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

[castlerider]

You're right. It's been brutal to watch. Awful to try to imagine how he can face his grandkids. Damn.
Nothing against him, really, but to me on a grander scale I feel in my heart that this portends an end for these self-righteous spinsters that brought us this rovian cancer inflicted on our government and has brought to ruin and degradation so much our systems of government. In that manner, I believe this could not have happened to a more deserving bunch of political hacks and crooks.

[blinkone]

GOP = Gay Old Pervs

[texasblue]

I agree Alec. No fan of Larry Craig or his right wing crowd I am nevertheless stunned at how ruthlessly and uncharitably his peers did him in. His brain must not have known that his thoat had been cut.

[waitingforittoend]

Ironic how common it's become for those engaging in these activities to be their loudest critics?

Michael Jackson is one strange dude, but he's looking better ever day given the likes of Foley and Craig.

[Lisette]

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Dear Alec,

You are right intolerance [his] is what got him in all this trouble. The situation is sad, but, I don't feel sorry for him at all. I remember when he was very vocal against Bill Clinton. These Republicans are very repressed and worry about all the wrong things. They seem to have no problem with all the killing in Iraq. Those are the people I save my sympathy for.

Lisette
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[Shadowbean]

If he doesn't want to admit to being gay, that is his own problem. The issue here isn't being gay. He tried to solicit sex in airport bathroom. Even if he tried to do that with a woman, there is something wrong with that. And it isn't at all legitimate to say that he was driven to it by his colleagues assumed disdain. It probably has more to do with his upbringing and trying to hide something he himself is uncomfortable with. The man has enough problems. Criticizing him for not admitting he is gay, and then further criticizing people for chastising him for seeking sex in a public restroom is unreasonable. And it is nearly as ignorant as comparing a sting on soliciting sex with airport security. The two are pretty much mutually exclusive.

[JoshuasGrandma]

An interview Saturday with the Atlanta police chief confirmed that most men arrested in that city for restroom solicitation were middle-aged, married, white businessmen, CEOs even, and professional people. Probably bi-sexual is the best identifier, since sexual orientation is a continuum, not discrete categories - as proven first by Kinsey and much research since. Motivation is the quick thrill of risky behavior, humdrum but stressful lives, need for variety, lack of satisfaction at home, mid-life crisis - or as one columnist put it: most men are just sluts. So it's not just a 'gay' issue. Men who are healthy and comfortable with their orientation (whatever it is) are responsible, don't have to troll - and can just say no. Trouble is they are too few in this society - and that says more about societal attitudes toward masculinity and femininity and how we fail to develop healthy attitudes toward sexuality in both our males and females.

[flatus]

Sorry, Alec. I'm gloating. Can't help myself.

[mdgarcia]

I don't feel sorry for Larry Craig. He's a victim of his own bigotry and of his own party. His Republican Party could have chosen to forgive Craig and let him keep his Senate seat. The Republican leaders in the Senate could have told Craig they didn't care whether he was gay or not. The Republican Party could have reformed theirselves as to their bigotry against gays, and they could have apologized for decades of bigotry and discrimination, the end result of which is so often to push closeted people into, at best, bathroom stalls, and at worse, suicide.
But the Republican Party didn't do that. Instead, they roundly crucified Craig.
I saw Tom Delay on television this week blaming the media for Craig's demise, saying the media has a double standard and doesn't give this much coverage to Democratic sexual scandals. Just more lies from Tom Delay. What balls that guy has. Like the media never covered the Barney Frank or Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinski scandals. The difference is Democrats actually practice forgiveness, unlike the so called "christian" Republicans, who only spin forgiveness.
No, the media didn't do this to Craig, and neither did the Democrats. Craig was thrown completely under the bus by his own bigoted Republican Party. Period.

[thgy]

When you mention gay in the same post as Larry Craig you do a disservice to gay people everywhere who have been working so hard.
Larry Craig is a pervert who lurks in men's room looking for transient sex. Who know why, maybe he just gets thrilled thinking he being a "naughty boy".

[MarkInEugene]

As a 52 year old gay man, I am so tired of Americans missing the point when it comes to how we should deal with gays and lesbians in this country. If you treat us with dignity, fairness and equality, we will be productive, contributing, decent members of this society having healthy open relationships. But if you treat us like garbage, we'll be guilt-ridden, antisocial, deviates trolling bathrooms for anonymous sex. That's what happens to human beings when you hate them, spend millions through Christian Conservative organizations hating them, condemning them to hell and threatening prejudicial constitutional amendments against them.

Why do you think 20 million black youth are in America's prisons today? Because we treated black Americans like crap for decades in this country. Now we're paying for it in the form of angry antisocial gangs of black inner city youth who often end up in America's prisons.

Larry Craig is a classic example of an oppressed closeted man suffering from internalized homophobia brought on by a severely oppressive Republican Christian Conservative culture that he ironically supported. His unfortunate fall from grace can be traced to thousand year old, oppressive, antiquated religious beliefs borne out of the ignorance of ancient civilizations that did not have the benefit of modern science and technology to explain the human suffering and misery that they experienced.

I can only wonder and wait if the religious right will ever open their minds to the truth of what their outdated, fanatical beliefs have done to millions of people down the centuries. During his resignation speech, Senator Craig said that he was deeply sorry. However, I fear his sorrow is not at all directed at the millions of GLBT Americans that he and others have worked so tirelessly to oppress and hate for decades.

[wangmo]

Thirty years ago I had a series of great conversations with a visiting Rabbi friend of a dear retired doctor friend of mine in Palm Springs. Both men were scholars of Jewish history and law.

Among many discussions, I asked the scholars how God (Yahweh/Jehovah/Allah) could condemn homosexuals, particularly since every gay person I'd met in the Arts through the years said they were born that way, it wasn't a choice.

The doctor and Rabbi said something to the effect that at the time of “God’s” condemnation of homosexuality,” the Levite Priests/Rabbinical leaders of the illiterate, superstitious 600,000 tribal members wandering the desert, needed certain "scary" wrathful "God" pronouncements to keep the tribes in line to better survive as a cohesive group. There came a time when they needed to have more men to go to war to take over some hunk of land they needed to better survive, so the Levite Priests made pronouncements to the Tribe that "God" said homosexuality was an abomination, and didn't want seed wasted --"be fruitful and multiply."

So, the REAL reason “God” said homosexuality was an abomination was because THE RABBI PRIESTS NEEDED MORE MEN TO FIGHT MORE WARS, SO THEY WANTED THE GUYS TO PUT IT WHERE IT COULD MAKE SOME BOY BABIES.

Condemning homosexuality all these long years, when it's a natural part of life, evidenced in most all species, is actually NOT AN ABOMINATION IN GOD'S EYES. GIVE IT UP, PEEPS. GET REAL. “GOD” NEVER SAID IT. A JEWISH PATRIARCH SAID IT AS AN EXPEDIENT FOR POLITICAL/TRIBE-SURVIVAL REASONS—TO MAKE MORE WARRIORS FOR WAR.

I wish the Rabbis in the know about this would come forward and make the case so the world's patriarchal religions can finally give up this absurd and horridly hateful and harmful ignorant belief that homosexuality is evil, when in fact it's not. It's part of life. Time to remove the old ignorant veils from the eyes of spirit.

[sarge]

"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."

Not in the Republican party!

[dora rice]

I don't care how much of a lesbian I would be, and if it was against the law to be a lesbian, which it isn't , I still would not solicit in a bathroom. Solicitin in a bathroom is strictly an ugly perverted thing, that is done by SOME adventure seeking , thrill seeking, perverted gays. Fact!!!!!!

[PayingAttention]

While I listened to Craig's announcement of his resignation I thought that this would be the perfect time for him to completely open up and tell the world what has been going on inside his head for so long. This was really his final opportunity to save himself. Give us the true picture of a man torn between the moral teachings he grew up with and internal demons that drove him to violate all that he professed to hold dear, to put everything important in his life at risk for the few moments of anonimous sex with a total stranger.
He is not the only man who is driven to risk everything for a reward that is fleeting at best. Perhaps the sense of cheating not death but complete humiliation is the reward.
For sure there are other arch-conservative members of congress who may or may not be able to control similar urges. But within the conservative family values community there is really no place for a Larry Craig to turn. He obviously lives in a special hell of conflicting desires.
If he had spent his time talking about what has been going on in his head rather than trying to pretend the world and the press are out to destroy him, I'm sure he could have found redemption, both in his own eyes and in those of his family and in the public.

[James]

Pathetic, yes. He was busted by a vice squad and pled guilty, and the Republicans threw him overboard. Has he ever spoken out against the absurdity of vice squads busting people for foot-tapping in a bathroom, or other wa of seeking sex between consenting adults? I don't know, but I doubt it.

It was the Republicans that threw him overboard. Please talk to THEM about how sad it is. Talk to THEM about whether that behavior ought to be a crime. They did it to themselves. I see no reason why I should feel sorry for the guy. I see no reason why anyone should blame the cops. Craig helped make the laws. It's called getting hoist on one's own petard.

[MelFamy]

We can't help but gloat! These hypocrites have attempted to re-make our country into Saudi Arabia. One by one, they are falling victim to their own hateful (self-hating, in this case)b.s. I am sad for their families, especially the wives, who get dragged to the podium in a vain attempt to garner support. And the children? How they are going to suffer ay the hands of their fellows; pariahs of the playground...You're right Alec, it is sad and pathetic, and innocent people are caught up in this web of deceit. For them , I feel bad.

[nopartygal]

"These hypocrites have attempted to re-make our country into Saudi Arabia."

Huh?

[StephenJK]

Saudi Arabia is ruled by religious law. I think what he is trying to say is the right wing in this country have attempted or are attempting to enact laws that will inevitably lead to a sharia (islamic religious creed/laws except in our case it would be more akin to christian religious creed/laws) ruled republic.

[richw23]

Disregarding whether he is gay or a homophobe, or both, he plead guilty to cover up an embarrasing incident and when that didn't work he admitted the coverup and denied the guilt. That should be enough disqualify him to be a senator.

If he is gay, then his persecution of gays as part of his 'beard' is just ... intolerable, for lack of a better word.

If he's just a homophobe - everyone has a right to be a bigot, but when they implement it, it's unacceptable and even moreso in a public servant.

So I do know enough for sure that I don't feel sorry for him, period.