Budget puritans rebelled last month not for the devilry of it but because they wanted Mr Hastert to explain what on earth his budget strategy was: how does he plan to keep spending down?
Paradoxically, the alleged affair added rather than subtracted from his already iconic status, introducing a dash of devilry and rescuing Beckham from a kind of borderline piousness, and perhaps issuing a reminder that, despite all the affectations, his manhood was beyond doubt.