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.
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PART 1
Exactly! If he had not gone on the defensive and made it sound like what they were accusing him of was something to be ashamed of and defensive about, he never would have had to face this kind of music. He should have adopted a "so what? mind your own business" attitude and told that cop to go stalk some terrorists at the airport, not try to get a rise out of someone minding their own business in the next stall in a men's room.
Further, why should it be wrong for gay people to start a little "hello, here I am, are you interested?" give and take in any public place? Plenty of straight people do it all the time with or without words. Gotta have some initiation process to see if people are buying what you’re selling (metaphorically, of course). How is that a crime or misdemeanor? How would people ever ger to meet people otherwise? Unless that cop had Craig in public, doing actual lewd, overt sexual acts, I don't even see what right he had to arrest him. I listened to the tape where the cop and Craig are discussing what did or didn't go on and nowhere is there any mention of anything that I would find objectionable in a public place by anyone gay or straight. So he moved his foot closer to the next stall, that would be a subtle overture at worst. From what I could make out, the cop must have encouraged him by moving his own foot closer. So then Craig ...
PART 2
...alleged
If Craig hadn't been so homophobic, he could have calmly handled the situation with a "get real" attitude, refused to discuss anything and let his lawyer handle the fallout. If the event had become public, he could have continued along the same vein and just said he has nothing to explain or apologize for. Nothing happened that could be construed as inappropriate whether seen in a gay or heterosexual light. It's not a crime to make sexual or romantic advances towards strangers in a public place. It only becomes objectionable if:
a. you persist once you have been rebuffed
or
b. the two of you proceed to display lewd and lascivious behavior in public. And even that has some rather broad boundaries, when it comes to heterosexu
Barring those two events, there is nothing to discuss, nothing to justify.
By feeling inappropriately guilty, Craig essentially hung himself. Which, to all the gays he maligned so thoroughly throughout his career, must be a bit of sweet, quirky justice.
I agree that Craig should have taken an "Okay, I did it, big deal" attitude, but the officer was on the vice squad, not the ATF or terrorist squad, and was responding to complaints of illegal activity in a public restroom. He did the job he was supposed to do.
I don't want sex happening in a place where I'd like to take a nice dump, thank you very much. And moms don't want anyone trolling for sex in places where they can't be with their male children. Pedophilia and child molestation are real fears.
But if there were a gay bar in the airport, I have no problem with that. But they still can't go do it in the bathrooms that everyone uses. That's just wrong, unsanitary, unsafe, unpleasant.
oh I see. it was the cop's fault. lolol
CraigsLust is forgiven for being a pervert. But I'm afraid he and his ilk are guilty of far greater crimes and misdemeanors.
Outed thusly, he is not forgiven for helping Hee Haw Hitler and his Rethugs sell this county to China, Israel and 3rd world economic outsourcing while the GOP hawks reap the oil war profits.
He who lies too easily has no conscience. And we must remember that all evil in this world beings with a lie.
You made my morning with
"HeeHaw Hitler".
Wish that name were not as accurate as it is humorous..
Ditto here on the
"Hee Haw Hitler". That was a gem! Even better than "Chimpy McFlightsuit"
:D
Make mine a third thumbs-up for "Hee Haw Hitler"!
You should lay claim to that phrase publicly somewhere.
what a picture!!! so sad - so ture . . . "Hee Haw Hitler" . . . thanks for the image . . .
He's living proof that being gay is not a choice.
Why would a 62 yr old SENATOR OF THE UNITED STATES sit on a potty and try to pick up a hot guy in the stall next to him?
Why didn't he CHOOSE to go home to his lovely wife and three adopted kids. Why did he CHOOSE to try and get his rocks off in a public toilet?
It isn't a choice, now, is it?
The only thing worse than the story is the way the republicons are running from him just after bursting out in applause for Vitter, the DC Madam's repeat customer.
Filthy bastards, one and all.
Why did he CHOOSE to try and get his rocks off in a public toilet?
---
Sex in a public place with a stranger and the thrill of transgression (so naughty, so nasty) is what's irresistible. It's sexual compulsiveness, not gayness, that leads Craig around.
Ralph Fiennes and some stewardess did it too; I forget how that turned out.
He could CHOOSE to be in an adult relationship with some nice guy. It's not 1)WIFE or 2)TOILET..
Millions of gay adults are living honest and fulfilling lives. No one but Craig pushed Craig into the toilet. And no one forced him to denounce Bill Clinton either.
what's really sad is that few people are debating craig's hypocrisy and see this only as a gay thing. the virulent and ugly specter of homophobia has raised it's ugly head once again in the good old US of A, much of it right here in the comments section of the oh so liberal and tolerant huffpo.
honestly, is there a law on the minnesota books that makes it illegal to touch a public restroom stall with your hand or to have your foot touch another person's foot while in a bathroom stall? of course not. did craig ask for or offer sex in the bathroom? did he expose himself to anyone? not that i've seen from the report.
so what's the crime? hypocrisy? no. being gay? yes.
The crime is that he solicited sex in a public bathroom. He pled guilty, like it or not.
He only recanted when his story got out.
Logically speaking, he would have fought it in court if he wasn't guilt-ridden, feeling caught in the act.
Sorry buddy. The crime here was not solicitation for sex. The crime was entrapment.
"Is there a law on the minnesota books that makes it illegal...
no, but if he had tapped his toes on my toes he would have been in trouble, and I am a woman.
There has to be a higher, much higher moral, ethical and academic standard for U S Senators. Soliciting sex in public toilets is not a gay crime, its crime no mater who, hetero, lesbian or prostitute.
However although sexual orientation is seemingly a trivial standard to judge a U S Senator by, it does and can create far reaching political disfunction. Sex for many is an addiction they can't control and like many alcoholics, as many of our Republican Congressmen are or marijuana users as many veteran democratic congressmen are, but these sex addict's will sell their souls for another hit or sell their votes or sell intelligence information; that's a given !
Now marijuana and alcohol you can buy cheap anywhere, but homophilia like pedophilia comes at a higher, much higher price; compromising the dignity and integrity as a US Senator to get a fix is one of the price tags. A Senator with this addiction is a bad risk when it comes to legislating laws that affect the lives of 300 million Americans.
But Sexual addiction is only one standard the senators should be scrutinized for; a knowledge in history, a 101 Economics course, a semester or two on public financing, and an in depth course on Humanism.
Nietze stated that the weakness in the German culture is that, while Humanism in the 14 and 15 centuries was spread throughout Europe, it never reached Germany. The Roman's held three studies as the most important; rhetoric, logic and history.
Senators have to be 35 years old to qualify for the the senate; that gives them plenty of time to catch up on the important background to merit being a US Legislator. Most Sitting Senators only had to take a two year course to become an attorney while a public school teacher has to take a six year university level program to receive their Teaching Credential. Incredible lack of standards for Senators, the least of which is the lack of the very vulnerable standard of sexual addictions which Senators will sell their privileged duties for another hit.
"but homophilia like pedophilia comes at a higher, much higher price"
What is homophilia? Do you mean homophobia? And why do people always lump homosexuality with pedophilia? There are more so called straight people who molest children than gay people Just watch Dateline MSNBC's "To Catch a Predator" to prove this.
Being homosexual is not an addiction, it is an orientation. Just like being heterosexual.
And "homophilia" is not a word. It's what you have unknowingly decided is the crime that was committed.
Misunderstanding is a lack of communication.
did you vote? repiglicans are drunks and democrats are heads. wow. i really can't take you seriously. pick up a book.
Agreed, although I'm glad Craig's Senate days are over. He was one of the most hateful of the haters. I'm not hopeful for Butch Otter's replacement (google either of Butch's name's with 'gay' for hours of entertainment ... what exactly is it with Idaho). Whomever Butch choses, it couldn't get any worse.
For years, the Gay community has had many straight female celebrities come forward to lend us support, headline fundraisers, and advocate on our behalf when a "big name" was necessary.
Thanks, Alec, for being in the forefront of straight male celebrities to speak on our behalf. Now, I only hope some of your actor colleagues will heed the advice you give in this piece.
Here in L.A. it is well known how many "leading men" are living the same lie as Sen. Craig, and it is important for them, as well, to come out and let their audience realize that more of their heroes than they conceive are, in fact, gay. Then everyone can say, "So what?" and mean it. (and let us have equal rights)
AMEN to that.
Good point. Alec was also "for" the environment before it was fashionable, and upfront on animal rights too. And...he's hot.
Alec, could not agree more. These closeted Republicans have sold their souls and nature to the devil, and its starting to bite them back. Suppression is sad, not living ones life is cowardice. This is the result. Thou dost protest too much.
jig..and those above... I truly believe that is the opportune moment for Democrats (or whatever party)..to take the high road.. show the compassion that even Craig himself is not capable of. No satire (shame on YOU Keith Olberman.y
I have a dark thought..t
Every last politico..
Halsey,
We don't have to take the high road. We have the high road. It's all very sad but this guy did all he could to harm gay people, and was extremely far right and nasty in all of his positions and votes.
If you think we have to worry about a suicide watch, you're bonkers. He has a family and that is their affair to sort out. Risky behavior in public places which belong to the public is one of the issues. The other is the malevolent behavior he has acted on regarding Gays, Clinton, Iraq, HealthCare,Taxes. He should be held accountable for contemptuous behavior. And accountable for being a despicable hypocrite. His gayness is actually not the important deal.
BTW this was self inflicted. OK?
WE HAVE REALIZED FAR TOO MANY EXAMPLES RECENTLY OF A POLITICAL PARTY TRYING TO HOLD ONTO A REPUTATION THEY ARE NO LONGER DESERVING OF. WE ALL KNOW THAT POLITICIANS IN GENERAL ARE KNOWN TO SELL THEIR SOULS TO THE DEVIL TO AQUIRE THAT NOMINATION, AND THAT IS WRITTEN IN OUR HISTORY FOR ENOUGH YEARS NOW TO KNOW THAT, IN THIS DAY AND AGE OF A SHRINKING WORLD, WE ARE NOT ABLE TO HIDE WHAT GOES ON IN THE BACKROOM MEETINGS, WHERE ONLY THE SELECT MEMBERS ARE INVITED ACCORDING TO WHAT THEY HAVE TO BARTER WITH. THEY SOLD THE "BY THE PEOPLE, OF THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE" WHEN THE PEOPLE WERE SLEEPING, AND THEY ARE JUST NOW STARTING TO REALIZE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN TAKEN!
Well put.
Short and very much to the point.
Well said.
Alec, you're right. Intolerance is the "enemy" here.
Well said Alec and my daughter is gay and open in the UK. I refuse to think of her as being a sinner and I think the sin is in being a Judas to your own daughter just to get on in this narrow minded society as in VP? To think that the issue of same sex relationships mattered to American voters above torture and wasted lives in Iraq is a real worrying factor in being allied to the Land of the Free. Change change and change is the only answer. Please.
Iowa gay marriage ruling stirs 2008 race
An Iowa county judge's ruling knocking down the state's same-sex marriage ban stirred up the presidential race Friday as Republicans jostled to stake out a position with the state's conservative voters in mind.
Mitt Romney was the first to seize on the ruling, promptly aligning himself with Iowa political leaders in denouncing the decision.
The former Massachusetts governor's swift criticism served to bolster the conservative image his campaign has been working hard to promote to Iowa's Republican voters. Romney stressed his support for a federal amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, a stand that distinguishes him from his top rivals, who have said they prefer to leave such decisions to the states.
"The ruling in Iowa ... is another example of an activist court and unelected judges trying to redefine marriage and disregard the will of the people as expressed through Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act," Romney said in a statement shortly after the ruling was made. "This once again highlights the need for a Federal Marriage Amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman."
On Friday, Polk County Judge Robert Hanson, issued a stay on his own ruling.
But the decision inflamed an issue that is important to conservative Republicans in this early voting state.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO BELIEVE THAT RETHUGLICONS WILL HAVE ANY TYPE OF SYMPATHY TOWARDS GAY PEOPLE. This along with abortion and immigration are the ONLY issues that will stir up the voters here in the US. Rethugs don't care about the Iraq war nor the soldiers who have died there nor do they care about global warming because it's OIL that matters most. This is what runs in their veins (I was going to say hearts but they don't have them)
Our country's reputation has been damaged beyond belief because of the stench (bush) that has rotted in the White House for the last 7 years.
IMHO, I believe that Al Gore is the only one who can undo the damage that has been done.
"The ruling in Iowa ... is another example of an activist court and unelected judges trying to redefine marriage and disregard the will of the people as expressed through Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act," Romney said in a statement shortly after the ruling was made. "This once again highlights the need for a Federal Marriage Amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman."
I have a question for Romney: Can it be the will of the People if the lies of a movement's leadership are part and parcel of it's appeal? How does gay marriage threaten couples' desire to marry traditionally?? It simply doesn't. I should hope that Romney knows that 120 years ago, his own denomination did not define marriage "tradition
Also, how is it "activist" for a judge to take the state's constitution's promise of equality and apply it to a specific situation? By his standard, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was an act of judicial activism, but I doubt anyone will criticize it on that basis now.
The beat goes on in Iowa. Being anti-gay is the safest place for a GOP candidate. They will learn no lesson from the sordid Larry Craig affair. They will not soften their rhetoric. Homophobia is too deeply engrained in the republican spirit to change easily.
Republicans, it seems, have embraced the opposite of the old adage "Sayin' it's so don't make it so". Craig, in pronouncing "I'm not gay" seems to believe that simply "sayin' it's not so" makes it not so. Whether it's the fake good news from Iraq or the imaginary rebuilding of New Orleans, "sayin' it's so makes it so." It does not.
Good point. Yep. We truly are in a time of completely dysfunctional "magical thinking" in the public sphere.
What we really need is "Say it ain't so, Joe, Say it ain't so..." in public discourse.
"Sorry, Jimmie, put the President of the United States is a dunce, the Congress and Senate of the United States are bought and paid for corporate whores and cowards who have forgotten the people, and the American people have the IQ of a falling rock."
"Say it ain't so, Joe, say it ain't so."
CAMERA MOVE IN AND HOLD
FADE TO BLACK
HM,
Long as we're sharing studio time, consider this, his LEAKED next campaign flyer text:
A Republican becomes pure and holy as he climbs so very high on his search for even greater purity in his battle against purest evil.
As he climbs higher up the mountain, he loses his defenses against true evil. That is, in fact, EVIDENCE of his tremendous purity.
And naturally, in the course of his battles against the ungodly, he MUST come in contact with the greatest of Satan’s evils.
It's only natural that the smallest bit rubs off. Of COURSE evil seeks out a HOLY man. That’s the price one of God’s great warriors MUST be willing to pay. Again and again and again…..
Once again, that's the true sign of a truly, deeply, holy man.
VOTE (fill in the blank)!
CUT CAMERA
ATTENTION: CAMPAIN MANAGER
This could have the wrong effect. People might begin thinking: "Maybe we should consider only WOMEN for public office. The price they pay for being “unacceptable to God” is that they are also unacceptable to evil."
VERY ENTERTAININGLY POSED COMMENT...
I think this captured something I have been feeling but unable to articulate. It is sad. This man's desperation to deny his very essence, that he allows a moment to exist in a some, far away bathroom stall, and his need to build an elaborate illusionary world built upon that same desperation in order to perpetuate his denial of who he is. That's the real shame, that he can't be who he is...
Excellent commentary
Religious right wren't asleep. They're braindead.
WHAT POSSESSES A MAN IN HIS RIGHT MIND TO PLEAD GUILTY OF A CRIME HE SAYS HE DID NOT COMMIT, WITH OUT SEEKING THE BENEFIT OF LEGAL COUNSEL? WHAT IS HE NOT TELLING US ABOUT HIMSELF, OR WHAT ARE HIS ACTIONS TELLING US ABOUT WHO HE STRUGGLES TO DENY ABOUT HIMSELF?
"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."
********
Well-said, and I agree.
I don't know what planet you and Alec live on, but here on Earth openly gay Republicans don't get elected to the Senate from Idaho.
This is a follow up to the book " What'' the Matter With Kansas?" and the answer is that people have taken up bumper sticker causes that are designed by communication experts like Karl Rove to wedge people into voting against their own best interests. Craig should be a Democrat as should most of Idaho! One need merely glance at the average wage in Idaho to see that the interests of the Republican party have no place in a state like Idaho. Montana finally awakened to this reality after an 18 year slumber, we can only hope that this new reality will spread to Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, and GASP , Wyoming!!
To paraphrase a point I made, elsewhere: it's important to remember and note that the GOP had been covering for Larry Craig since at least the early '80s, when they knew fully well about his sexual procliviti
Why did the Republicans stifle their usual, public Moral Outrage at this example of the Horrible Scourge of Gayness? Because the son of a bitch carried their right-wing water. Including their public expression of Moral Outrage at the the Horrible Scourge of Gayness, for which Craig was a master thespian.
All because it suited the GOP's political needs.
So you have to deduce that from maybe the early 1980's, Congressional pages continued to get drugged and molested, and fathers would take their 10 year-old sons into airport bathrooms, to find Larry getting his knob polished.
Because you gotta wonder how many OTHER times Craig picked up a BJ in the rest room at Minneapolis. You also gotta wonder how many other times he was dragged out of a public place by a cop, after having committed a similar offense... but powerful people in Congress prevailed, and ol' Lar was given a pass. Or, maybe you honest-to-God think this was the first time in a stall, for the good Republican senator? Yep, that's it.
I am floored by how completely every critic of Larry Craig, left, right, or center, has given the nazi party a pass on their complicity in this. Larry was the GOP's useful idiot, since AT LEAST 1982 (imagine, in your mind's eye, Republican leaders watching Larry on TV during the Clinton fiasco, and cringing knowingly, as Larry babbled, "... a NASTY, naughty boy!!).
LEO,
But they do. He was never openly gay. That's the whole problem. What planet are YOU on?
"I don't know what planet you and Alec live on, but here on Earth openly gay Republicans don't get elected to the Senate from Idaho."
Good, maybe a little self realization would make him realize these people suck.
Leo,
I do HOPE you're right.
I FEAR something like:
Like so many before him, he'll (eventually) admit his "sins", cry before his congregati
The saddest part of this incident is that being gay is an issue that men or women have to hide. I'm really glad the Senator did not approach me in the bathroom, what kind of behaviour is that for anyone with supposedly good sense, morals, etc? America's view of gayness pushes an educated, hard working and well-qualified Senator of the US from Idaho to behave as if he's something to be ashamed of. This in the land of the free and the brave? Idaho and the rest of America - our prejudices are destroying this country. I believe everyone ought to read the ten commandmandments to refresh their memories.
OR....HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS OWN BEHAVIOR, AND NOT A VICTIM OF THE WORLD HE CHOOSES TO LIVE IN, AND NEEDS TO WORK ON BEING COMFORTABLE WITH WHO HE REALLY IS.
I didn't push this Republican to be a Republican. He chose that. He's a white,male
"I SEE, I SAY, I SAW" a lie is a lie becomes the truth. Larry Craig is the worst kind of "faggot" and as a gay man, I am appalled and disgusted at this hypocrite and LIAR! His kind of queer gives the rest of us decent gays a bad rap.
Larry Craig has lied so long that he actually believes and has convinced his family and friends that he is NOT GAY. Most males who verbally assault gay people in a negative way through the public air waves, are usually closeted gays who cannot come to terms with their in-born sexuality and "Revealed" religious beliefs that they attack gays as a justification of their perceived heterosexual maleness.
15 or so years ago, there was an ABC After School Special about this high school football star team player who bashed gays openly and loudly and eventually confessed to being gay to the very gay classmate he targeted. He was taught to be ashamed of who he was by heterosexual family and friends.
Just like other closeted gays before Larry Craig who are GOP/DEM and hateful and spiteful of gays and create laws to make our lives miserable, they too will fall! I hope Larry Craig comes forth, admits his homosexuality, and starts the process of healing himself, then changing those vile laws he helped create to ensure that the Constitution is applied to gays equally as straights.
Heterosexuals have long betrayed U.S. Gay Citizens by not enforcing the protections of the Constitution and "ALLOWING" blatant and hateful discrimination of America's worst kind.
When did you choose to be straight??? In what way does a homosexual threaten your lifestyle?? You cannot use religion as your basis in fact. The Constitution guarantees religious freedom and the "STATE" cannot endorse one over the other and has to remain neutral.
Yet, the State is full of hypocracy by allowing the Christian Right Wingers to dictate what Americans can or cannot do and create laws that are Unconstitutional.
I say, OUT THEM ALL, HYPOCRITES of DEM's and GOPer's ALL!!!!
Very good point...ga
There is a lot of talk about Craig being gay and "living a lie"...I don't know if this is true or not because I don't think engaging in relations with someone of the same sex makes you gay. Maybe he just likes having sex with men...mayb
My problem with Craig is the hipocrisy of his legislative positions and moral indignation at what he considered abhorent behavior. He is the worst kind of coward not because he hasn't "outed" himself/accepted his gayness but because he used the rule of law as a cudgel to promote bigotry and intolerance.
A previous poster mentioned that people have known for some time of his behavior and you have to wonder if this had happened a few years ago when the Repubs controlled Congress whether he would have had his throat cut as quicky as he did. For me that is the more serious issue...wh
Please produce the data behind "Most males who verbally assault gay people in a negative way through the public air waves, are usually closeted gays who cannot come to terms with their in-born sexuality and "Revealed" religious beliefs that they attack gays as a justification of their perceived heterosexual maleness."
Verablly or worse, assaulting anyone is mean, possiblly illegal and shows intolerance to the Xth degree. That being said, disagreeing with anyone regarding gay being nature versus nurture, or questioning someones reasoning as being unsubstantiated by fact ("...the State is full of hypocracy by allowing the Christian Right Wingers to dictate what Americans can or cannot do and create laws that are Unconstitu
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