Dennis Hastert – Disappointment

OK. I am weighing in on Dennis Hastert and his legal difficulties. No, I don’t give a damn about the banking regulations he evidently fell afoul of, but thanks to them we know something about Hastert that for all the world he didn’t want anyone to know.

I don’t know exactly what it is he doesn’t want to share with everyone. Whatever it is he wants to keep private. I don’t blame him for that. It really doesn’t matter in so many ways.

First of all, Hastert is either gay or a pedophile. Not both. He used his teaching/coaching position to access an underage boy for sexual reasons. That is wrong because it betrays a public trust. It is also wrong because he, being of age, took advantage of a much younger person not of age of consent. Whether this is pedophilia or not, I leave to professional diagnosticians who know the field better than I. I hope he isn’t a pedophile. The act alone doesn’t make him one; the intent and follow through would.

A pedophile is not gay or straight. A pedophile is an adult who is driven to have sexual relations/contact with young people. Most pedophiles have relations with someone of the opposite sex. Doing so with a same gender victim does not make the pedophile gay.

Hastert could be gay, but he would have to clarify that. A gay person is perceived to be not acceptable for teaching positions. I think that perception is haywire and wrong. But I understand why people think this way. They are, however, confusing or conflating two issues into one – gay and pedophile. They are not the same thing.

I’m gay. I understand being interested in same gender persons of many age groups. Like anyone with blood coursing through their veins, sexual interest is not across the board. Some people simply strike you as being more attractive than someone else. Try to categorize that and you might just drive yourself crazy. I’m not sure categorization is even possible!  It is that complex an issue.

So, perhaps Hastert should clarify for all of us whether he considers himself gay or pedophile, or both if such a happenstance is the reality.

His career is over. He is 73 (74 this January) and retired. His lucrative lobbying assignments were ended with the public announcement of his legal problems. He will continue to collect a $200,000 annual pension for being a retired Speaker of the House. He also has his teachers’ pension as well as any social security benefits earned under that system of compensation. Of course Dennis has amassed a lot of wealth from his political career and most likely owns his home(s) and major assets outright without any debt. So his standard of living will continue uninterrupted and at a high level.

If the nation knew he was gay decades ago he most likely would not have been elected to congress. I think that is wrong, and that outcome today might very well be different. But back then, no; he would not have won election. Therefore he would never have had the chance to be Speaker of the House either.

I never voted for Hastert. By the time his district was gerrymandered to include my residence, I was a staunch anti-republican with a strong democratic voting record. But I will say Hastert was a very good congressman for his district. He brought back pork for the area. He represented many views of his constituents well in legislative matters, but most importantly, he intersected the complexity of the federal government with his constituents. His staff was excellent. Communications were timely and accurate.

He was a very good congressman.

If he is gay, that would mean something more to me. I’m gay. I get it. It is the hiding that I also understand but do not celebrate.  When I came out I was free. A lot of repercussions, but at least I was personally free at last. The relief was tremendous.

Since then being gay does not have an effect on my life. I hope it doesn’t on Hastert’s life. He does have family – wife, kids and grand kids – so that must be difficult for him and for them. It is never an easy thing to manage. His age and mine are not much different (I’m 72). We grew up in the same cultural age and milieu. It was not easy being gay. You hid this from everyone. It was the unspoken protocol to follow.

Later Hastert had a lot to lose if he came out as gay. I understand, again, why he chose to remain hidden on this matter. It comes with the gay territory when you were born in the 1940’s.

Where this takes us or him I don’t know. I think he was a good congressman. I disagreed with his politics almost completely. He played national political games for the republicans which I thought seriously were in error for our country. I still think so. But he is a good person. If he is gay he is still a good person. If he is a pedophile, he is a good person with a terrible problem that needs attention, for his good and for the good of others. But jailed at this age? No. That’s not fair. Or reasonable.

I wish Americans would talk more openly about this whole subject matter and come to an understanding. If Americans feel being gay is wrong and an impediment for being a good and productive person, then OK. I certainly don’t agree with that; but at least the public confession would do them all good! Not me; just them.

Meanwhile, I hope Dennis Hastert finds peace on this issue and does well. And his family.

October 20, 2015