I’m amused to no end by reports that Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig was arrested June 11 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating complaints of lewd behavior in an airport men’s room. Now obviously Senator Craig has denied he was attempting to engage in any homosexual behavior in that bathroom, despite police assertions that he was acting in a manner consistent with such activity, but quite frankly, I’m not surprised. How many times have we seen Republicans paint themselves as the “party of family values,” only to go into full-fledged spin mode once one of their own gets caught doing something naughty? Already Senator Craig has resigned his position within the Romney for President campaign, and there’s speculation he may be pressured to resign his Senate seat in advance of the 2008 elections (he’d be up for re-election) because the GOP doesn’t want another sex-related scandal (see Mark Foley in 2006) that they’d have to spin during an election year.
What’s really interesting about Senator Craig’s case is the fact that his voting record in recent years has earned him top ratings from social conservative groups such as the American Family Association, Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council. Then again, that shouldn’t be surprising, given my belief that the folks that rail the most against homosexuality are usually the same folks who’ve got some sexuality-related issues of their own that they haven’t yet resolved.
Sad, yet true. I still don’t understand why he didn’t argue that he was just reaching for the loo paper! In the same circumstances—assuming I was reaching for the loo paper—this is the first response that would occur to me; I don’t think it would cross my mind to plead guilty to disorderly conduct.
If he hadn’t been pushing his version of “family values,” and if his party didn’t, I don’t think anyone would really give a damn.
Here’s what I’m thinking. If I get arrested for Disorderly Conduct (i.e. lewd conduct) and I know I wasn’t trying to do anything lewd, I’d be damned if I plead guilty. Craig can say all he wants about how he plead guilty just to resolve it quickly, but I’m willing to bet he was hoping his arrest and subsequent prosecution would get swept under the rug.