Poor Dennie Hasturd. At the onset of the Mark Foley scandal, he attempted to keep his chin up and insisted that he'd continue on his merry-campaign way, unadulterated by the political mess. It seems, however, that the House Speaker's not a man of his word.

According to Muckraker, Turdie has missed no less than a dozen events since the page scandal first shook Washington. Paul Kiel reports:

The cancellations are frequent but quiet, so it's been nearly impossible to keep track of them all. The Washington Post last week put at 12 the growing tally of scrubbed events that were to feature Hastert or another scandal-tarnished figure, NRCC chair Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-NY).

By far the most popular explanation has been "scheduling conflicts."