WASHINGTON - Rep. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who served as speaker of the House longer than any Republican in history, intends to retire next year at the end of his current term, party officials said Tuesday.

A formal announcement is planned for Friday.

Raleigh News & Observer

I was expecting this to happen in the not too distant future.  It was widely speculated Hastert would not run again, no longer being a leader in the House.  I can honestly say I won’t really miss him.  He was culpable in the blowout Republicans received last year.  He could have reigned in the spending.  He could have been a leader on ethics reform in the midst of scandal after scandal.  Instead he turned a blind eye.

This could possibly be the most ignorant quote I have ever seen, even for the likes of Sean Penn.  When asked if he thought it was possible for the United States to win the war in Iraq, he had this to say:

“I think we are past the point in human evolution where there is such thing a thing as winning wars.”

This is just a another example of how the left’s worldview does not recognize or even believe in good and evil.  They have no understanding of history or it’s ramifications.  Penn just got back from his trip to Venezuela where he provided Chavez, a self proclaimed enemy of our country and a oppressive dictator, with plenty of propaganda against our country.  With Chavez at his side, Penn openly bashed our president and country while on foreign soil, standing by a communist dictator.

Crazy

A Chicago alderman wants to tax bottled water. Check out this quote:

“People enjoy jogging or driving with a bottle of water. There’s a cost associated with this behavior. You have to pay for it,” said [Ald. George] Cardenas, one of Mayor Daley’s staunchest City Council supporters.

Putting aside the overall crazy idea of taxing bottled water, Cardenas seems to think you have to pay for “the behavior” of drinking water while trying to make yourself healthy through exercise. Astounding.