OK, is it just me, or does anybody else see a pattern here? As Nixguy reported earlier, Idaho Senator Larry Craig (R) was arrested a little while back, and plead guilty to a charge of "disorderly conduct" in a Minneapolis airport men's room. In the process of being booked, Craig, like Florida Representative Bob Allen (R), tried to get special treatment by telling police who he was.

No, Craig didn't try to pull the old "I offered the officer money to provide him with oral sex because I was afraid of him because he was a scary black man" defense that Allen made famous, but he does claim there was a misunderstanding. Evidently, Craig didn't get that when he was pleading guilty, he was, in fact, admitting guilt, or something like that. The complaints of lewd behavior from the other men in the bathroom, well, it was all just a crazy mix-up.

Also strangely familiar is the senator's Ted Haggard-esque public hatred of all things homosexual. Americablog has dug up Craig's votes and found that the senator voted for a constitutional ban on gay marriage, against adding sexual orientation to the hate crimes act and prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation, and for prohibiting same sex marriage. You see, Craig prefers the furtive, encounter with a stranger, men's room variety of homosexuality. None of the commitment or rights, just the kinky sex. How's that for family values?

And like Louisiana's David Vitter (R), he of D.C. escort services fame, Craig was one of those who pounded the GOP drum against Bill Clinton's sexual behavior, calling the former president, among other things, a "naughty boy." And no, in case you're wondering, this was certainly not the first time that Craig has had such an encounter in a public bathroom. From today's Idaho Statesman:

Sen. Larry Craig, who in May told the Idaho Statesmen he had never engaged in homosexual acts, was arrested less than a month later by an undercover police officer who said Craig made a sexual advance toward him in an airport men's room. The arrest at a Minnesota airport prompted Craig to plead guilty to disorderly conduct earlier this month. His June 11 encounter with the officer was similar to an incident in a men's room in a Washington, D.C., rail station described by a Washington-area man to the Idaho Statesman. In that case, the man said he and Craig had sexual contact.

Oh to be gay, closeted, and Republican. Evidently, it's a heavy burden to carry.