Topic for Debate: Larry Craig Resigns
posted by Jon Cruz on August 31st, 2007
Reports indicate that Larry Craig will resign tomorrow, September 1, following a scandal linked to the Idaho senator pleading guilty to a charge related to a men’s bathroom sex sting. Your thoughts on the matter?
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13 Responses to “Topic for Debate: Larry Craig Resigns”
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Posted from: 212.179.72.170
September 1st, 2007 16:28
What did he do exactly? Did he assault another man in the bathroom who was unwilling or was he merely leading a “double-life” unknown to the public?
Posted from: 71.104.129.167
September 1st, 2007 17:40
I believe he attempted to “lead his double life” in the bathroom, but was caught and arrested.
Posted from: 71.60.209.85
September 1st, 2007 20:43
According to Wikipedia’s Larry Craig article:
On June 11, 2007, Craig was arrested at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport on suspicion of lewd conduct. According to the police report, the arresting officer sat in a bathroom stall as part of an undercover operation investigating previous reports of sexual activity in the bathroom. After about 13 minutes of sitting in the stall, he observed Craig lingering outside and frequently peeking through the stall’s door crack. Craig then entered the stall next to his. The officer filed the following in his report of the incident as to what happened next:
At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moves his foot closer to my foot…. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area. Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times.
According to the arrest report Craig stated “that he has a wide stance when going to the bathroom and that his foot may have touched mine.” Craig also told the arresting officer that he reached down with his right hand to pick up a piece of paper that was on the floor. “It should be noted that there was not a piece of paper on the bathroom floor, nor did Craig pick up a piece of paper,” the arresting officer said in the report. The officer also noted that once he had shown the senator his police identification under the partition and indicated to him to exit the cubicle, Craig, after initially resisting the order, left the cubicle without flushing the toilet. According to the police report, at one point Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?”
Posted from: 67.168.66.202
September 2nd, 2007 00:22
Something I read in the Seattle Times and strongly agree with:
“I love how the Democrats are enraged about Sen. Larry Craig and his alleged scandal. Don’t get me wrong, I think he should resign immediately. But the Democrats are outraged, yet their own party is rife with scandal that far exceeds this misconduct.
Let’s see: former State Sen. John Ford, D-Tenn., arrested for bribery, and resigned in a rare move in a Democratic scandal. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., allegedly had $90,000 hidden in his freezer, but got re-elected. How about the late U.S. Rep. Gerry Studds, D-Mass.? Having sex with underage pages? He was re-elected six times after his scandal.
Seems to me that if Democrats do bad things, they are raised on high and said to be open-minded, diverse and enlightened. But because the Republican Party historically has been the party of values, it can get away with nothing of the sort. Its members are demonized and harassed.
But the plain fact is the Republican Party has a history of kicking out people with deviant behavior. Republicans don’t tolerate this.
So who is right? I would say the Republicans have the upper hand on scandals. They don’t tolerate them in their party. Democrats revel in the Democratic scandals that plague all politicians of late. And look, I didn’t even mention the name Clinton.”
Posted from: 71.60.209.85
September 2nd, 2007 06:00
I don’t know Mollee.
Allegedly, the major factor causing the Republican Party to kick Craig was his potential effect on the ‘08 election. Of course, Giuliani has been related to enough scandals/controversies already…
I’d be willing to argue that if Hillary/Barack’s chance to win in 2008 was compromised, the Democrats would likely be willing to put pressure on its members to leave.
Posted from: 66.233.57.238
September 2nd, 2007 09:07
you’d have to be some sort of super-cop not be seduced into prostitution by the glory that is larry craig.
Posted from: 24.18.148.106
September 2nd, 2007 10:18
mollee, the reason larry craig’s ordeal is exceptional is because of his long and distinguished voting record regarding gay-rights issues.
of course politicians, democrats and republicans alike, do bad things… but there’s a difference between corruption/criminality and hypocrisy.
Posted from: 71.104.129.167
September 2nd, 2007 12:39
The idea that the democrats “embrace” scandals is a gigantic load of horse shit of truly epic proportions.
Democrats to not like it when members of their own party do sleezy things. I am about as liberal as they come, and I am not happy that Bill Clinton cheated on his wife, nor am I happy that he lied about it.
The difference between democrats and republicans is that, as Mostafa already mentioned, Republicans are hypocritical. Mark Foley tried to enforce tougher laws against sex offenders. Larry Craig was strongly against gay-rights. Tom DeLay thought Washington was too corrupt. George Bush wants to promote freedom and democracy around the Globe, yet he is willing to torture and illegally wiretap people to do it.
The fact is, the Republican Party, although I often question their intelligence, is smart enough to realize that if they are going to get off the floor soon, they need to get rid of the politicians who contradict their values.
If the Republicans want to try and promote a “gay-free” America, they’d best get rid of gay politicians. They know that, sad as it may be…
Posted from: 67.168.66.202
September 2nd, 2007 23:55
Yah, I guess that’s all true. I’m not really sure which party I hardcore support, but I just find it refreshing to hear conservative views when right now being liberal seems all the rage.
Posted from: 71.104.129.167
September 3rd, 2007 13:20
Larry Craig: Born in Idaho, reared in Minneapolis.
Posted from: 38.117.182.130
September 4th, 2007 06:22
Mollee:
David Vitter?
“being liberal seems all the rage”? it is “refreshing to hear conservative views”?
I ask in all seriousness- where have you been for the last seven years? I want to know, because it sounds nice…
Posted from: 66.108.86.92
September 4th, 2007 06:46
I was just thinking the same thing.
Posted from: 198.54.202.210
September 4th, 2007 08:49
Don’t get me wrong, Craig has an awful voting record and I’m not at all sad to see him out of office (though his replacement won’t be much better). But can someone explain to me how the hell David Vitter still has a job and Larry Craig doesn’t? We don’t force politicians out of office for being “hypocritical,” so the fact that Craig had been an opponent of gay rights doesn’t mean anything. The absurd double standard here (hiring a heterosexual female prostitute is ok but hitting on a guy in a bathroom warrants a resignation) really says something about the Republican party’s attitude toward gays (as if it wasn’t already obvious enough).
Beyond that, I guess I should say that I think the fact that what Craig did is criminal strikes me as pretty sad. Yes, having sex in a public bathroom is illegal, but Craig didn’t have sex - he did something not any different from hitting on/propositioning/sexually harassing women, which happens every day and no one really seems to give a shit about. The fact that he’s being forced out of office for a lifestyle choice is ridiculous.