Hastings Blames "Haters" After Pelosi Withholds Chairmanship

House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) thought better of her earlier inclination to appoint Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) as chairman of the House Select Committee on Intelligence. She informed Hastings today she would not be appointing him to the coveted post. His looming appointment drew opposition across the political spectrum because of old bribery allegations which led to his removal as a federal judge through the congressional impeachment process. In expressing his disappointment at Pelosi's decision, Hastings quipped, "Sorry, haters, God is not finished with me yet."

Hastings reference to those who opposed his appointment as "haters" tells us just how little he has learned from his past transgressions. Despite the overwhelming evidence of his guilt at the time, a Florida jury was unable to reach a guilty verdict in a case in which Hastings' race became a central defense. A co-conspirator did, however, serve time for the crime. Fortunately, a Democratic-controlled Congress laid aside partisanship and overwhelmingly voted to impeach and convict him of the charges, resulting in his removal as a federal judge. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) led the House prosecution of Hastings during his trial in the U.S. Senate.

Hastings has always relied on the acquittal in the criminal court to excuse his wrongdoing, notwithstanding the judgment rendered by Congress under its constitutional authority. In so doing, he shows great disrespect for his fellow congressional colleagues who exercised their constitutional duty to remove him from the federal bench and continue to believe that his past wrongdoing should disqualify him from holding a sensitive leadership position on the Intelligence Committee. Hastings' colleagues don't hate him. They just happen to believe in the rule of law and respect for our Constitution--neither of which Hastings seems to believe in or respect.