Free Dennis Hastert

Free Dennis Hastert.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert may be a creep, a pervert, a pedophile, a sexual predator, a child abuser, a child molester, a sex offender, and a Republican, but that is not why he was recently fined $250,000 and sentenced to fifteen months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release.

I am not necessarily accusing him of being any of these things, except, of course, of the grave sin of being the Republican speaker of the House during the Bush presidency when the Republicans doubled the national debt, expanded the size and scope of government, and launched two senseless wars. However, many are making these accusations, including some men who claim that Hastert molested them when they were in high school. And the judge who sentenced him did call him a “serial child molester” and order him to enroll in a sex-offender treatment program. demand of the holder of the secret is rejected, he might not necessarily disclose the secret, thus keeping the one wanting silence in suspense. Four, the one who wants the holder of the secret to keep quiet may not know—now, later, or forever—that the secret has already been revealed. Fifth, the holder of the secret may demand more money to ensure his silence—once, twice, or many times in the future—after the initial receipt of the hush money or blackmail payments. Sixth, even worse, the holder of the secret may demand future money even though he does not intend to divulge the secret. And finally, there is generally no legal recourse for the payer of hush money or blackmail payments if the holder of his secret refuses to remain silent.

Is it just, moral, and ethical to offer to pay someone for silence? Perhaps. Is it just, moral, and ethical to demand that someone pay for silence? Perhaps not. But in view of the problems relating to hush money and blackmail payments, it is certainly not a wise thing to pay either.

One thing is for sure, though, it should never be illegal for one party to offer to pay another party for silence or for one party to demand payment from another party for silence. What is unjust, immoral, and unethical should not necessarily be criminal.

This principle is something that libertarians alone seem to recognize. After all, an offer is merely an offer to be accepted or rejected, and a demand is merely a demand to be accepted or rejected. As long as there is no coercion, force, aggression, or violence involved in the offer or demand, or the threat of coercion, force, aggression, or violence, there is nothing criminal about them.

Every crime needs a tangible victim with measurable damages. Offering to pay hush money or demanding a blackmail payment should not be crimes.

Dennis Hastert should be freed so he can face his accusers for his alleged real crimes. Let him withdraw as much money from his bank account as he needs to compensate his victims.

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