August 30, 2007
When Will Sen. Larry Craig Resign?
After being removed from committee postings by his Republican colleagues in the Senate and being called upon to resign by the likes of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), embattled Sen. Larry Craig went "on vacation" with his wife Wednesday, according to the Washington Post. The fallout surrounding his guilty plea to lewd conduct in a men's bathroom in the Minneapolis airport has only intensified since Roll Call first broke the story on Monday. The Post points out that the reaction of Craig's Republican colleagues is highly unusual -- no senator has called for the ethics committee to investigate a colleague in the past two decades.
Given that basically no one appears to be willing to defend Craig, despite the senator's now catch-phrase worthy protestations that he's not gay, has never been gay and did nothing wrong even though he pleaded guilty, it's highly likely that it's only a matter of time before Craig goes ahead and resigns. But how much time?
Also, posted above via FreeRide, just in case you haven't seen the excellent Slate-produced Larry Craig bathroom reenactment video, there it is for ya.
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I predict Craig will resign after the Family Values Coalition threatens to boycott Idaho potatoes.
Ohhh Great its open season for us wide-stancers.
I don't see Senator David "Diaperman" Vitter resigning any time soon, and the stuff he was up to was twice as stinky. Fortunately, for both of them, the public has a perpetual case of retrograde anterior amnesia, so they will soon be distracted by the latest toilet shenanigins du jour.
Speaking of which, I always knew Lindsay Lohan liked it in the crapper but in an almost completely different sense.
Larry, oh Larry.
Most of us can't help but hate your hypocrisy, given that you've been stridently anti-gay all these years, passing and cosponsoring legislation that makes gays lives harder on a daily basis.
But we also can't help note the irony here. Right wingers couldn't care less about your hateful legislative stances (wide-stance or otherwise), or your hypocrisy. They just want you gone because you are gay.
It sucks when your own hate catches up with you, doesn't it?
I love the Google ads that keep showing up with these posts about Larry - the "Meet Christian Singles" with a losing-his-white-hair old white guy who looks suspiciously like Sen. Craig (without the glasses) has to be my favorite.
It's easy for Republicans to call on Craig to resign...since it's pretty much a lock that his replacement would also be a Republican (Idaho=red state), and thereby, the balance of power in the Senate doesn't shift.
Meanwhile, if Vitter resigned, there would be a pretty good chance that his appointed replacement would be a Democrat. And we simply can't have one more Dem added to the majority in the House.
Conspiracy theory floating around: Rove outed Craig to take the media attention away from Gonzo's resignation.
#6 above, second paragraph, last word: Change House to Senate. I'm now going back to sleep...
OK, I'm serious. What did Larry DO besides touch another guy's foot? How is this a crime?
DCist Editors... the quotes in the first sentence are misplaced, it should read Craig went on vacation with his "wife" Wednesday... Subtle but important.
After about 13 minutes of sitting in the stall, [the officer] observed Craig lingering outside and frequently peeking through the stall's door crack.
"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."
I do agree that it's a bit of a weak case, but the fact remains that he entered a guilty plea. One usually doesn't plead guilty if they don't think they've done anything wrong.
Politburo,
I agree with you ... once he enters the guilty plea, it doesn't really matter.
But I'm wondering how this even warrants a charge? In the real world (aka one where the stall next to Larry does not contain a cop on duty), all this results in is a "Hey, stop toucking my foot, asshole!" and its over.
Clio, go read the real article about it, in the Minneapolis newspaper. It was much more than shoe-touching.
See, this is what happens when you get rid of handkerchief codes.
Now if you'll excuse me, my penis needs to destroy Kim Jong-il with laser beams.
monkeyrotica: David Vitter is not resigning for two reasons: he did not violate the Senate's strict "live boy/dead girl" code, and Louisiana is not Idaho.