Craig Vows To Stay In Senate Until End Of Term

Despite failing at his efforts to overturn his guilty plea, Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) says he will not resign from the Senate until his term ends in January 2009. A statement released moments ago:

Craig Reaction to Court Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Idaho Senator Larry Craig issued the following statement in reaction to today's ruling by the State of Minnesota District Court Fourth Judicial District allowing the guilty plea to stand:

"I am extremely disappointed with the ruling issued today. I am innocent of the charges against me. I continue to work with my legal team to explore my additional legal options.

"I will continue to serve Idaho in the United States Senate, and there are several reasons for that. As I continued to work for Idaho over the past three weeks here in the Senate, I have seen that it is possible for me to work here effectively.

"Over the course of my three terms in the Senate and five terms in the House, I have accumulated seniority and important committee assignments that are valuable to Idaho, not the least of which are my seats on the Appropriations Committee, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Veterans' Affairs Committee. A replacement would be highly unlikely to obtain these posts.

"In addition, I will continue my effort to clear my name in the Senate Ethics Committee - something that is not possible if I am not serving in the Senate.

"When my term has expired, I will retire and not seek reelection. I hope this provides the certainty Idaho needs and deserves."

UPDATE: Much more from the AP:

Craig's lawyer, Billy Martin issued a statement saying his client was considering whether to appeal the ruling.

"Senator Larry Craig maintains that he is innocent and there is insufficient evidence to support a finding that he is guilty," Martin said. "Thus, we renew our arguments that it is manifestly unjust to deny Senator Craig's request to withdraw his guilty plea. Senator Craig continues his steadfast denial that any inappropriate behavior took place at the airport."

Craig, in his separate statement, said he was disappointed in the ruling. "I am innocent of the charges against me," he said.

Comments

[rfshunt]

it's good to see that Larry Craig continues to stick it out.

Senator Craig, faced with a long and hard, deeply penetrating probing into the private parts of his life, persists in his desire to lick his opponents once and for all.

[JaneC]

hehe

[RedRooster]

Who knows (or cares) if Larry Craig is gay?

What we do know is that there is a spectrum of sexual behavior. And now we also know that Larry Craig's particular proclivities (among untold others) includes trolling public restrooms for homosexual gratification.

It seems what we SHOULD find bothersome is Craig's use of hate speech in his public statement "denial" and his attempt to play upon a specific public stereotype of gay men. By declaring that he was not gay, he attempted to cast an aspersion on gay men, who by definition, do in fact, engage in same-sex sex. But by playing the "gay card", Craig, merely sought to diminish public speculation about his own (now-public) desire for same-sex relations.

It seems that Larry Craig felt compelled say he wasn't "gay" (whatever that means in this case) primarily because he and other members of the Republican party, have been using inflammatory same-sex politics for decades - for Craig there could hardly be anything WORSE in his imagination that being labelled "gay"...not even engaging in and pleading guilty to criminal disorderly conduct in pursuit of male on male sex!

Larry Craig has been caught in a cruel real-world snare of sexual politics, which he promoted and which until now, he benefited from...that's too bad for him...

For Larry Craig is a self-hating, self-serving, lying piece of hypocritical human filth who can now writhe in his own self-loathing until he drops dead...and even then, his remorse (real or feigned) will not atone for his record of hateful, antisocial, (and, apparently now, psychopathic) words and deeds against homosexual men and women.

Quite frankly, at the moment, I really don't care about Larry Craig or whatever will happen to him. I happen to be thinking of Matthew Shepherd and untold others like him who have been victim to actions resulting from the kind of sexual politics Larry Craig and others have promoted and have visited upon us all as a nation.

Consequently, I simply don't care whether or not Larry Craig is gay...

[JoJoGunner]

Neither do I but I'm glad he's Republican.

[cynara]

party oh hypocrits...

[AAnon]

beautifully stated...!

[glesslib]

Couldn't have said it better. Gay in not his problem. Self-hate, fear, and ambition make for a bad combo.

[LaFeminazi]

Nite all.

Think of rampant blue elephants with a wide..stance.

[JaneC]

Nite femi dear. Sweet dreams.

[BreadandRoses]

Nite, Femi.

Sweet dreams.

[Beelzebul]

Dream about Green Mountains.

[LaFeminazi]

With deep drifting snow.

Sigh.

[only1Demvoter]

Good Nite Femi... -ralph

[Thalia]

buon noir, Fem.

(Did I get that right?)

[Hawkeye17]

Craig is the gift that will keep on giving for the Democrats(no pun intended!).

[JoJoGunner]

Now they say he must resign
Some might think he's lost his mind
Larry Craig

A U.C. cop has cooked his goose
He just wont turn the Senate loose
Ooooh Larry Craig

[peepeeray]

Idaho is desolate and lonely... plus no cute Congressional Pages there. Craig just can't quit D.C.

[Qbear]

Idaho is just bursting with PRIDE

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-8/1210139/diapersdragqueensurinals.jpg

[jdcccc]

Larry Craig has got to go.

Being a conservative, we tend to hold true to our likes and dislikes regardless of Party.

[BlueStateMan]

that sure as hell hasn't been reflected in the ballot-box, has it?

[Thalia]

It sure hasn't been reflected in the response to the moveon.org ad versus the response to Limbaugh's disgusting comments about soldiers.

[Thalia]

bullshit.

[MI6troll]

Why aren't you calling for Vitter's resignation, then?

[LaFeminazi]

ROFLMAO.

Since when?

[JoeBlough]

The Queen of Idaho must stay.

[MI6troll]

I am sure that one reason Craig is willing to say "screw you" to the Republican Party is the difference in the way he is being treated by them as opposed to Senator Vitter.

Of course, the Repubs can't call on Vitter to resign--a Democratic Governor would name his replacement.

[Thalia]

Correct.

See Jdccc's bullshit post above. Repubs spent millions trying to remove a man from office over an affair, and it wasn't even with a hooker while wearing diapers.

They're full o' it.

[Firaxis]

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[JaneC]

A short list of repiglican "nasty boys". It's actually endless and goes all the way back to Poppy Bush.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Re9w22yWixc

[only1Demvoter]

Jane : LOFL !!

Thanx for the laugh Jane...

They are SO bucking fusted !! -ralph

[Qbear]

GOP 08 Convention slogan

Minnesota here we cum

[JoJoGunner]

Horny as heck
A Senator wandring lonely
Looking for love the only way he knows

Feeling alone
He goes down to the airport
Sits and shits and starts tapping his toes.

[FDRbyGodDemocrat]

Sitting in a men's room
Eyeing little boys with bad intent.

Larry Craig as Aqualung: I love it.

[Thalia]

I'd like to know why the hell it's going to cost a million dollars to put new stall walls into that bathroom and one other.

Ridiculous.

[BreadandRoses]

Must be a no-bid Halliburton contract.

[Beelzebul]

Craig - Foley '08

[Thalia]

This just in: Pres. Bush Responds to the Craig situation:

"Sen. Craig has pled guilty to being a homo. A guilty plea is a plea that is guilty. A homoseshual is a person who is a seshual homo. A bathroom stall is an area of space similar to a work cubicle only it has a toilet in it instead of a desk. As the Decider, I make decisions. My decisions are what matters. I make decisions for childrens and for homos. I decide which generals can be attacked and which cannot. I can decide when everyone should be angry at criticism of my military people and when they should praise it. It's fun being the Decider. I am not a homo Decider, but I Decide for homos."

[Beelzebul]

Wow. And he does so with his usual mastery of the English language.

Great stra'tee'gery on his part. I'm sure he'll have something just as elegant to say about LTGeneral Anal Cyst.