So here is what disgraced Senator Larry Craig did. He placed his bag down in front of the airport bathroom door. He went tap, tap, tap with his foot. He reached over with his left hand and touched the leg of the fellow in the next stall. After that he did...well, nothing. The officer confronted him and accused him of soliciting, and Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and paid the fine.
Here, to get a little perspective, is what Congressman Barney Frank did several years ago. He answered a personal ad in the Washington Blade in which a male prostitute, Stephen Gobie, drew public attention to his "hot bottom" and "large endowment." Frank began to pay Gobie for sex and even invited Gobie to move in with him. When the arrangement soured, Gobie revealed to the press that he had been running a full-service prostitution ring out of Frank's Capitol Hill apartment.
Why then is Craig on the ropes while Frank continues as a Congressman in good standing? Certainly the difference isn't homosexuality, which seems to be a common factor in both cases. Nor can the explanation be found in the gravity of the offense involved. Craig's is much less serious, since the worst he did was proposition another adult to have sex, not exactly the first time in history that this has happened. Frank, by contrast, was employing a male hooker for paid favors and providing operating facilities for a D.C. prostitution ring.
I suppose the difference is that Craig has been a champion of moral values--which makes him vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy--while Frank is a libertine which means he gets to do as he pleases. (Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy are also given free passes for similar reasons.) Another difference, as far as the mainstream media is concerned, is that Craig is a Republican. If you're looking for two-faced people who abuse their power, Craig may not be the greatest offender here.
Reader Comments ( Page 5 of 11)
61. You need to use your God given brains to think for yourself for a change instead of always blaming liberals and Democrats for all the crap shit your party seems to be doing these days. The Republicans were the ones who abandoned this hypocrite guy. Wake up and smell the coffee. If all of you Repukes would mind your own business and try to live your life as the Bible asks, you wouldn't get in the crap shit mess. The guy has so much hatred for gays that he was hell bent on voting against a bill that would make it a hate crime if gays were attacked. But then he gets off the plane and walks further away to this particular restroom. Now he wants to proclaim he was picking a piece of paper. Pray tell me who in their right mind picks up anything in a public rest room ??? He was entitled to an attorney but chose not to do so. In fact, he never sought legal counsel once he returned to Idaho. And now that all this blew up in his face, he has the audacity to claim "entrapment". Remember the old adage ... "people who live in glass houses should not throw stones at others." I don't give a shit if he is gay or straight or bi-sexual. I do give a damn when he proclaims to be a conservative Christian and then is out prowling for sex with men in airport bathrooms. Remember, Mark Foley - when he was caught, he claimed he was an alcoholic and was abused, yada, yada. So it is you, the Republicans, who cheat, lie, get drunk, snort something up your nose and then want to blame Democrats. You need to stop watching the faux news and stop listening to the drug addict fat ass Rush. Senator Craig got just what he deserved for being a bad, bad, naughty boy !!!!!
Hope at 3:52PM on Sep 1st 2007
62. Now imagine if Larry Craig was the President of the United States and had sex in a young interns mouth and lied to the Country on National TV while wagging his finger at the citizens. Later, he got impeached for his lies. Would Larry Craig have remained President?
Some people feel shame and disgrace for their actions and step down from positions of power because in their gut they know it is the right thing to do. Republicans try live their lives beyond reproach.
Commoncents at 4:10PM on Sep 1st 2007
63. As always, Dinesh, I am astounded by the fact that you obviously are academically bright and highly educated and yet continue to remain, in so many respects, a complete moron. Your zealous and unreason conservatism and homophobia would naturally draw your twisted mind to comparisons between Craig and Frank, however wrong-headed they are. While I am gay, I do find bathroom sex somewhat sordid; and for a self-loathing, hypocritical homophobe like Craig, this sordidness would doubtless add a certain rebellious appeal.
Frank did wrong; but he was openly gay and while his ethics and taste may have been questionable, he
did not flagrantly attempt to break the law like poor, pathetic Craig did. It is no coincidence that
moralistic, finger-pointing hypocrisy is such a Republican phenomenon; they are drilled to behave according to their party's tenets; unquestioningly adhering to their political and religious beliefs even when these run contrary to their own human inclinations.
Peter at 4:37PM on Sep 1st 2007
64. The difference between the two situations is this: Sen. Craig was aware that he was committing a misdemeanor lewd act in a public place, whereas Frank, though obviously lacking due diligence, had no awareness that his boarder, Steve Gobie, was running a gay escort service out of their apartment. In other words, intent is everything, something even a non-lawyer can figure out intuitively. Craig is guilty, while Frank, though I do not partake in his way of life, is not guilty.
Rep. Frank, to be sure, lacked foresight in choosing his associates. But he didn't participate in any illegal activity nor did he cover up such activity. Dinesh D'Souza, an overrated and contemptible McCarthyist hack whose recent book, "The Enemy at Home," I panned in a prominent magazine, makes a false parallel. But then, ideology trumps common sense every time for "Distort D'Newsa."
Carl F. Horowitz at 4:58PM on Sep 1st 2007
65. Why everybody called us "RIGHT"? because we always're right! isn't that simple?!
Everything in this country went wrong these days, not ours fault, the Democrats/Liberals are to blame. Oh, don't forget to count the Iraqis,the Iranians,the Chinese,the French,the Germans,the Russians,the Maxicans,the Cubans,the Lebanese,...
the homos...(no, scratch the last one out).
Anyway,we,the people with faith,live a moral life. and we know better.and...and...because we're chosen.
GOD blew us!
(Oops, we taped our foot on the wrong "stall" of the keyboard)
jax at 5:09PM on Sep 1st 2007
66. While not all republicans assume we are the religious police for the nation, we do believe that strong family values and sitting down to dinner with the family at the dinner table at night would probably do alot to keep the fabric of a once-great nation together. (It might even help with communication in your family more than that counselor you go see.)
While my personal beliefs don't allow for homosexual behavior, I believe that we are in a country that allows me to believe that...and for you to believe as you will. I think that's called Free Agency.
My worry isn't as much what happened in the Bible (although that is important and guides my life), but instead what happened in the history of the Roman Empire, once the gates were opened and all sorts of perversions and ultra-liberalistic beliefs permeated Roman government. Everyone was so busy eating, puking, and screwing the neighbor's wife and goat, that the government was a void, which nobody listened to anyway.
Didn't a libertine already help to erode the basic premises this country was based on when the words "under God" were deleted from the Pledge of Allegiance to Flag of the United States (except California)?
Why did "under God" cause so much damage? If you review the deeds and other documents written by our founding fathers (Jefferson, Franklin, etc), you'd see where they spent the first half the deed declaring how Providence and God were responsible for their fortune, etc. prior to assigning the title. It didn't mean that the State required that God be mentioned, nor did it define the religious preference of the next land holders...and it didn't cause the nation to fall.
I guess what I am trying to say is, "if you don't want your kid to pray in schools, then tell him to color during the two minute "quiet period" while others are being silent and undemonstrative as they choose to pray." There is no need to force others NOT to have a religion because you don't, just like many of you have said we're the morality police and are forcing things the opposite way.
This country is a mixture of peoples and beliefs, and we all need to play nice or LEAVE. As a military member, if I committed adultery or a homosexual act, I would be subject to military law, convicted of a FELONY, labeled a sex offender and dishonorably discharged...not so much for normal citizens, or even the president. Why NOT? If you need to be of such high caliber to go out and die for the rights of all citizens, shouldn't all elected officials (and for that matter ALL SPORTS FIGURES) need to maintain that standard of conduct? Boy, that would be refreshing. Hell, let's throw in celeBRATies, too. Then we could save the forests by eliminating the need for tabloids! Whew! Why didn't Sen. Gore suggest THAT in his movie?
Lightning Rod at 5:24PM on Sep 1st 2007
67. When reading Dinesh D'Souza, remember that this traitor expressed sympathy and solidarity with Al Qaeda for their 9-11 murder of 3000 plus Americans.
He has no morals, and not an honest bone in his body. He omits the truth that HIS morally bankrupt Republican party demanded that Larry Craig resign, because of bad public relations.
But being a moral blank, he'll find a way to blame Democrats for EVERYTHING and ANYTHING, including the weather, because he gets a lot of $$$$ for his shameless propaganda.
Heck, he already sided with Al Qaeda over his fellow Americans. Why would you trust anyone who did that?
chumley at 5:29PM on Sep 1st 2007
68. Says rightwing cheerleader Dave:
"The big difference is, that no matter what the odd behavior, Democrats circle the wagons to protect their perverts, we Republicans do everything we can to oust our perverts. There is no hypocrisy, every time a Republican does something morally wrong, it ends his career, and if it were a couple hundred years ago, Craig would have been physically driven out of washington by an angry mob."
Maybe you forgot that whore-loving, diaper-loving David Vitter is still in office, and was CHEERED by his fellow Republicans when he returned to the Senate this summer.
Either than or you're a liar, like most GOP tools.
chumley at 5:29PM on Sep 1st 2007
69. It's not about sex. It's about truth and integrity.
Barney Frank says he's gay and votes for gay marriage. Take him or leave him, you know what he's about.
Craig and Foley hunt from ambush. They cloak themselves in conservative ideology while skulking about in toilets and chatting up young pages.
Does anybody--anybody without an agenda--imagine the lying ends there? Consider these mens' indiscretions, well and widely known: do you imagine either could resist the "lobbying" of anyone in a position to expose them?
Do you imagine that either one did?
And what did that cost the country?
S. Norman at 6:21PM on Sep 1st 2007
70. DINESH....SOMEHOW CAN MAKE CHOCLATE OUT OF DOODY IF IT COMES OUT OF A DEMOCRAT..AND REVERSE THE PROCESS IF ITS A DEOMOCRAT. What is the bottom line here..Craig is Married, and not supposed to be going with men or women....and crusing toilets...is really low class for a senator, who is a hypocrite..who is anti-gay rights, marriage etc. He is a horrible hypocrite... Barney Frank (if the store might be strue what Dinesh claims) was blackmailed by an alleged prostitute. If Barney invited the guy to live with him, then he must have been in love with him...and probably never new he was a prostitue nor, that he was doing anything illegal.. I am sure if he did run such a ring, the guy had is own private phone, and no clients ever came to the apt.....The story might have been made up only to blackmail BARNEY..and not true at all. DINESH always takes the wrong side of most issues....that is what he is paid to do.
DR Tim PATERSON at 6:24PM on Sep 1st 2007
71. 1. it was republicans that called for his resignation. 2. Barney Frank was never charged. He had no knoledge of the ring being run out of his basement. 3. Frank didn´t try to cover it up or plead guilty to make it go away. 4. Frank never lectured anyone about family values or oppossed any sort of pro gay legislation. Craig is a queer as a three dollar bill and as bent as a fork in the road. He´s GAY!! Admit it and get over it!
dagger at 6:25PM on Sep 1st 2007
72. I made an error on my post..it should have read that he can make choc out of doory is it comes out of a REPUBLICAN....and vice versa. DINESH is a paid Republican weapon of mass deception like ANN COULter, who is a psychotic slut...and that is really a sicentific evaluation
DR Tim PATERSON at 6:26PM on Sep 1st 2007
73. One of the posters....saaid that too many people have come out of the closet.. well you havent seen anything yet....wait till BUSH comes out...with Jeff GANNON. The same poster wished CRAIG peace...I really do not think that the hypocrite deserves it.....
DR Tim PATERSON at 6:46PM on Sep 1st 2007
74. How stupid can somebody be to ask such a dumbass
question. This HOOVER Fellow must like to put up
little strawmen/B.S. just to be writing to bait somebody into arguing with him. Conserative and or Republican-minded people just can not stand for people to be free and have fun. So what Bill Clinton got a blow-job,ole Barney Frank stuck his frank in a shit hole and this is Bad,Wrong or immoral? Just because they (Bill&Barney) go to the beat of a different drum,does not mean it is wrong
or right, they just wanted to have some fun! Barney Frank was known to be GAY and Monica asked If she could suck it! If that two-faced progressive-poligamy minded Red-neck speaker of the U.S. House had not shut down
the govt.(I'm going to take my toys home and not play with you anymore Billy Clinton)he would not have been working in the Whitehouse all alone!
THis is a fact, stop trying to be perfect and make everybody be alike, two-footed or judgemental about how somebody ought to live. Dinesh D'Souza you need to stop being a suck-up wannabe 'white boy' by acting like them! Live and let live. Sen. Craig has a problem like the so called catholic sham-men(priest) playing around with little dumb-ass white boys like the Ancient Greeks in the Gyms and they called it 'Puppy Love'. Answer this joke of a question: What does Henry the Eighth,Thomas Jefferson,John Kennedy&Stom Thrumond have in common? Ans. All politically succesfull men
that did not use Viagra to be doin it all time
to be women who were not their wives,matter of fact
Jefferson & Thrimond were just plain ole rapist(as if those women could say NO!) D. D., Had you been born in the U.S.,grew up and attend public schools
you could appreciate how diffrent we think...you have a British inferioriy status, on the other hand
we kick their assessv and we are free to be whom ever we want to be so go f---k yourself with such
nonsense. Mr. Smarty-pants,you could'nt spend a night in a big city jail and not have your two holes
with additional fluids put in them. But I bet you I
could!
Paul washington-Lacey at 8:43PM on Sep 1st 2007
75. Barney Frank's actions were at a time when many Americans were not as caught up in the social issues involving morality as they are today. Further, Frank represents a decidedly liberal democratic district. As you mentioned in regard to Senator Kennedy, many Americans almost expect that kind of behavior out of the northeast. Craig is from Idaho, one of the most conservative states, and times have changed. He was a leader in Romney's organization - certainly pro-family values is a benchmark of that campaign. Americans may chuckle over a sordid affair that involves someone we half expect to be involved in such behavior, but Americans hate a hypocrite. Further, this was not the first time the senator has had to defend himself against similar charges. Finally, the Republican Party of late has become ensnarled in a host of scandals - corruption in office (Ney, and counting), sexual (Foley, Vitter, and counting), and has lost focus as well as momentum.
Mike S at 9:13PM on Sep 1st 2007