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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First of all Alec, it's GREAT to see you here.
In regard to Larry Craig, it is quite ironic that his own fight against gay rights has come back to bite him. He is clearly a hypocrite and it is very much appropriate that he resign his position. I read that someone said he is an adult who asked another adult for sex - well, unfortunately, this is not only inappropriate in a public restroom, it is also illegal, and Sen. Craig is supposed to be one of the designers of law, so it only seems right that if he should break a law, he should pay the price. It is more than one adult asking another for sex. If that's all that it was, then that would be a different story. But in this case, Craig, as far as the officer is concerned, was ready to engage in the sex act right there in the public restroom.
Alec, you made some excellent points.
I agree with your sentiment that being gay should not be something to be ashamed of. Craig, however, was not arrested and prosecuted for being gay, but for allegedly soliciting sex in a public restroom, which carries with it criminal misdemeanor charges.
62 years in a closet, (that small room with no self respect) in Idaho...that's punishment enough.
Being true to his true nature would have spared him -- his family and Idahoans -- the ignominy of his ouster from the Senate!
OsiSpeaks.comks.com or OsiSpeaks.orgs.org
Repressed desire generates self-loathing and he needs help. Reminds me of Maximillian Schell in "Man in the Glass Booth".
What does Craig's bust say about our society which allows this double-standard to exist in the first place? It is sad how self-loathing is rooted in hypocrisy and our Puritanical culture perpetuates this. Personally, I would rather know undercover cops are patrolling airport bathrooms for terrorists or pick pockets than for blow jobs, but hey, call me crazy...
Yes, I do feel sorry for Craig and his family and above all, for gay citizens who have the decency not to proposition others in public restrooms; And I feel sorry for the rest of us who blindly trust elected officials to govern our lives but still get the shaft by Senators like Craig who vote down laws that would better our society.
See Man In the Glass Stall
http://tootruthy.blogspot.com
It is always easy to throw a stone while being in a glass house, but when it comes to following its own thougths and believes it is often another story – Larry Craig is obviously one in the row of people who say one thing but do another. If the story about him is true or not is really up to him, if it is true I sincerely hope he had a nice time.
It probably would not have mattered all that much if LC was just another guy in the street, but being a Senator (or something of that rank) the fall always hurts harder while landing.
I do not care what LC and others do in their sparetime - I never judge a person unheard - but pretending to fight for one thing and not living it is bad for himself, his family and friends and for the people who once supported him.
Rudy Giuliani is another fella who wants to eat his cookies but still keep them (read an article this week about people wanting him to shut it on the coming 9/11 memory speaches). RG tries to please both parties with his views (being a liberal concerning the homosexuality and abortion questions but supporting the President about the war), which is not fair to anyone. If he wants to be a real threat to Hillary and others he really has to choose – we can always hope he makes the right choise = the democratic and liberal one.
A certain percentage of males in a given population are gay. Let us assume that 20% of males are gay. Therefore, about 20% of Republicans are closeted.
If all closeted Republican Congress members were to resign, there would be enough votes to impeach Bush and Cheney. So dishonesty is all that is keeping these Bush and Cheney in power.
Is there a mathematician that can disprove this reasoning? Politically and logically it makes sense.
But if either the Republicans would become more tolerant or more honest, there would be no problem.
You are right of course. I am certain of one thing and that is that he was entrapped. Just finished an op-ed piece in the New York Times on the subject. ( Toe Tapping Menace) I have no doubt that he made the first move, but I also have no doubt that the police officer, who could have stopped the advance at the first move, kept him going until he had enough to charge him with. I am 66 years of age and have on occasion in my life been approached by homosexual men. Turning them down took little effort. In fact they were relieved to know, right off the bat, that I was straight and not pushing it farther. The sad fact is that the man is a hypocrite and preached against his own kind. For that he deserved to have his knuckles rapped. But to have his career destroyed by a cop seeking a trophy arrest? His colleagues turning against him? I don't think that that is appropriate or just. What is it about the US and the need to have every little offence, no matter how harmless or insignificant, wind up in court? In 1960 I was a policeman in a small town in Canada, when kids stepped out of line we brought them home to their parents for correction. Homosexual offences were swept under the rug. Those were the good old days. Western countries could and should take a look at where the lawyers, social workers and police professionals in our societies have taken us. It is a cynical and hard place. Not really too nice a place to be.
not a trophy arrest , the law should be practiced equal to all. If the cop had let him go, you would have said he let him go because he is a senator. A senator should be an educated man. He should know the pitfalls of a his own perversion. If he doesn't he should not be a senator and make decisions that affect me. To top it all of, which most people find much more offensive then his perverted approach in a public bathroom, that he voted again and again, and again, against the group he secretly identifies with. I bet you excuse Bush's atrocities too.
Anyone that's had sex in a public bathroom will tell you, It's a helluva ' good time.
Brain numbing hypocrisy? Not so much.
After 8 torturous years of watching the Republicans attempt to destroy a sitting President by any means possible, I am not likely to let any of them off the hook. Day in and day out, they tried to find anything to pin on Clinton and they finally lucked out on Monica. If I were Clinton I'd have said it's none of your damned business and if you have anything to say about my policies, get to it but leave my personal life out of it. And, of course, now we all know what the definition of "is" is.
The sad thing is that many gay males cannot bear the consequences of comiing out to family, friends and business associates so they marry women and try to fit into the heterosexual mold. This is tragic to the wife and children as well as the closeted male. It would be good to stop stigmatizing gays, period.
This, however, is about behavior not who or what Craig is. He railed against Clinton and called for his impeachment because of his sexual behavior. He has forfeited his right to our compassion. He may not have chosen his sexual orientation but he has chosen his behavior. It will never be ok to solicite sex in a public bathroom. And his legislation against gay rights is downright hypocritical and harmful to society. The same society that caused poor Larry to marry that poor woman and live in his nasty, naughty closet.
Nicely put!
Look.
Whether Craig is Gay or not is not the issue.
Just because I am openly able to say that I am heterosexual does not mean that I can go into a public restroom with a woman to have sex.
Moreover, even if homosexuality was completely accepted in American society, it still would be wrong for a Senator to solicit sex in a public restroom.
We should not settle for obscene behavior from our public officials.
Advocate123
http://copiousdissent.blogspot.com
Alec
Thanks again for voicing your opinion. Thanks for feeling sorry for this guy(at least that is what the sentence says) & not assuming what this guy did or didn't do.
"I feel sorry for Larry Craig. Truly."
"No one can honestly say what Craig did or did not do. No one can know his real intentions."
I personally am not going to assume what happened. That would just make an a _ _ out of u & me both which equals assume.
I personally am tired of hearing about everybodys sexual arobics. Don't get me wrong I am not a prude. I mean everybody likes sex but lets keep in the bedroom, bathroom, ontop of the table, at the end of the boat dock, etc. You get the picture lets keep it private beteen the participating parties.(male or female)
Peace Out, God Bless & "Prayers"
Larry Craig is Guy and always has been..just got busted for his plubic restroom sleazy low life sex ....with strangers....
You're being purposely obtuse deedrdo. The crime was for soliciting sex, not for being gay or "not gay" or a closet case or whatever. The solicitation was unambiguous to the policeman, who (guessing by his statements during the questioning) likely votes Republican, but arrested Craig anyway.
Do you really think that this scenario would have ended without other crimes being committed if the person being solicited by Craig hadn't been a police officer and was in the bathroom for the same reason as Craig? The only possibility of that happening would have been if Craig had left with whomever to a hotel room. Not even remotely likely for a closeted US Senator.
I agree that homophobia and every other kind of bigotry is not the sole province of any political party or persuasion. Bigotry is a human emotion. Recognizing it in yourself and dealing with it is an intelligent response. That's not particularly common anywhere on the internet.
It's not the gayness, (David Dreier, Dennis Hastert, Charlie Christ, Scott McClellan, Karl Rove. Ken Mehlman, Ted Haggard, Bob Allen, Glenn Murphy Jr., Mark Foley, Larry Craig)
it's the HYPOCRICY...STUPID!
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