Hastert convicted in hush money case

As Tea Party Republicans are about to anoint the laughable Paul Ryan as the new House Speaker, a GOP House Speaker from the past still haunts.

The disgraced Dennis Hastert pleaded guilty today to a federal charge of making numerous bank withdrawals to pay off an unidentified person to keep quiet about Hastert's sexual misconduct. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison, but the prosecutor is seeking a lighter sentence of up to 6 months.

This is a plea deal that may keep other embarrassing details about the case from being revealed.

But Hastert is gone and in disgrace.