Another Take
Wrestling coaches go to the mat for one of their own
By Joe Cliffe
As the president of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association (IWCOA), I would like to submit this letter in support of Dennis Hastert, Illinois’ own and speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The IWCOA is the state organization that is comprised of over 1,000 wrestling coaches and officials in Illinois.
Denny Hastert has stepped up time and time again for wrestling. Now wrestling and Illinois needs to step up for Denny Hastert. The wrestling community, Illinois and the country must show it support for one of its biggest champions.
Denny Hastert is one of the finest people to ever hold membership in the wrestling community. He was a coach of the 1976 state high school championship Team at Yorkville in Illinois and helped to found the IWCOA. Denny is also a member of the IWCOA Hall of Fame. The United States Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum has recognized Speaker Hastert as a Distinguished Citizen. He has been directly involved in saving or reinstating nearly a dozen college wrestling programs. In spite of responsibilities of unimaginable number and scope as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, he has always found a way to come through for our sport.
Denny Hastert is also a common person who is not commanded or owned by lobbyist and big business.
Denny Hastert is a good and honorable man — and one of wrestling’s own.
Denny is now being unfairly and viciously smeared by the Mark Foley sex scandal.
It is unfair because he has done nothing wrong. In fact, he did something very right — Speaker Hastert had Foley’s resignation within two hours of his learning of sexually explicit messages from Mr. Foley to a congressional page.
It is vicious because the political enemies who are attacking Speaker Hastert are misrepresenting the facts — and unfortunately, the news media is cooperating with these attackers by relentlessly and prominently repeating those misrepresentations.
The truth of the matter is outlined below:
The facts
Before Sept. 29, 2006, Denny Hastert had absolutely no knowledge of Mark Foley’s communications with pages and former pages.
While there was a report of an “overly friendly “– but non-sexual — e-mail from Rep. Foley to a former page in 2003, this was referred to the House Clerk who in turn informed the House committee chair overseeing the page program.
U.S. Rep. John Shimkus confronted Mr. Foley about the e-mail, even though the e-mail was non-sexual in nature. Rep. Shimkus still told Mr. Foley to cease sending those types of communications.
The parents of the page did not feel that any further action was warranted.
Speaker Hastert did not see the vile Instant Messages from Mr. Foley to pages until the press released them on Sept. 29.
Speaker Hastert had Foley’s resignation instantly.
The true scandal
The true scandal is the delay in releasing these vile IM’s by those who had them — particularly those orchestrating the smearing of Speaker Hastert. Instead of exposing Rep. Foley’s preying on young males as soon as possible — these political operatives held onto the information until five weeks before the election — and two days after the deadline for taking Mr. Foley’s name off the Nov. 7th ballot.
This release was blatantly timed to do the most political damage possible. The delay, for political gain, in releasing information that could end predatory behavior is despicable.
The media, instead of making out Speaker Hastert to be the villain, should try to expose those who have held back this information. That is a big reason why Speaker Hastert wants all the facts out and has called for a thorough investigation.
The absurdity
It is ridiculous to think Denny Hastert could know of and still tolerate Rep. Foley’s perverse behavior — for two reasons:
First, anyone who knows Speaker Hastert also knows it is not in him to do this.
Second, if one insists on believing that Denny Hastert is not a good man — the fact is, Mark Foley’s Congressional district voted 70 percent Republican in the last Congressional race. Any Speaker of the House, never mind someone as honest and honorable as Denny Hastert, would have thrown Mark Foley overboard in a second if he had the evidence on him.
Finally, Speaker Hastert is being attacked not because of what he did in the Mark Foley scandal — he did nothing wrong. He is being attacked in order to drive him out of leading the House of Representatives.
Speaker Dennis Hastert has served the public as a high school teacher and coach, state representative, and U.S. Representative during his long illustrious career. He has shined as one of the longest-running Speakers of the House in the last century. Through out, Denny Hastert has exhibited courage, integrity, and honesty with all that he has encountered. It is in the best interest of our country to keep a person of this stature in a leadership role.
Personally, professionally, and as president of the IWCOA and on behalf of this organization, I support Dennis Hastert and I hope the rest of the country understands his vision and integrity.
Joe Cliffe is president of the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association and is the head wrestling coach at Prairie Central High School in Fairbury.
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