Hastings' hot seat

I received this press release, which came from the Washington State Democrat Party:

Today, a copy of a letter drafted by Rep. Richard "Doc" Hastings, Chair of the House Ethics Committee, was leaked to the press. In this letter, Hastings retreats from attempts to install his Chief of Staff into the head position of the Tom DeLay investigation. (A copy of this letter can be viewed at rawstory.com here.)

In the past weeks, we have repeatedly called upon Hastings to stop his inethical behavior. Monday, Hastings‚ constituents picketed his district offices in Tri-Cities and Yakima. Two weeks ago, Washington State Party Chairman Paul Berendt made a tour of south central Washington with press conferences asking Hastings to recuse himself from the DeLay investigation.

Our efforts are making an impact! Now, he is feeling the pressure and has been forced to abandon his partisan tactics, which have brought the committee to a standstill.

However, this is only the first step in enabling the Ethics Committee to do its job. The Ethics Committee will be able to properly investigate the scandals surrounding DeLay only when Hastings recuses himself, as we have demanded.

Hastings had tried to install his chief of staff of 10 years as the Ethics Committee's chief, a traditionally nonpartisan position. Hastings has been the most loyal of footsoldiers to the "Contract With Americ" coalition since winningelection in 1994. That paid off with a seat on the Rules Committee and Ethics. He is the only Member to serve on both, and that is irregular. Elevated to Ethics chair earlier this year, he is obviously playing the patsy for Speaker Dennis Hastert, himself a puppet for Majority Leader DeLay. I read a Washington Post story a couple years ago that explained that DeLay orchestrated Hastert's selection as Speaker in 1999 when Newt Gingrich resigned and designee Bob Livingston resigned after revelations of sexual improprieties. Hastert was seen as a safe choice and as a person whom DeLay could control. DeLay was Majority Whip at the time, but he was consolidating power for when Leader Dick Armey retired a couple years later.

Now, it's obvious DeLay is still calling the shots with Hastings, a DeLay loyalist, at Ethics. It is hard to imagine what Hastings will reap as reward for his loyalty -- as ineffective as it has proven to be so far since DeLay has not been immune as planned.

-- Peoria, Ariz.