So long, Larry
September 2nd, 2007 by Syd
Senator Larry Craig got arrested for tapping his foot in the men’s room at the Minneapolis airport. The arresting officer said that this is a “signal” that men use in public restrooms to signal a desire to engage in “lewd conduct.” This is a euphemism for homosexual acts. (Funny, but in 54 years on this planet, I have never heard about the foot tapping before…) Of course, the senator vigorously denies that such was his intent, but pled guilty to “disorderly conduct” to make the case go away. It didn’t. Roll Call broke the story, and a tortured week later, Senator Craig is ruined and out of a job. While the senator denies that he is gay, this is not the first time that this question has come up in his career.
Publicly, Senator Craig has been a pro-family values, anti-gay rights, pro-Second Amendment, flag waving all-American cowboy from Idaho. He’s on the NRA Board of Directors. He has been one of the best friends to gun owners in the United States Senate. Craig was a vote we could always count on. I echo Denise at The Ten Ring when she laments, “Why did it have to be Larry Craig?”
Here’s my thoughts on this. I’m a gun-toting conservative Christian from Texas. I’ve been married to one woman for thirty years, had two sons, and my wife and I are still very much in love, amazingly enough. To my mind, that’s the best model for human life that I’ve seen. It has worked for me. But, at the same time, if somebody wants to be a homosexual, that’s their business as far as I’m concerned. I’m a “live and let live” sort of guy. Yes, the Old Testament has some pretty stark injunctions against homosexual behavior, but it also contains injunctions of equal weight against eating oysters and lobster, so, unless I’m going to hell for the meal I had at Red Lobster on Tuesday, I try to keep the stuff in Leviticus in perspective. As an American, I do not have the right to impose my religious views on other citizens. I may persuade, but not impose. Unless what they are doing impinges on the free exercise of my rights as an American citizen, it really isn’t my concern.
Let’s examine two possible assumptions: (1) that Sen. Craig was trying to engage in “lewd acts” with an undercover officer, and (2) that he wasn’t.
If Senator Craig was indeed trying to engage the officer in a homosexual act, then, at the very least, he is guilty of the most extreme tackiness. Now, I’m kind of shy and reserved, but I can’t imagine doing any kind of sex in a public restroom at the Minneapolis airport, unless, perhaps, Angelina Jolie came running into the room butt naked and said, “Baby, I want to climb your bones.” Short of that, no. I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the scenario of which the troubled senator is accused. But, if in fact, that was his intent, and he has spent his career bashing queers, wrapping himself in the flag and American values (whatever those are today), then he is guilty of a profound hypocrisy, hypocrisy that is truly reprehensible. If this is the case with Senator Craig, then his resignation was appropriate and overdue. Ya gots to walk your talk, ya know? Playing both sides just isn’t OK when you’re actively engaged in denying gay people their rights.
But what if Senator Craig is guilty only of foot tapping? That’s pretty scary when you think about it. He didn’t expose himself. He didn’t verbally proposition the officer. He didn’t do any “lewd acts,” none of those things for which people have been arrested traditionally. He tapped his foot. He was arrested on a police officer’s interpretation of a completely legal behavior. “Can you say, Big Brother, boys and girls? I thought you could.” This is very troubling to me. A police officer says that you look like you are cruising for sex, and you are arrested; your career and reputation are destroyed on an impression. Now, to be fair to the officer, it is reported that Sen. Craig waved his hand under the stall partition, further indicating that he was soliciting “lewd behavior.” Still, this strikes me as overly aggressive policing, and the last time I checked, it wasn’t against the law to wave your hand under a stall partition. It may not be a good idea, but it’s not a crime.
I’ll tell you this: if I’m ever stuck in the airport at Minneapolis, I’m going to pee on the sidewalk. I will not go into one of their restrooms.
As gun owners, we have lost one of our best friends in the senate because the man was unable to come to grips with his sexual identity and the party immediately screamed for his execution. The Republican party continues to step on these mines: Mayor James E. West of Spokane, Mark Foley, Jay Banning, the RNC’s chief financial officer and director of administration, Daniel Gurley, the RNC’s national field director and deputy political director, and now Larry Craig. I’m a gun rights fanatic, and the loss of an ally is the loss of an ally, and I don’t really care what they do in their spare time. When all of these closet queers continue to pop up in their midst, maybe it’s time for the Republican party to re-think some things. How many careers get ruined? How many friends get sacrificed? What’s it worth?
I return to Denise’s lament, “Why did it have to be Larry Craig?”
See also:
He was arrested because a “special authority” perceived an offense. Not because he actually broke any law or endangered anyone.
Craig has shown himself to extremely stupid for pleading guilty to such a charge. As far as I’m concerned, he should be removed from office just for being stupid enough to plead guilty to tapping his foot while taking a dump.
But the bigger crime here is his arrest in the first place. Unless there’s more to this story that we haven’t been told, this was yet another example of egregious abuse of authority.
“Senator Larry Craig got arrested for tapping his foot in the men’s room at the Minneapolis airport. The arresting officer said that this is a “signal” that men use in public restrooms to signal a desire to engage in “lewd conduct.” This is a euphemism for homosexual acts. (Funny, but in 54 years on this planet, I have never heard about the foot tapping before…) ”
- Yes, this is also the first time I’ve ever heard that toe-tapping could be construed as a sexual advance. Ever heard of ‘restless leg syndrome’? I tap my feet ALL THE TIME, never thought it would attract unwanted attention, aside from annoying my wife.
The fact that he plead guilty does make me wonder about his guilt, or at the very least, his judgement.
I’m also pretty much a live and let live kind of guy, I don’t care what consenting adults do with each other in privacy.
If Larry Craig was guilty of soliciting sex from strange men in a public toilet, then yes, he was a hypocrite, and he broke the faith with his constituents who were led to expect certain things from him. He may have also broken his word to his wife.