Hastert Tells Conservative He’ll Resign If It Helps GOP - New York Times

Hastert Tells Conservative He’ll Resign If It Helps GOP - New York Times: "House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., told a leading conservative Wednesday that he would resign as the top congressional leader if it would help the Republican Party stave off defeat in November.

But conservative activist Paul Weyrich said Hastert has rejected calls for his resignation because he believes it would prompt “a feeding frenzy” that ultimately would lead to the downfall of other GOP leaders as well.

“He said if he thought that resigning would be helpful to the Republicans maintaining the majority, he would do it. But he did not think it would be helpful for Republicans,” Weyrich said in an interview after holding what he described as an emotional telephone conversation with Hastert, who is home in Illinois campaigning and trying to deal with the fallout from the Mark Foley scandal.

“He said he thought his resignation would just lead to a feeding frenzy where they would go after (Majority Leader John A.) Boehner, then (Rep. Thomas M.) Reynolds, then (Rep. John) Shimkus,' Weyrich added. 'And he said we would have the story running right up to the election.”

Weyrich, who was one of the first to publicly call for the Speaker’s head, said the conversation has led him to retract his day-old demand that Hastert resign.

“I changed my mind after talking to the Speaker,” Weyrich said. “I feel now that he ought to be given the benefit of the doubt. He has never, ever lied to me or dissembled. I regard him as one of the good people up there.”"

I heard Weyrich interviewed on NPR's All Things Considered last night, in which he said, in effect, "all homosexuals are obsessed with sex." The interviewer said, "you know, some people would take exception to your comment that all homosexuals are obsessed with sex." Weyrich chuckled and said, well it's true. She said, "In your opinion." No, he replied, it's true, and lots of psychologists and psychiatrists have said so.

The absolute idiocy projected by his total misinformed close-mindedness was breathtaking.

UPDATE: Here's the link to the audio--you can hear Weyrich for yourself