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Hastert Case Is Said to Be Linked to Decades-Old Sexual Abuse

Did I say that? Did I claim to be a spokesperson for all conservatives? I provided my own opinion - do you have one?

Yes, in the U.S.. the people who are most often vocal about certain things that are wrong often are trying to convince themselves, and are indulging in that activity. That's much rarer in Canada (but not unknown).

You might make that 'conservatives don't impose on others what they don't do themselves', but history has shown that is not true.
 
I have no use for Hastert, but the laws he broke are ridiculous: he withdrew his own money for a purpose that wasn't illegal. This is just a hatchet job.
 
I have no use for Hastert, but the laws he broke are ridiculous: he withdrew his own money for a purpose that wasn't illegal. This is just a hatchet job.

That is a good point. If it is your money you should have the right to put it under your mattress if you want to.

These actions of repeated withdraw of large amount of monies does activate red lights at the bank. That may be a little bit of Big Brother but my bank years ago let me know that someone had my credit card and was purchasing items in another town. That red light may indicate someone being extorted which is what appears to be happening here.

Proving his guilt or innocence from an action years ago is almost impossible. False accusations occur and sexual abuse also occurs. It is a tough one. Jerry Sandusky still maintains his innocence as well as Cosby does.
 

Hmm.

This alleged victim is unidentified.
Hasert withdrew 1.7 million of his OWN money (I'm assuming that it's all his) to pay him off.

??

Why didn't this victim - at any age or point in the last 30 years - never once report him / speak up / take a stand / destroy him publicly? [Well - I guess clearly he was blackmailing him instead].

I would have taken the golden opportunity to smear his face all over the world - and still get a huge settlement.
 
Yes, in the U.S.. the people who are most often vocal about certain things that are wrong often are trying to convince themselves, and are indulging in that activity.
That's much rarer in Canada (but not unknown).

You might make that 'conservatives don't impose on others what they don't do themselves', but history has shown that is not true.

Wow, doctor.
That's some thorough analysis.
So if you're pro-life, you've had abortions ... if you're anti-drug, you're a user ... if you're in PETA, you're a hunter ... if you make posts accusing a political group of something, you're guilty of it yourself.
hmmm, maybe that last one has some merit.
 
Yes, in the U.S.. the people who are most often vocal about certain things that are wrong often are trying to convince themselves, and are indulging in that activity. That's much rarer in Canada (but not unknown).

You might make that 'conservatives don't impose on others what they don't do themselves', but history has shown that is not true.

My mistake - I didn't realize that in the US you lack the free will to live your own life as you choose. I didn't realize that conservatives were "imposing" a lifestyle on others. I know there are certain conservatives, not unlike most liberals, who believe they know better how you should live your life and particularly how you should spend your own money, but still when did they get the power to dictate to you how you must live? Conservatives here in Canada are basically of the belief that the government should keep out of our wallets and out of our bedrooms. It's a good philosophy.
 
I have no use for Hastert, but the laws he broke are ridiculous: he withdrew his own money for a purpose that wasn't illegal. This is just a hatchet job.

I appreciate your position and don't disagree. However, as a lawmaker, Hastert must know the law and know that he was breaking it. As a lawmaker, he could have been an agent of change with respect to that law. As an individual, he broke the law. We don't get to pick and choose which laws apply to us and which don't - unless, apparently, you're the President and have puppets in your Justice Department.
 
I have no use for Hastert, but the laws he broke are ridiculous: he withdrew his own money for a purpose that wasn't illegal. This is just a hatchet job.

No, those laws are crime-fighting tools. He intentionally evaded them. and, lo and behold. What have we here? Blackmail, extortion, tax evasion, accusations of child abuse. Had he just paid the guy and either paid the requisite gift tax OR given the guy a 1099, no harm no foul. Every business person in the United States is aware of those IRS regulations. Oh, wait if he'd done all that, his blackmailer would probably have come forward. Needless to say, everyone's in trouble now...
 
Well of course the money is the issue, he was structuring to avoid reporting requirements and then lied to the FBI about it, no doubt about the money.

I just am not willing to jump on the bandwagon and call him a perv yet, sex abuse allegations are by nature difficult to disprove and they can be the kiss of death to a political career. It is very plausible to pay someone hush money even of they're not guilty. Remember Cosby payed significant amounts of money to a young woman who claimed he had fathered her, until she got too greedy and he demanded a paternity test, she disappeared quickly

Without knowing if he is guilty or not of sexual abuse of a former student, I think it is obvious he is an idiot.
If he is innocent then he is an idiot agreeing to pay a blackmailer 3 million dollars and not going to the police.
If he is guilty then he is a stupid idiot for using his position for his sexual gratification.

He is an idiot.
 
Right, because the bar is set so incredibly high when it comes to sexual abuse of a student.

:shrug: we were speaking more broadly to the "I can't believe that someone who recognizes the importance of the family as the basic building block of society would ever do something wrong" genre.


Mind you, we did have the case a while back where folks tried to minimize it because it was a lesbian encounter.
 
Hmm.

This alleged victim is unidentified.
Hasert withdrew 1.7 million of his OWN money (I'm assuming that it's all his) to pay him off.

??

Why didn't this victim - at any age or point in the last 30 years - never once report him / speak up / take a stand / destroy him publicly? [Well - I guess clearly he was blackmailing him instead].

I would have taken the golden opportunity to smear his face all over the world - and still get a huge settlement.

Yeah, I agree, that's why I said this'll be interesting. The fact that Haster lied to the FIB says a lot though, I don't think he's flippin houses. As to the victim reporting, it's not that easy. There are a lot of factors of fear, humiliation and home life that can play into a result. I think that it's like the Bill Cosby thing.
 
Hmm.

This alleged victim is unidentified.
Hasert withdrew 1.7 million of his OWN money (I'm assuming that it's all his) to pay him off.

??

Why didn't this victim - at any age or point in the last 30 years - never once report him / speak up / take a stand / destroy him publicly? [Well - I guess clearly he was blackmailing him instead].

I would have taken the golden opportunity to smear his face all over the world - and still get a huge settlement.


Some people just like to watch others sweat, particularly if it is a person of power.
 
A psychologist or psychiatrist could speak to this more, but I think it's likely that those who are ashamed of being gay or bisexual and attracted to teenage males, which is different from being a pedophile, likely aspire to or try to hide behind those who oppose gay and bisexual activity. It's no different from gay or bisexual priests, as an example. As a result, when they are found out, they appear hypocritical. When you try to hide in a forest, you look for trees to hide behind. And when you're attracted to young men, you sometimes become a teacher or other childcare professional. You may think there are a lot of Republicans involved in such activity,

Oh, I agree it's not pedophilia (more like ephebephile/teleiophile).


but the vast majority of teachers are Democrats and there are far more teachers caught in such actions than politicians.

Well, there are also far more teachers than there are politicians, so that isn't really a fair assessment. And usually those actions involve someone of the opposite sex. This is not to say preying on a student of the opposite sex is morally better than preying on the same sex (it is not) but I think the obsession with homosexuality comes from something deeper and these Republican sex scandals are very revealing.
 
:shrug: we were speaking more broadly to the "I can't believe that someone who recognizes the importance of the family as the basic building block of society would ever do something wrong" genre.

No sane person is anti-family. Liberals just recognize that families don't have to be strictly 1 mom, 1 dad, 2.5 kids, and a dog. The outrage is over socially conservative politicians who try to legislate against people who want to keep contracts between consenting adults illegal.

I remember back when a cheating congressman stepped down during the Clinton sex scandal. Republicans said he did the right and noble thing. Assuming he is guilty, why didn't Hastert do the same? Did he just happen to get amnesia in the late 90s?


Mind you, we did have the case a while back where folks tried to minimize it because it was a lesbian encounter.

I have no doubt that would have occurred. Imo, abuse of power is still abuse of power, whether gay or straight.
 
Oh, I agree it's not pedophilia (more like ephebephile/teleiophile).




Well, there are also far more teachers than there are politicians, so that isn't really a fair assessment. And usually those actions involve someone of the opposite sex. This is not to say preying on a student of the opposite sex is morally better than preying on the same sex (it is not) but I think the obsession with homosexuality comes from something deeper and these Republican sex scandals are very revealing.

Having retired from a long career on the legal/policy/privacy side of education, I can tell you that most if not the vast majority of teachers preying on students choose same sex victims. Education, unlike politics today, has a long and deep history of burying any such impropriety, shuffling teachers between schools and boards and basically allowing teachers to resign quietly rather than call the police for prosecution. You just don't hear that much about it.
 
Wow, doctor.
That's some thorough analysis.
So if you're pro-life, you've had abortions ... if you're anti-drug, you're a user ... if you're in PETA, you're a hunter ... if you make posts accusing a political group of something, you're guilty of it yourself.
hmmm, maybe that last one has some merit.


I can give samples.. For example.. look at a number of the televangalist preachers. Ted Haggard comes into mind. George Rekker. Dennis Hasert.

And, when it comes to certain sexual behaviors, I can point to peer reviewed research link
 
My mistake - I didn't realize that in the US you lack the free will to live your own life as you choose. I didn't realize that conservatives were "imposing" a lifestyle on others. I know there are certain conservatives, not unlike most liberals, who believe they know better how you should live your life and particularly how you should spend your own money, but still when did they get the power to dictate to you how you must live? Conservatives here in Canada are basically of the belief that the government should keep out of our wallets and out of our bedrooms. It's a good philosophy.

THere are different kinds of conservatives in the U.S. The social conservatives want to enforce their morality by force of law.
 
Having retired from a long career on the legal/policy/privacy side of education, I can tell you that most if not the vast majority of teachers preying on students choose same sex victims.

Link? I work in education and have never heard this claim before.
 
THere are different kinds of conservatives in the U.S. The social conservatives want to enforce their morality by force of law.

Textbook example: Rick Santorum.
 
The US military routinely vets 18 year olds to a muuuuuuuch greater degree than they do most of the people in Congress, or their staff. One wonders if Hasert would have made it past a real FBI clearance check.

****ing Washington, man. :roll:

risky, he was vetted by a majority of the voting public
again proving we deserve the politicians we elect

i would wish the fourth estate was more interested in ferreting out unethical behaviors
 
Link? I work in education and have never heard this claim before.

I'm speaking from personal experience. Since I also note that most such "scandals" are never reported or come to light, what kind of link would you like me to produce?
 
risky, he was vetted by a majority of the voting public
again proving we deserve the politicians we elect

i would wish the fourth estate was more interested in ferreting out unethical behaviors

I can't blame the media too much in this regard since much of sexual deviance is hidden with great competence by the perpetrators and often, through shame, by the victims as well. It's not uncommon for a situation like Hastert's to come to light decades after the fact. It's why most child molestation and sexual abuse laws have no statute of limitations.
 
I'm speaking from personal experience. Since I also note that most such "scandals" are never reported or come to light, what kind of link would you like me to produce?

It's just a pretty interesting claim considering that an estimated 10% of the average population has homosexual tendencies. Statistically, it just seems highly unlikely the "vast majority" of teacher sex scandals would be of a homosexual nature.
 
It's just a pretty interesting claim considering that an estimated 10% of the average population has homosexual tendencies. Statistically, it just seems highly unlikely the "vast majority" of teacher sex scandals would be of a homosexual nature.

Perhaps because those involving opposite sex relationships don't leave the victims as traumatized. You're not exactly going to hear a lot about teenage boys being abused by their 20 something female teacher - they seldom come to light, even at the board level - to a lesser extent, male teacher female student. Usually what gets reported, often by other teachers, are the same sex relationships.

We were talking about "preying" on students, right?
 
Perhaps because those involving opposite sex relationships don't leave the victims as traumatized.

Another unsubstantiated claim, my friend? ;)

You're not exactly going to hear a lot about teenage boys being abused by their 20 something female teacher - they seldom come to light, even at the board level

I do believe the stigma of pre-marital hetereosexual sex is far less of a burden on males than it is on females. But it is still sexual abuse and exploitation even if the teacher is a 21-year old female. And by admitting that we don't hear about those cases as much, you are kind of proving my point. ;)

- to a lesser extent, male teacher female student.

So a male teacher/female student relationship has less of a mental impact than a femal teacher/female student relationship? Without the stats to back it up, I find it really hard to believe. :shrug:
 
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