NY Times Editorial: Woulda. Coulda. Shoulda?

The more the House Republican leaders try to defend themselves on the Congressional page scandal, the worse it looks. They still do not seem to appreciate how serious this is, especially for a party that poses as the arbiter of morality. And they appear to be trying harder to deflect blame from themselves than to get to the bottom of what actually happened. The F.B.I. has begun investigating, but that will be a prolonged process, and the voters have to render a verdict in five weeks. There is evidence emerging that they should consider.

Dennis Hastert, the House speaker, is responsible for the page program, and for seeing that the recent improprieties are properly investigated. His performance has been disturbing. As late as Monday, he was still minimizing the scandal. He said he understood that the improper contacts between pages and Mark Foley, the Florida Republican who resigned last week, occurred after the pages left the program. “This was after the fact,” Mr. Hastert said, “and you know — would have, could have, should have.”

First, it’s not at all clear that events transpired after the pages left the program. And, in any case, why is that relevant? Surely preying on ordinary young Americans is just as vile as preying on pages.

Mr. Hastert hardly sounds like an effective leader who intends to investigate the allegations thoroughly, particularly now that the focus is shifting from Mr. Foley’s conduct to whether House leaders covered it up. His remarks struck the same dismissive tone as the White House spokesman Tony Snow’s references to “naughty e-mails.”

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