Rep. J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, Speaker of the House of Representatives longer than any other Republican is rumored to announce his resignation from Congress after this term.

I was never a big Hastert fan, although I can say it seems nice looking back now realizing I didn’t see his face in the news every day.

When he sided with those members of Congress who thought the F.B.I. could not search William Jefferson’s congressional office for evidence in a bribery scandal, he lost me for good. He showed that he and other Republicans as well as Democrats think they as Congresscritters are above the law.

He presided over a lot of corruption in the House; corruption that is still going on and some that is still being investigated after having been carried over to this term.

He was not the first choice to be Speaker of the House when Newt Gingrich resigned, but because Larry Flynt was all excited about revealing sexual peccadillos of Republican Congressmen, the chosen leader, Bob Livingstone was forced to resign. Enter Denny Hastert.

The rest, as they say, is history.

We’ll see if his seat, which he has held for many years, will flip or remain Republican.