What Hastert should tell the ethics committee

Ever since the Foley scandal broke I've seen variations of the homo-oblivious defense offered on behalf of the GOP house leadership.

I am partially sympathetic to the notion that in absence of explicitly sexual emails or instant messages a bunch of middle-aged man from conservative Midwestern backgrounds aren't going to immediately conclude the friendly, personal communications between a 53 year-old man and a sixteen year-old boy are sexual in nature. Whereas if the same 53 year-old had asked a sixteen year-old girl to send him a photo of herself the alarm bells would go right off.

Unfortunately for the theory, it seems everyone in congress knew Foley was gay. So it wouldn't be too difficult to step into his perspective for a moment -- as alien as it might be.

But I learned something today about embattled House Majority Leader Dennis Hastert that brings the homo-oblivious defense right back into play.

Before entering Congress Hastert was a high school wrestling coach.

I don't need to list the reasons -- the mounting, the scissoring, the unitards -- why wrestling is really, really gay.

Obviously those who chose to wrestle for the competition and challenge develop a pretty keen sense of homo-obliviousness as they thrust their pelvis into another man.

That goes double for the coach who is ordering these strapping teenage boys into positions that mimic the act of physical love.

I'd like to think your typical high school wrestling coach would be the most homo-oblivious man in town -- it should be demanded, really.

From what I've heard from Hastert over the past couple weeks he lacks the verbal capacity to mount an almost-complicated defense like this.

But if he's selling I'm buying.