Breaking News: Larry Craig to resign tomorrow

[Joe Republic]

What's wrong with tapping one's foot in a bathroom stall? That's basically all he did.

Don't be naïve.

[Lief 🗽]

Is attempting to solicit sex in a bathroom through hand and foot signals really a crime? He didn't say anything sexual, he didn't do anything sexual.

[Joe Republic]

Uh... are you for real?  Yes, soliciting sex is illegal; attempted or otherwise.  The gestures were his way of doing just that.  Why on earth do you think he pleaded guilty, unless you actually believe his bizarre sob story?

[Lief 🗽]

I don't see the difference between that and soliciting people for one night stands in a bar, no.

[HardRCafé]

You are aware the sex does not usually take place at the bar, right?

My last post to this thread because it is just too stupid.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Isn't it hysterical the ONLY person on the forum who has EVER defended Jefferson is using him as an example of inconsistency?

[7,052,770]

Not only that, the vast majority of Democrats on here do not believe that Craig has done anything that warrants resignation.

That's a pretty horrible indictment of Democrats on here.

No, it's a pretty horrible indictment of yourself if you think he should...

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Wow. I have to agree with HardRCafe here. (First time that's ever happened..)

The issue here isn't that Craig is a homosexual or not, it's that he commited a crime - to which he pled Guilty, as a representative of the people who is supposedly in charge of writing and upholding the laws. It shows he - at best - a complete hypocrite (and that's not even mentioning his gay rights positions) and at worst completely and utterly unfit for public office.

Every politician who commit a crime should resign and be forced to leave, but what would happen to congress then?

[7,052,770]

Wow. I have to agree with HardRCafe here. (First time that's ever happened..)

The issue here isn't that Craig is a homosexual or not, it's that he commited a crime - to which he pled Guilty, as a representative of the people who is supposedly in charge of writing and upholding the laws. It shows he - at best - a complete hypocrite (and that's not even mentioning his gay rights positions) and at worst completely and utterly unfit for public office.

Every politician who commit a crime should resign and be forced to leave, but what would happen to congress then?

If Vitter can stay in the Senate, then Craig obviously should be able to.

I personally think that neither Craig nor Vitter did anything worthy of resignation...neither committed a felony, nor did they abuse the power of their office, nor did their sexual escapades get in the way of them doing their job.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Wow. I have to agree with HardRCafe here. (First time that's ever happened..)

The issue here isn't that Craig is a homosexual or not, it's that he commited a crime - to which he pled Guilty, as a representative of the people who is supposedly in charge of writing and upholding the laws. It shows he - at best - a complete hypocrite (and that's not even mentioning his gay rights positions) and at worst completely and utterly unfit for public office.

Every politician who commit a crime should resign and be forced to leave, but what would happen to congress then?

If Vitter can stay in the Senate, then Craig obviously should be able to.

I personally think that neither Craig nor Vitter did anything worthy of resignation...neither committed a felony, nor did they abuse the power of their office, nor did their sexual escapades get in the way of them doing their job.

Vitter shouldn't be allowed stay in the Senate. The fact that he is shows the levels of hypocrisy which blanket the whole issue (if he had visited a male prositute he would certainly be gone by now... no?).

The fact is this:
- Both Vitter and Craig were public representatives, elected by the people who carry out the functioning of the country and it's legal code.
- While being a representative both men broke the legal code they are supposed to, as public representatives, uphold and protect (and write.)
- So yes what they did very much "get in the way of them doing their job" as their job is to, among other things, write and protect the laws - the laws which they just broken, the laws which no doubt Larry Craig at least help implement.
- And if you can't see something wrong with that.... well... then. The fact that what he did was sexual in nature is irrelevant to this, except that the media love these types of stories and thus gets blown totally out of proportion.. but hey there isn't like a problem in the Stock market or a war in Iraq, so I guess the media must be running out of things to report..

[Conan]

I think Craig should have been expelled because of breaking laws. I'd rather him stay in the senate for political purposes though. Vitter hasn't been investigated yet. When they cite the laws he broke then he should be gone too.

[opebo]

Wow. I have to agree with HardRCafe here. (First time that's ever happened..)

The issue here isn't that Craig is a homosexual or not, it's that he commited a crime - to which he pled Guilty, as a representative of the people who is supposedly in charge of writing and upholding the laws. It shows he - at best - a complete hypocrite (and that's not even mentioning his gay rights positions) and at worst completely and utterly unfit for public office.

Every politician who commit a crime should resign and be forced to leave, but what would happen to congress then?

If Vitter can stay in the Senate, then Craig obviously should be able to.

I personally think that neither Craig nor Vitter did anything worthy of resignation...neither committed a felony, nor did they abuse the power of their office, nor did their sexual escapades get in the way of them doing their job.

Vitter shouldn't be allowed stay in the Senate. The fact that he is shows the levels of hypocrisy which blanket the whole issue (if he had visited a male prositute he would certainly be gone by now... no?).

The fact is this:
- Both Vitter and Craig were public representatives, elected by the people who carry out the functioning of the country and it's legal code.
- While being a representative both men broke the legal code they are supposed to, as public representatives, uphold and protect (and write.)
- So yes what they did very much "get in the way of them doing their job" as their job is to, among other things, write and protect the laws - the laws which they just broken, the laws which no doubt Larry Craig at least help implement.
- And if you can't see something wrong with that.... well... then. The fact that what he did was sexual in nature is irrelevant to this, except that the media love these types of stories and thus gets blown totally out of proportion.. but hey there isn't like a problem in the Stock market or a war in Iraq, so I guess the media must be running out of things to report..

Oh please - these are joke laws!  Completely inconsequential 'crimes', like jaywalking or speeding.

Of course it is serious because it is such a human rights abuse that these things could be criminalized, but regardless, Craig's conviction should be ignored by reasonable people.  However, he represents a bunch of gay-hating troglodytes, so he's out. 

[minionofmidas]

I'd love to defend Larry Craig.

If he hadn't supported hateful, anti-gay legislation.

Yeah. Least he should be doing now is come out and say he's bi.

So, yeah. He broke a law. Big deal. Opebo's jaywalking analogy is pretty spot on. I can't believe the State of Minnesota actually wastes police ressources on having guys sit around in public restroom stalls and wait for someone to tap their foot, when they should be out catching tax evaders and murderers. It's not as if the lawmakers view the crime involved as all that serious either - Craig's not facing jail time after all.
(Would be a somewhat different matter if Craig's conduct had somehow happened to come to the police's notice.)

[Tetro Kornbluth]

I'd love to defend Larry Craig.

If he hadn't supported hateful, anti-gay legislation.

Yeah. Least he should be doing now is come out and say he's bi.

So, yeah. He broke a law. Big deal. Opebo's jaywalking analogy is pretty spot on. I can't believe the State of Minnesota actually wastes police ressources on having guys sit around in public restroom stalls and wait for someone to tap their foot, when they should be out catching tax evaders and murderers. It's not as if the lawmakers view the crime involved as all that serious either - Craig's not facing jail time after all.
(Would be a somewhat different matter if Craig's conduct had somehow happened to come to the police's notice.)

While I agree with this... ish (somewhat, it is a stupid law and should be repealed) it is the nature of Craig's position as a lawmaker and a leading position in society (seen the renaction on Olbermann? Craig's attitude seems to be "OMG AIMA SENATER, SO LET ME GOEZ!!!111") that must be lead to him resigning. If Craig worked in a fast food restaurant (hard to imagine that) then what he did or didn't do in that bathroom wouldn't really matter as there wouldn't be neither a conflict of interest nor the abuse of power seen here.

[WalterMitty]

Isn't it hysterical the ONLY person on the forum who has EVER defended Jefferson is using him as an example of inconsistency?

how many threads were started about jefferson (that werent started by you?)

im sure jefferson has condemned corruption at some point.  OMG HYPOCRITE!!!!111

[minionofmidas]

Craig's attitude seems to be "OMG AIMA SENATER, SO LET ME GOEZ!!!111"

Yeah, that bit's bad as well, but hardly surprising isn't it?... I'm not saying I think the guy's likeable or anything.
But (just like Bill Clinton's arguable perjury) he did that in a situation he was brought into by (by mine and, if they thought about it enoug, by most people's standards) improper action by the state. Which is a majorly extenuating circumstance in my book.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'd love to defend Larry Craig.

If he hadn't supported hateful, anti-gay legislation.

Yeah. Least he should be doing now is come out and say he's bi.

So, yeah. He broke a law. Big deal. Opebo's jaywalking analogy is pretty spot on. I can't believe the State of Minnesota actually wastes police ressources on having guys sit around in public restroom stalls and wait for someone to tap their foot, when they should be out catching tax evaders and murderers. It's not as if the lawmakers view the crime involved as all that serious either - Craig's not facing jail time after all.
(Would be a somewhat different matter if Craig's conduct had somehow happened to come to the police's notice.)

I'm pretty sure all states have similar laws, it falls under "lewd behavior" or whatever, and if Craig had done this in a bar or something, he would've gotten away with it. We don't have some law that says you can't tap your foot in a bathroom. There was a sting operation in the airport that also caught 40 other guys in addition to Craig because there had been multiple complaints of this happening and of guys having sex in the bathroom. People don't like being peered at in the stall (like Craig did to the undercover officer before entering) and the other things he did while in the bathroom.

While I agree with this... ish (somewhat, it is a stupid law and should be repealed)

We should legalize having sex in public bathrooms?

Isn't it hysterical the ONLY person on the forum who has EVER defended Jefferson is using him as an example of inconsistency?

how many threads were started about jefferson (that werent started by you?)

Not as many because unfortunately Jefferson didn't resign and didn't get as much media coverage. How does that translate into Democrats defending him?

You are the ONLY person on the forum who has ever defended that worthless sack of sh!t. The ONLY one.

[WalterMitty]

I'd love to defend Larry Craig.

If he hadn't supported hateful, anti-gay legislation.

Yeah. Least he should be doing now is come out and say he's bi.

So, yeah. He broke a law. Big deal. Opebo's jaywalking analogy is pretty spot on. I can't believe the State of Minnesota actually wastes police ressources on having guys sit around in public restroom stalls and wait for someone to tap their foot, when they should be out catching tax evaders and murderers. It's not as if t



he lawmakers view the crime involved as all that serious either - Craig's not facing jail time after all.
(Would be a somewhat different matter if Craig's conduct had somehow happened to come to the police's notice.)

I'm pretty sure all states have similar laws, it falls under "lewd behavior" or whatever, and if Craig had done this in a bar or something, he would've gotten away with it. We don't have some law that says you can't tap your foot in a bathroom. There was a sting operation in the airport that also caught 40 other guys in addition to Craig because there had been multiple complaints of this happening and of guys having sex in the bathroom. People don't like being peered at in the stall (like Craig did to the undercover officer before entering) and the other things he did while in the bathroom.

While I agree with this... ish (somewhat, it is a stupid law and should be repealed)

We should legalize having sex in public bathrooms?

Isn't it hysterical the ONLY person on the forum who has EVER defended Jefferson is using him as an example of inconsistency?

how many threads were started about jefferson (that werent started by you?)

Not as many because unfortunately Jefferson didn't resign and didn't get as much media coverage. How does that translate into Democrats defending him?

You are the ONLY person on the forum who has ever defended that worthless sack of sh!t. The ONLY one.

ive defended his right to be presumed innocent.

if convicted, of course he should resign.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

So why aren't you presuming innocence for Bob Menendez or Martin O'Malley?

And that's besides the point. You're attacking the Democrats for attacking Craig and defending Jefferson when only you have ever defended that vile piece of human garbage while I'm going to laugh my ass off thinking of him suffering behind bars for the rest of his miserable life once he is inevitably convicted. Hopefully he ends up with a white supremacist for a cellmate.

[WalterMitty]

So why aren't you presuming innocence for Bob Menendez or Martin O'Malley?

And that's besides the point. You're attacking the Democrats for attacking Craig and defending Jefferson when only you have ever defended that vile piece of human garbage while I'm going to laugh my ass off thinking of him suffering behind bars for the rest of his miserable life once he is inevitably convicted. Hopefully he ends up with a white supremacist for a cellmate.

i take it you arent a fan of blacks?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I'm supporting a black for President. It's just corrupt scumbag blacks I don't like.

You ignored the rest of the post too. So I'll ask again:

1-Why are you not giving Bob Menendez or Martin O'Malley presumption of innocence?
2-Why do you accuse the Democrats of a double standard when you are the ONLY person who has EVER defended Jefferson?

[WalterMitty]

ive never asked menedez or omalley to resign.  i said they both would probably end up in prison.  just a prediction.

goodness, look at the posts on this board.  the democrats couldnt get over their excitement that craig was a closet gay and is resigning.

i hope your democrat party feels safer now that we have one less sodomite in the us senate.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

ive never asked menedez or omalley to resign.  i said they both would probably end up in prison.  just a prediction.'

And you think Jefferson WON'T end up in prison?

And then why did you also condemn people voting for both as voting for corrupt politicians? You said anyone who voted for Menendez should be publicly flogged.

goodness, look at the posts on this board.  the democrats couldnt get over their excitement that craig was a closet gay and is resigning.

i hope your democrat party feels safer now that we have one less sodomite in the us senate.

No, one less hypocrite.

[Boris]

goodness, look at the posts on this board.  the democrats couldnt get over their excitement that craig was a closet gay and is resigning.

Most of the 'excitement' Democrats have been feeling is humor directed at the fact that Craig was a self-declared family values Senator while engaging in the solicitation of public sex. There'd be even more excitement if this seat was a possible pickup, but it isn't, so no one will give a sh**t in a few weeks.

[Conan]

http://www.politicsnj.com/torricelli-larry-craig-11335

Torricelli on Craig

Few people who knew Larry Craig were probably surprised by the news of his arrest. Washington isn't known as a city to keep secrets and his sexual orientation was generally understood. What was surprising was the speed and intensity with which his Republican colleagues separated themselves from him.

Within hours of Craig's acknowledgement of his arrest for lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport restroom, he was stripped of his Committee assignments. Senators McCain and Coleman urged him to resign.

Craig has to be wondering about the intensity of the reaction. Perhaps he might reach some understanding in the hypocrisy of his situation. His colleagues must recall his vitriolic speeches demanding Bill Clinton's resignation. He was a self appointed spokesman for the American family and he fought every attempt at advocating the rights of gay Americans.

It's more than a strange irony. The very efforts of people like Craig to stigmatize homosexuality is what creates the conditions in which  Craig found himself. Anonymous sex in airport restrooms in not unrelated to society's inability to accept homosexuality in American life. Craig is a victim of circumstances that he helped to create.

The reaction of the Senate and the public might reflect a new maturity in America. Homosexuality is now more accepted than hypocrisy.



Also:
The investigation into Bob Menendez that began last year has stopped. That was fruitless and now they are looking into his former chief of staff.