Republican senator Larry Craig of Idaho has quit the Romney campaign after the revelation surfaced that he was arrested in June for allegedly propositioning a plainclothes cop for sex in an airport men's room known for sexual activity. Roll Call quotes the arrest report: "At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct.
Craig, who is married, is now doing all kinds of backtracking and trying to defend his guilty plea on his website, but the damage is pretty much done. A YouTube video of Craig praising Romney's "family values" has been yanked.
On one hand, you have to pity a public figure so desperate that he'll recklessly endanger his whole political career and his colleagues' for a Minneapolis bathroom quickie.
And yet, Andrew Sullivan writes, "My sympathy vanishes when it comes to people who support amending the Constitution to ban gay marriage, as Craig did."
Which is a good point. So all that's left to feel is glee that such base hypocrisy has come to light.
Reader Comments ( Page 4 of 5)
46. Is he not a lawmaker? Do lawmakers not know that a guilty plea to the laws they make are an admission of guilt and not able to be revoked or changed after the fact? Not telling his wife and kids till its broadcast all over the news. I think he has denied the truth long enough.
But hey, I hear Gonzalus is needing a job. I'm sure he will lie cheat steal to tap his phone, opps I mean bury the truth already well known. What the heck, Bush screwed him pretty good then disposed of him so I'm sure Gonzalus will gladly spread his butt cheeks for him.
AND IF we vote in a Democrat, the laws will soon be changed in his favor so he can divorce his wife and marry his butt buddy from his home state of I-da-ho.
Will at 10:04PM on Aug 28th 2007
47. You know why you never hear of democrats doing this sort of thing?? Because it is normal for them. This is the party that accepts pedophiles and homosexuals. The embrace groups like nambla, so to them these actions are nothing new. Just look at their shining example, Barney Frank. If the heat gets too bad they have their blogger friends as well as the Clinton News Network, PMSNBC as well as the big three.
Dave at 10:55PM on Aug 28th 2007
48. From under the rocks the Democrats crawl out and use one incident like this to try to show what is wrong with Republican Party, trying to show how so bad this is. Democrats always seem to forget that San Francisco, 71% Democrat, is a gay showcase for the WORLD. People who hold govt jobs who have complete sex changes and are considered by fellow democrats as someone who should be looked up to for being able to get govt job with their sex change and that this shows how compassionate San Franciso people, democrats,are. Or the Gay Parades where there are incident of gay sex visable among the parade marchers. Then there is the Catholic Church, 78% of priests vote Democrats, and as we have seen, Catholic Priests by the thousands worldwide, have problems with having sex with young boys. It is the Democrats who try to take single incidents and blow them up to try to make it appear a common place with Republicans, but it is the Democrats who hide in the comfort of the Democrat Party with the majority of the other gays in the USA, even getting the legal protection of the Democrats Lawyers, the ACLU
ROBERT OKANE at 11:30PM on Aug 28th 2007
49. I don't see any Democrats or Liberals making hay of this. So, let's keep to reality and truth even if we may disagree.
pfft at 2:57AM on Aug 29th 2007
50. Robert O'Kane and Dave,
At best it can be said that the Democratic Party does more to define its basic positions than just exploiting and whoring out to the far-right uber-conservative hysteria-gripped Christianists. At worst it can be said that the Democratic Party is way too soft on LGBT issues and only ONE of the candidates still aiming for the Democratic presidential nomination has the guts to say "screw Don't Ask, Don't Tell and let same-sex couples enter into federally-recognized marriages", that one being Dennis Kucinich. NONE of the other figureheads jonesy-ing for the Democratic presidential nomination are in favor of allowing same-sex couples access to all 1000+ federal rights of marriage that any opposite-sex couple can blissfully enter into, unless you count Hillary wanting to wipe out a PART of the Defense of Marriage Act (and not the entire thing).
So Robert, and so Dave, it's not so easy and clearcut as parroting conservative talking points gleaned from, I don't know, the pastors in your churches, or your hunting buddies (?), I don't know.
And trying to flip this around on Democrats and jabbing your fingers in front of their faces saying "well y'all are the gay party so where do you come off pointing the finger at the Larry Craigs, etc. of the Republicans?" is a facetious apology of the current Republican platform on the civil rights of sexual and gender minorities. THEY, and NOT the Democrats, are the ones going out and declaring to the nation how they're all "family values" in order to land the vote of the nutjob Focus on the Family-captive-listener bloc of the population, and this always ends up with them translating that into "homosexuality is immoral and unnatural and don't let the homosexual agenda get special rights to corrupt and seduce your children." So you think that people who parrot that kind of prejudiced rhetoric have nothing to answer for when they're exposed to be doing the very thing they're condemning? How about the fact that they've been SAYING ONE THING WHILE DOING ANOTHER and are so supposed to representing YOU with some INTEGRITY? Or is that good politics as far as the conservative side of the political spectrum is concerned?
Oh and one more thing: neither American-brand conservatism nor American-brand conservative/rightwing Christianity constitute the moral compass of this nation. I know this last statement is irrelevant to the rest of my post but I get annoyed at some conservatives' tendency to make liberals out to be libertines and amoral sinners bound for hell as conceived in Christianity. Frankly stories like this as well as those of Ted Haggard, Newt Gingrich, etc. just go to prove that these "[nuclear-1950s commercial] family values" bigtalkers really don't have any more room to rip on liberals anymore than liberals have room to rip on conservatives.
b at 3:01AM on Aug 29th 2007
51. I don't see any Democrats or Liberals making hay of this. So, let's keep to reality and truth even if we may disagree.
pfft at 3:02AM on Aug 29th 2007
52. I don't see any Democrats or Liberals making hay of this. So, let's keep to reality and truth even if we may disagree.
pfft at 3:06AM on Aug 29th 2007
53. Dave,
Wow, what an IQ. What logic. When you make sense get back to me.
pfft at 3:06AM on Aug 29th 2007
54. -NY times, August 29, 2007
In what was widely seen another "blow" to their flaccid public image, Republican Party strategists gathered today at a press conference at Motel 6 to formally announce their party's merger with NAMBLA, (North American Man-Boy Love Association) the controversial group that advocates sexual affection between underage boys and over the hill men.
With the recent arrest of Rep Senator Larry Craig (Idaho) for trying to get some love action with an undercover cop in the restroom at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, party stalwarts were left with no other option but to come clean, and spit out what has already become obvious to the nation: the Republican Party has become the #1 spot in the nation for repressed homosexual longings.
"Why fight it?" was the attitude of many legislators.
"Actually, not a single one of us joined the party for anything else," admitted defrocked Atty General Alberto Gonzales. "All this talk about God, going to church, being a Moral Majoritarian, it was all just a ploy to get our mitts on some hot young Sunday School carne assada and do the chalupa chupa. Heck, you can't even get an invitation to the funraisers anymore unless you bring some meth and a hot young boy with you. I quit!"
(Editor's note: This missive is NOT about the pros and cons of being gay, it's about putting other people down a la Jimmy Swaggart, when you're actually knockin' da boots with hookers and their daughters in cheap motel rooms, chokin' yur chicken in a hankie, then getting back in time for the show)
However all was not smooth on the other side of this political intercourse. Outraged NAMBLA members threatened to resign en masse if the merger is finalized.
Spokesperson Rod Constant stated, "Hey, puttin' the wood to a liquored up 8 year old is one thing, but joining the Republican Party?? We got some STANDARDS here."
pat young at 3:35AM on Aug 29th 2007
55. picking up a PIECE of paper on the floor!...well, there's bathroom etiquette for you, eh? i have a wide stance when i use the toilet explanation, well,senator, that's just grasping at straws when all of ems prickly (no pun). personally,i'm not interested in deciphering the implied intent of the senator's shibboleths (foot tap, hand beneath partition.)the arresting officer was a tad over zealous,too. that said,i'd say he was up(pun) to SOMETHING when he made that inane retort about his foot brushing the accusing officer's in the next stall. "i make a wide berth when i use the toilet,"craig explained. UGH! PHEW! WTF,yo! on that utterance alone, i'd incriminate him on the grounds of using BAD excuses.
boredwell at 4:29AM on Aug 29th 2007
56. It's still hard to top the story about the REPUBLICAN in Florida who said he offered the cop $20.00 to let him perform oral sex - because he was afraid of black men.
Still, this one almost matches it for the, "I pled guilty, but I'm really innocent," stupidity.
Let's hope this Neo-con/Christo-fascist junta will really end soon. We've had more of them than we can stand.
But it all starts with political reform. Even if we could elect honest politicians, the very system corrupts them. It seems (or so they say) that they can't stay in office without raking in big bucks.
We've got to get the lunatics out... and equally important... we've got to get the CORPORATIONS out of our elected officials pockets.
Randy at 5:25AM on Aug 29th 2007
57. Fox News doesn't need to dig hard for anything on Democrats. Fox News is very good in making up lies and make news out of them.
Faye at 10:17AM on Aug 29th 2007
58. Someone's private life really isn't the public business. HOWEVER, when someone like Senator Craig goes out of their way in the public realm to decry gays and lesbians for wanting equal rights to marry, his personal life in this case should be demonstrative of the fact that a)he's got issues serious enough to question his integrity in his position, hypocrisy notwithstanding and b)the fact that these people think its okay to play in the personal life and preach to the rest of us just tells me that there really isn't anything to the whole family values spiel except empty rhetoric. People who actually live by family values do not need to preach them; they lead by example! Bill Clinton certainly had his issues but he and his wife chose to stay married....a tough route in today's society considering everyone's voyeurism.
Suzanne at 10:29AM on Aug 29th 2007
59. Typical repub. Everytime when one of their high moral value members is caught doing nauty things, they bring up Hillary's or Bill's name. When are you republicans going to start taking responsiblities for your own wrong doings and stop blaming anyone or evading the issues by bringing up someone else's name. Lary Craig is guilty by his own admission or are you rebpubs blaming Democrats for that,too.
Faye at 10:29AM on Aug 29th 2007
60. pity the guy with restless leg syndrome
dicky netherton at 10:40AM on Aug 29th 2007