It is politically dim-witted beyond belief. When the club you’ve been bashed with is dropped, you don’t pick it up and give it back to the assailant.

In positions of high-stress, it’s not unusual for people to ’snap.’ It doesn’t have to be a violent or radical display, but simply an obvious inability to further cope with the slings and arrows. Hastert has snapped.

Should he announce his intent not to seek leadership now, or should the GOP caucus start talking about throwing him over? That would almost be in the same league; not matter what the reason, such an announcement or action would be reported as resulting from the Foley kurfuffle, thus keeping the story in the front pages for additional days. Save it for after the election.