An October 5 Wall Street Journal editorial suggested that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) is hypocritical for criticizing House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) over his handling of the scandal surrounding former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) based on the false claim that “Parson Pelosi” was “last seen on this issue voting to revoke the Boy Scouts' charter for its ban on gay scoutmasters.” In fact, Pelosi did not cast a vote on the bill to repeal the federal charter of the Boy Scouts of America, which failed on September 13, 2000, by a vote of 12-362. Pelosi was one of 50 House Democrats to answer “present,” which is neither a yea nor a nay vote; 11 Democrats voted to revoke the charter. One Republican answered present, and one Republican voted to revoke the charter. Moreover, the October 5 editorial was the second time in three days that a Journal editorial baselessly connected Democratic criticism of Hastert to the Boy Scouts' ban on gay scoutmasters, as Media Matters for America documented.

From the October 5 Wall Street Journal editorial:

Now that Mark Foley's carcass has gone over the side, the political waters are filling with sharks fighting over the remnants. We're going to find out how fast Denny Hastert can swim.

First to the site as always was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Republican leaders “failed to protect the children in their trust,” intoned Parson Pelosi, last seen on this issue voting to revoke the Boy Scouts' charter for its ban on gay scoutmasters. So exercised is Ms. Pelosi that she wants the GOP leadership “immediately questioned under oath” by the Ethics Committee.