# A scummy child-molesting Republican. What a shock. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 9, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738 "2016-04-09T23:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/201 "2016-04-28T01:04:35Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Realistically Hastert doesn’t give a damn what I think of him. > > Me - I want him to realize the depths of his depravity. Right now I believe his only true regret is in getting caught. OK, well. . . OK. My feeling is that I’m thankful he’s going to prison for _something_, and that his reputation is ruined. I appreciate that he was too stupid to realize that the proper response to being told that he had to report bank transactions was simply to report his bank transactions. I’m glad that he evaded reporting, and I’m glad that he got caught, and I’m glad that he’s going to prison. It would have been very easy for this to have never, ever have become public knowledge, but due to Hastert’s idiocy, he’s been humiliated and is going to prison. _shrug_ Works for me. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/202 "2016-04-28T03:15:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > He will never be convicted of molesting and/or raping anyone because of the statute of limitations. > > I will not believe that he has accepted what he has done and his own guilt until he stops nodding at people saying “you’re a child molester” and actually says those words himself. Right now he still seems to think he’s the victim and he’s not, he’s the perpetrator. Can he say abracadabra instead? You’ll never know what he has or hasn’t accepted. He could say ‘I’m a child molester’ and still not believe it’s true. You’re never going to get the satisfaction the beast inside you wants. I’m satisfied knowing his deeds are known to the world and he’ll never be able to do them again. His legacy is destroyed and no one will ever be able to invoke the Hastert rule without people snickering. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/203 "2016-04-28T03:23:28Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > And the asshole showed up in court today in a wheelchair to try to gain sympathy Well, he’s an old man now. The wheelchair puts his mouth at the appropriate level without stressing out his knees. \ > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Outrageous, he should be sent to do hard time with guys who’d love to do to him what he did to those defenseless boys. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Oh, it’s OK. He just “mistreated the boys”. Which is I guess Republican-speak for “I just made 14 year olds under my care suck on my dick”. I think you’ve got it backwards – it was him sucking the cocks of the boys. And I don’t think that is what the “guys doing hard time” would want to do to him. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > It’s my understanding that the statute of limitations is up and there is [virtually] no possibility of him being tried for sex crimes. Yes, that has expired. The boys could still sue him in Civil Court for damages, if they could prove them. But due to this scandal, he probably no longer has the assets or earning power to pay much in damages. ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/204 "2016-04-28T04:11:13Z")
Does he now forfeit his very comfortable government pension(s)? In good sense if not then why?? IMHO he is a scumbag regardless of his political affiliation! ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/205 "2016-04-28T04:27:54Z")
> [@ThisSpaceForRent](#): > > Does he now forfeit his very comfortable government pension(s)? > In good sense if not then why?? No, he does not. Why should he – pensions are not gifts, they are earned by employees working their jobs. And the stuff he is accused didn’t occur while he was in Congress: the sex stuff happened before he was elected; the money laundering happened after he left office. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/206 "2016-04-28T05:35:41Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I assume you’re talking about the Democrats? As you wish, but you do so inaccurately. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/207 "2016-04-28T11:08:50Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > Yes, that has expired. The boys could still sue him in Civil Court for damages, if they could prove them. But due to this scandal, he probably no longer has the assets or earning power to pay much in damages. He has some assets and he’s got more than one pension. It would bother me not at all if his victims sue the pants off him, get awarded a portion of those pensions, and leave him a tiny pittance to live on, a dingy, one-room flat in a flophouse and only crappy discount ramen noodles to eat. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/208 "2016-04-28T14:31:20Z")
Actually, Individual A has [filed suit](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-individual-a-sues-dennis-hastert-20160425-story.html) against Hastert. For breach of contract. Hastert agreed to pay the victim $3.5 million; it was how he withdrew the cash to make those payments that led to him getting arrested. The suit alleges he still owes about half that money, plus interest. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/209 "2016-04-28T15:48:49Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > He has some assets and he’s got more than one pension. > > It would bother me not at all if his victims sue the pants off him, get awarded a portion of those pensions, and leave him a tiny pittance to live on, a dingy, one-room flat in a flophouse and only crappy discount ramen noodles to eat. I hate to continue to be the one to upset your plans, but I’m not as sanguine as the prior commentator that a civil suit is viable. Now, to be clear, I’m discussing lawsuits that sound in tort from the abuse itself. My understanding is that “Victim A,” is suing Hastert right now for breach of contract, the contract in question being Hastert’s agreement to pay the victim a settlement. That claim may or may not be viable. I welcome comment from someone more versed in civil law than I am. The factors that I think might come into play there include a failure of consideration: can Victim A’s agreement not to sue be valid consideration if such a suit would itself have been barred by Illinois’ statute of limitations? Illinois recently removed both the criminal and civil statute of limitations for sexual abuse (Senate Bill 1399 in 2013). But this bill did not operate, at least as I understand it, retroactively. So for this reason, I don’t believe a victim can sue Hastert now for events that happened then, but since the civil arena is not my cuppa tea, it’s very possible I am missing some nuance. I think the suit by Victim A has a stronger chance of succeeding, since if there was a contract formed, Hastert’s breach is well within the statute time frame. My only thought there is the potential lack of a valid contract to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/210 "2016-04-28T15:55:48Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I hate to continue to be the one to upset your plans, but I’m not as sanguine as the prior commentator that a civil suit is viable. The usual way to\* try\* to get around the civil statute of limitations is the “discovery rule.” Usually that means you have 2 years (or whatever time period) to file suit from the time you discover you’ve been injured. In child abuse cases, plaintiffs sometimes argue that 1) they didn’t remember being abused into later in life or 2) they knew they had been abused but didn’t discover the ways it had injured them until later in life. The second might be a hook for the men Hastert abused. I don’t know how Illinois addresses these concepts, but generally it’s a very hard sell. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/211 "2016-04-28T16:12:27Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I don’t know how Illinois addresses these concepts, but generally it’s a very hard sell. I don’t know either, but I agree with you that the plaintiff cannot simply allege that he was unaware of the extent of the damage until 2013, and so falls within the statutory time limit. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/212 "2016-04-28T16:23:49Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I don’t know either, but I agree with you that the plaintiff cannot simply allege that he was unaware of the extent of the damage until 2013, and so falls within the statutory time limit. On the other hand, it may be enough that their is the \*chance \*of such a result, to be adequate consideration for the out of court settlement. Defendants settle cases they think are winnable all the time, and courts generally won’t review the adequacy of the consideration for a contract. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/213 "2016-04-28T16:27:01Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > On the other hand, it may be enough that their is the \*chance \*of such a result, to be adequate consideration for the out of court settlement. Defendants settle cases they think are winnable all the time, and courts generally won’t review the adequacy of the consideration for a contract. Absolutely makes sense. Again, I yield to others who have some real experience or knowledge apart from half-remembered classes. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/214 "2016-04-30T13:17:34Z")
I didn’t want to start a separate thread for scummy Mormon behavior. It’s well known that being a Mormon is more correlated with voting Republican than any other simple demographic. (Utah often has the highest GOP vote of any state.) [Brigham Young University mistreats women who report rapes.](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/29/health/brigham-young-university-rape/) At least one was suspended: > [@](#): > > The university, which is run by the Mormon Church, determined that Brooke had violated its Honor Code, a student code of conduct and moral compass that prohibits students from … going into the bedroom of someone of the opposite gender. Upon enrollment, students agree to “live a chaste and virtuous life” demonstrating the values “encompassed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.” More evidence that Republicans have much in common with the Islamist enemies they like to condemn. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/215 "2016-05-02T00:38:07Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Do you think none of your defined terms apply to Hastert? I think he’s a hypocritical asshole on all counts. The guy was a grade A douchebag in terms of ‘promoting family values’ AKA trampling the rights of gays. This ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/216 "2016-05-02T00:40:19Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > Emphasis mine. > > Dennis Hastert was heavily involved in the Bill Clinton impeachment. See here - > > [Dennis Hastert should be prosecuted: The former House Speaker impeached President Clinton on the same logic.](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/06/dennis_hastert_should_be_prosecuted_the_former_house_speaker_impeached_president.html) > > And here - > [http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/06/02/dennis-hastert-impeachment-and-why-the-clintons/203845](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/06/02/dennis-hastert-impeachment-and-why-the-clintons/203845) > > At the time that Hastert was molesting these boys, he insisted that the President be impeached for lying under oath. He announced that he would be be moving forward with the impeachment because the President was not above the law and because Clinton’s misconduct was too important to sweep under the rug. > Hastert was also involved in covering up for Mark Foley, the Republican congressman who was the head of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children and who was later drummed out for sexually harrassing and propositioning the male House pages. > > [Mark Foley scandal - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Foley_scandal) > > Hastert claims that he wasn’t told about the scandal until September, 2006. However John Boehner and RNC Member Tom Reynold are sure that they’d discussed it months earlier, in 2005. Reynold’s chief of staff, Kirk Fordham, has claimed that he told Hastert’s office back in 2003. > > [Mark Foley scandal - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Foley_scandal#Dennis_Hastert) > There are dozens of links about this at Wiki, here’s a few more: > > [Panel blasts Hastert in Foley scandal - USATODAY.com](http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-12-08-foley_x.htm) > > [Former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's indictment resurrects Mark Foley scandal](http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-hastert-foley-20150608-story.html) > > [Allegations Cast New Light on Hastert's Time as Speaker](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/allegations-cast-new-light-hasterts-time-speaker-n370691) > An interview with one of the pages involved: > [http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/11/the-page-who-took-down-the-gop-mark-foley-dennis-hastert-213378](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/11/the-page-who-took-down-the-gop-mark-foley-dennis-hastert-213378) > Hastert is absolutely the latest in a long line of Republican family values candidates who turn out to be indulging dark vices. If you think an anti-gay crusader gettering caught enjoying gay sex is noteworthy, then a congressional child molester caught covering up for another congressional predator is absolutely headline news. > > Hastert, by the by, denied any wrong doing in the Foley scandal and refused to resign. The Republicans, while censuring him in their report on the mess, never called for his impeachment. and this ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/217 "2016-05-02T00:45:59Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > No, he does not. Why should he – pensions are not gifts, they are earned by employees working their jobs. > > And the stuff he is accused didn’t occur while he was in Congress: the sex stuff happened before he was elected; the money laundering happened after he left office. Other people in other more “normal” jobs would be fired, imprisoned for several years AND lose their pensions. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/218 "2016-05-02T03:18:17Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Other people in other more “normal” jobs would be fired, imprisoned for several years AND lose their pensions. Wait. You understand that Hastert is no longer in Congress, right? So is the analogy you’re picturing of a more normal person who has a job that earns a pension, retires from that job, and then is discovered to have been a child molester during the period before he entered that job? Er… Then how could that normal person be fired? He’s already not in the job. How could that normal person be imprisoned for several years? Do you think the statute of limitations has two time frames, one for Congressmen and one for normal people? And while I suppose it’s possible for some normal job to include a pension restriction that loses the pension for criminal conduct that occurred before the job was undertaken or after the job was left, but I haven’t ever heard of that normal job. Can you explain which normal job you believe would impose such a condition on their pension? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/219 "2016-05-02T14:28:53Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Lawmaker Hastert urged life sentences for repeat child molesters](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-dennis-hastert-lawmaker-record-met-20160413-story.html) > [Dennis Hastert Promoted Himself As Crusader Against Sexual Abuse of Children](http://www.ibtimes.com/dennis-hastert-promoted-himself-crusader-against-sexual-abuse-children-1944886) > [Dennis Hastert Boasted Of Effort To Combat Child Abuse As A State Lawmaker](http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/dennis-hastert-boasted-of-effort-to-combat-child-abuse-as-a) OK. That makes him a hypocrite. But the original claim seemed to be child molestation was anti-family values and THAT is what made him a hypocrite. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738/220 "2016-05-02T14:40:24Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > I don’t think that’s it. I think it’s more that some feel that lumping “not molesting children” in under “family values” reinforces the idea that child-molesting actually is on the same spectrum as homosexuality. Exactly. Calling child molestation a family values issue is like calling rape and murder a family values issue. Family values is a political dividing line. I don’t think child molestation is a political social issue like gay marriage, divorce, sex education, or anything to do with homosexuality. Its OK to just call them scumbag criminals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-scummy-child-molesting-republican-what-a-shock/751738.md?page=12)