Soon-to-be-ex-Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) has come up with plenty of excuses for his June bust for soliciting gay sex in a Minnesota airport bathroom.
First, he tries to say that
he should not have pled guilty to the bust - he did so figuring it would just "go away" (perhaps because he's a senator?). CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin points out that this argument could be construed as
perjury on Craig's part. Next, he proudly exclaims, "
I am not gay, and never have been!" Where have we heard this kind of line before, hmm? Finally, when in doubt,
blame the press who reported on the bust!
Keith Olbermann and his Countdown crew did a nice
Dragnet-style dramatization of the bust.
FOX News practically ignores the story in comparison to the other news networks; however, when they do mention him, they
fail to mention his political affiliation! Surprise, surprise; FOX has a history of referring to scandalous Republicans as Democrats. They don't have to outright lie here, as some Republican congressmen (Rep.
Peter Hoekstra, Sen.
Norm Coleman, Sen.
John McLame, Rep.
Mark Souder of Indiana, Sen.
Mitch McConnell) have spoken against him in some fashion - many calling for his resignation.
Even Brownback is having trouble defending him! Tim Russert reports that Republicans "
just want Senator Craig to exit, to leave". McConnell removed Craig from the various committees he was on, and Craig stepped down from
working on Romney's presidential campaign.
Plenty of right-
wing bloggers are out to shove Craig under a bus, as well. With all this Republican anger directed at Craig, well, gee, he MUST be a Democrat - at least that's the impression that will be left!
According to a recent poll,
55% of Idahoans also think it's time for Craig to go.
One of his few defenders is
poseur thug Tucker Carlson, who admitted to physically assaulting (with a friend!) a guy who had "bothered" and (sexually) "assaulted" him in his teenage years. Turn the other cheek much, Tuck?
Now, the main point that many Republican voters are citing is the hypocrisy between Craig's actions and his voting record... and his public comments about President Bill Clinton in 1999 (Craig said he was a "
nasty, bad, naughty boy" for the Monica scandal - maybe he was just jealous of Monica?). Republican bloggers, however, are even bigger hypocrites than Craig. Prior to the 2006 elections, during the Foley page scandal, a gay activist/blogger noted that
Craig is no stranger to scandalous behavior, indicating he'd had conversations with men who'd had sex with Craig in Washington. At the time, as
Glenn Greenwald notes, Republican bloggers were saying that we had no business knowing about Craig's personal life, etc.; now that his personal life is revealed, it's all "Off with his head for being gay and scandalous!" Even more shocking is that one of Craig's sexual contacts
has come forward with a tale of oral sex in a bathroom with him.
We're going to hear a LOT in the coming days and weeks about how it's all about him being disgusting for cruising and getting caught both cruising and covering it up. Some people are wondering, then, why Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), who solicited prostitutes, is
getting no such scorn from his colleagues; in fact, Vitter was applauded by his colleagues days after the scandal broke. We'll hear some people argue that it's the "gay factor." However, the truth is that Craig's replacement will almost definitely be a Republican, while Vitter's would likely be a Democrat. Isn't it great that you can get away with anything as a Republican senator if the governor of your state isn't a Republican? It's not like the one extra seat in the Senate is going to help the Democrats much, with the GOP's current love of the filibuster.
As a wrap-up to our scandal coverage, I direct you to TPMmuckraker. They have compiled a list of the 13
active scandals that Republican congressmen are involved in.
