Larry Craig's Real Mistake

I feel sorry for Larry Craig. Truly. Even though Craig voted to censure Barney Frank for Frank's tryst with a male prostitute. Craig has been behind some of the most intolerant and anti-gay legislation that a US Senator could put his mark on. Now the very condition that drives countless gay men and women into the closet, the bathroom stall or the hospital may have claimed Sen. Craig himself. That is not a cause for gloating. That is sad. Pathetic and sad.

No one can honestly say what Craig did or did not do. No one can know his real intentions. In the new, jacked-up reality of airport "security", maybe those cops in Minneapolis jumped the stall. But if Craig has the chance, especially now that his Republican colleagues have cut his throat, maybe he will experience a change of heart and realize that to be gay, whether he is or not, ought not be a shameful thing, let alone a crime, for anyone. Had he embraced at least that he might still be a Senator today.

Comments

[richw23]

My bad, it appears that this doesn't rise to the level of misdemeanor that would normally cause an ethics review. Weasel wording leaves them free to pick what does - ie. why aren't they going after the guy from Lousiana who's a whore-monger. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[bablyonuc]

just goes to show you ....do we really know who any body is today..we say who we are but when it comes down to it...

[JDangelo]

Why should we feel sorry for a self-loathing homophobe who got caught trying to engag ein the kind of activity he insanely thinks is a sin?

Craig deserves every bit of bad press he gets. Let the Republicans ostracize him. The man was as dishonest with his voters as he is with himself.

Such a person deserves none of our sympathy and all of our ridicule.

[kilroyrogers]

Let's not forget it's a cop's word against yours: no witnesses. Who's to say the officer didn't entice Craig? Probably a hot officer, at that!

[kilroyrogers]

eeeuuuwwww, the only really sad thing about all of this is the visual of this old geezer in the wc! If our society wasn't so suppressive, bi-curious or closeted dudes wouldn't resort to desperate anonymous sexual contact- it'd be readily available! Married heteros go to hookers all the time, and that's glossed right over. Infidelity is a way of life for many; marriages end in divorce more often than not, signifying that most men are ultimately unhappy in their relationships...it's a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into!

[jackejett]

When I use to be attractive in my younger day, I dated several married men. With the exception of one, they were all Republicans with children and big time Jeebus freaks.

These men never..ever had any intention of coming out. We use to call it the Merv Griffin syndrome because they lived in a pad locked closet.

I understand where the Baldwin man is coming from. It is a result of self hatred. It is not about being gay, it is about hating yourself. I would liken it more to anorexia than anything else.

Mr. Baldwin is a great example of many men that go unnoticed. He is comfortable enough with his own sexuality to speak out in a positive way about the LGBT community and doesn't really care if someone thinks he might be gay.

Ladies..that's when you know you got a straight man.

jack jett

[RagingJerseyBoy]

I don't feel sorry for Larry Craig. He is a right wing hypocrite who publicly condemns such behavior while practicing what he ostensibly reviles.

He's not even necessarily gay, though it is certain that he is a pervert. I'm also certain he has never had an original thought in his life. From what I understand he has been a loyal lackey to Trent Lott; it's as though every thought he has ever had, every word he has ever spoken, has been programmed by the Republican leadership.

The Craig and Foley scandals strike at the heart of the Republican Party in a way that Randy 'Duke' Cunningham's bribe taking or Jack Ambramoff's blatant corruption never could. Both Cunningham and Ambramoff had many outspoken supporters within the party, who claimed that liberals were conducting a witch hunt. Many in their base would buy this.

Contrast this with the behavior of Craig's fellow Republicans, who are abandoning him and urged him to resign, while saying that they 'support' him. In Foley's case, the effect was even more pronounced: his colleauges fled from him as though he was a leper infected with Bubonic Plague. Hilarious! Within days, his career was over. Now it's Craig's turn. His only defense is that at least he is not a pedophile.

[gems]

The republicans, especially since this administration, think they are moral superior to the rest of us, with their antigay policies, and Senator Larry Craig referring to Clinton as a "Naughty bad boy". I have never seen so many republicans, since this administration, with issues like any other human being would have. What we need to do is stop throwing stones,stop playing god, and begin exercising our tolerance and accepting the fact that we are all imperfect human beings. Just be who you are. As long as you are not a danger to society, what is the big deal.
Gemma

[bablyonuc]

;how does one get banned from making a comment?very confusing to me....but to make a comment on craig i do feel sorry that his opt of sexual preference has been made public...but to be carring on in a mens bathroom...is quite disqusting we have an aids and hiv problem..where is his brain...lets say we know where his brain is in the tip of his........

[evaviolette]

I don't care for the Republicans, but I to almost started to feel sorry for the guy.
The Democrats did show some class, by refusing to get into the "act".

[teeduke]

Six pages of comments? Larry isn't worth this much fuss.

But my problem with Larry isn't that he's a closet anything. It's that he seems a little out-of-touch with societal norms.

Heterosexual guys don't typically come out and tap out a code for "Do you wanna f--k" with every good-looking woman they come across (much as they'd want to have sex with them). They know better. And most women with half a brain would laugh at such silliness"or cold conk them with their handbag. Communicating sexual interest is usually done in a far more subtle manner at first, gradually moving along a continuum that could ultimately lead to actual sex. And while most people are adept at passing and reading signals this way (surprisingly, since no one actually provides lessons in this sort of thing), some are less so.

It's only logical to assume that homosexuals engage in a similar approach.

Enter Senator Craig.

Either Larry ain't so good at the subtle part of this communication, or he simply doesn't give a flying fig for societal norms.

Which makes you wonder what kind of Senator he must have been. Did he imagine himself to be above the rest of society and not subject to rules the rest of us follow every day? If so, it makes you wonder what kind of air they're breathing over on Capitol Hill.

Senator Craig is a tragic figure to be sure. But the greater tragedy is that our elected representatives all too often take on a sense of entitlement they don't deserve. They live in a them and us world so rarified it's a wonder they can come back down to planet Earth when they retire"or get bounced out on their butts.

I'm liking term limits now more than ever.

[batmanindy]

This whole issue is about hypocrisy. Craig and the GOP are rife with it.

It is cumupence for a band of perverted (in more ways than just sexually), two-faced thieves and despots.

Buh bye (you nasty, naughty boy).

[tandrmcdonald]

What? Does anyone in the real world honestly think Alec Baldwin has one inch of room to be pointing out someone else's "real mistakes?"
What Craig did was sleazy, but he helped write the laws and create the atmosphere that made it so. I doubt anyone woud be raising much of a stink if Craig went out and mugged someone in a public bathroom, that's a crime too.
If people think a law is unjust, they should vote to change it, or to exchange the people who wrote it.
And Alec Baldwin might spend his time more wisely if he took a few parenting courses instead of boring us spitless with his righteous pontificating. This is the same guy who called his own child a pig, remember?
Gramma Rose

[afroditealcmaeonides]

I absolutley agree, but in the same time I would like to point out that the situation was hyperbolyed by the media without due dilligience into the matter. Frankly, Senator Craig, dishonered himself by exibiting this preposterous behavior if it is true, but honestly our boys in Iraq are dying or coming home with no legs for a nominal fee while other...need I say more. I wonder how Cronkite would have presented this....

[Cara07]

The shameful thing, Mr. Baldwin, is that Mr. Craig is married.

[barrycourage]

Alec,

I would not count on Larry Craig to be honest or have integrity about anything, especially his sexuality.

Craig was 24 years old at the time of the Stonewall Riots in 1969. He was a part of the generation that included a group of very brave young men and women who rejected life on the margins and began active pursuit of their civil rights.

Craig could have chosen to join that group. There were plenty of gays and lesbians from conservative western states who moved to coast cities to live with truth and integrity. And there were plenty who stayed in their home states and were true to themselves, even while suffering tremendous hardship.

For many politicians, Expediency is not only their religion but the force that governs expression of their sexual orientation, too.

Craig is now choosing to fight his guilty plea and continue to live a lie. Unfortunately, the contortions of his psyche are hard wired.

[NHGranite]

poor man

[dimphoenix]

As with Arianna's posts, Alec, you have a great eye for the larger issues. Why would people debate that sex in public bathrooms is illegal? That's sort of a foregone conclusion, isn't it? The issue is actually what in our society (and what in the political parties elected by our society) drive people to this kind of behavior and then turn around and sponsor witch hunts against people in similar circumstances. Self-worth and personal responsibility continue to get lost on both sides in this country.

[AlienLifeForm]

I usually don't consider it my business what consenting adults do to and with each other. But when someone like Craig uses his position to fight against everything that would give Gays basic rights and encourages making them outcasts and objects of hatred and violence, then it does become my business.

If politicians like him didn't set aside their humanity to pander to the lowest and creepiest of voter bases, there's a lot of things this country would not have endured.

I grew up in a time when people's lives were destroyed by McCarthy. I have friends whose families were rounded up and put in camps here in Washington state simply because they had Asian features. I lost friends in Vietnam. I have friends who were discriminated against because of their skin color, accents, ethnic origins. Without the immoral pandering to racists, bigots, and just plain crazy people for their votes, I believe these crimes would not have occurred so easily.

For politicians like Craig, it is my sincerest wish that they fall in love with someone of their own gender and then be denied the basic rights of being able to visit them in the hospital when sick. As they sit outside in the hallways waiting for a "blood" relative to give them permission to visit their loved one, I want them to feel the pain of exclusion they've inflicted on other human beings just for a vote. I want them to be shut out of all
planning for the care and funeral expenses of their loved ones. I want them to lose the homes they shared together. I want them to be cut out of any inheritance. I want the families of their loved ones to see them as unworthy of being part of the family of the one they loved. I want them to suffer the same as they've made others suffer so maybe then they will understand the cost of their bigotry.

ALF
http:mishkabear.blogspot.com

[UrbanAddictiondotcom]

I appreciate your compassionate view on Larry Craig's troubles. Most of my gay friends are happy to see him die by the sword he wielded so to speak and I can't say that I blame them either.

[TheDude1369]

another repiglican playing wac-a-mole with his pecker. it is sad that his repression surfaced as self-hatred. it is sad that he screwed his family up with that repression. i learned a long time ago that hatred is fear. show me a neo-con and i'll show you some repression. it's self-reinforcing; the hatred breeds fear which brings repression thereby producing more hatred. the cycle of neurosis. now apply that to iraq, islam, everybody who isn't white, straight, christian.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

Aparently Sen. Craig's theme song should be Joan Jett's ' I Hate Myself For Lovin' You'.

[liveandlearn]

while you all wonder about republican senators, let me name two similarly situated and their different fates:

ted stevens of alaska for bribery and misuse of public funds (can you say bridge to nowhere?)

vitter of louisiana for strange requests from the dc madam

did the republicans throw out either of them?

[tdterry1999]

Just goes to show you being gay is not ok.

[Rabblerouser]

Everybody here seems to assume that Larry Craig is a closeted gay.
I don't think so. I think he's just a horny old man who wanted a quick bj ... and since he couldn't exactly follow a hot chick into the women's restroom, he sought out what was available. It is, I think, a case of "situational" homosexuality. Like prison sex. Men in prison can engage in homosexual behavior inconsistent with their heterosexual orientation because that's all that's available at the time.
As an ex-cop, police academy instructor and out/proud lesbian activist for over 30 years, I dealt a lot with the issue of gay men looking for anonymous sex in public parks, restrooms, rest stops, etc, and it's impact on our community, especially with regard to law enforcement's selective enforcement of lewd conduct laws.
Sex in public places has been an embarrassment to the lesbian community for decades -- and part of the reason we took on our own identity, separate from the generic "gay community," -- was to reject the label "promiscuous" long associated with gay men. If anything, lesbians tend to jump quickly into monogamous relationships. A popular joke in our community says it all: "What does a lesbian bring on the second date? A U-Haul."
My best friend is a gay man, and once in discussing why men in our community were so much more promiscuous than women, his succint answer rang true, for queers as well as heteros:
Women need a reason for making love; men just need a place for sex.
For Larry Craig, this time, that place was a Twin Cities airport men's room. As Alec said, that makes him sad and pathetic, and probably self-loathing. But it doesn't make him gay.
To those who think all gays are pedophiles, research has shown just the opposite: the vast majority (better than 90%) of pedophiles are heterosexual, despite what the right wing would have you believe. And, unlike evangelical Christians, we don't have to "recruit" people to our ranks...God and mother nature take care of that for us.