Remember Denny Hastert?

Republican Dennis Hastert, whose congressional district in northern Illinois covers part of what we call RascalLand, used to be speaker of the House.

We haven't heard much about Hastert since the Democrats took control of Congress. But we would do well at this particular time to remember something he did back in 1997, something that relates directly to the current controversy over the visit to Syria by his successor as speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

You see, lots of Republicans and lots of their friends in the media have been making a big fuss about what they see as Pelosi improperly insinuating herself into U.S. foreign policy. But these same people seem not to have objected when Hastert took a trip abroad a decade ago and encouraged foreign leaders to ignore President Clinton and deal directly with the Republican Congress.

UPDATE: Meanwhile, Americans generally take a dim view of George Bush's handling of foreign policy.

UPDATE II: By the way, a Republican congressman also visited Syria this week, and he bad-mouthed Bush while he was there.