To Be Filed Under Seriously Weird

Huh? This is got to be one of the weirdest things I've ever heard. Denny Hastert's chief of staff, Scott Palmer, is also his roommate.

In Hastert's brief, evasive press conference on Thursday, sharp reporters immediately zeroed in on Palmer's role in the Foley information flow. Did Hastert leap to the defense of his chief of staff's honor in the crucial credibility contest with Kirk Fordham? Did he say I know Scott Palmer and I know he's telling the truth? No. He avoided every question with Palmer's name in it. Hastert obviously does not want to talk about Scott Palmer.

If Fordham did warn Palmer about Foley a long time ago, what are the odds that Palmer did not tell Hastert? As close to zero as you can get. Many chiefs of staff are close, very close, to their bosses on Capitol Hill. But none are closer than Scott Palmer is to Denny Hastert. They don't just work together all day, they live together.

There are plenty of odd couple Congressmen who have roomed together on Capitol Hill, but I have never heard of a chief of staff who rooms with his boss. It is beyond unusual. But it must have its advantages. Anything they forget to tell each other at the office, they have until bedtime to catch up on. And then there's breakfast for anything they forgot to tell each other before falling asleep. And then there's all day at the office. Hastert and Palmer are together more than any other co-workers in the Congress.

That is beyond bizarre. I'm truly beginning to think that there's a not insignificant number of powerful men in D.C. who have resurrected the ancient sex paradigm: "Women are for making babies; boys/younger men are for fun." It doesn't have anything to go with being gay, certainly not as we'd (or even they'd) define it, but about entrenched misogyny and male dominion. And it's creeping me out even contemplating it.

Hat tip to Pam, who also has an excellent piece on the GOP closet.