Legislating Morality
Ted Haggard. Sen. Larry Craig.
It’s really on the lines of what Sharon Cobb said. It’s the hypocrisy. Both men said one thing and did another. They made such broad, sweeping statements, and then turned around and did what they had damned.
You see, Craig was legislating morality. It was something he couldn’t live up to himself but he expected others to be held a different level. Voters have no patience for hypocrisy. They just don’t.
The got caught. Frank at Left of the Dial reports Haggard is still begging for money.
I don’t have any sympathy for either one of them. Southern Beale has a breakdown on Craig’s voting record. He plead guilty, and returned to the airport before he plead out. He can’t use the excuse that he didn’t know what he was doing.
Because, he did.
“Let me be clear: I am not gay and never have been,” said Craig, who has aligned himself with conservative groups who oppose gay rights.
With his wife by his side, Craig said he is the victim of a “witch hunt” conducted by the Idaho Statesman newspaper.
“In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis, because of the stress of the Idaho Statesman’s investigation and the rumors it has fueled around Idaho,” he said. “Again, that overreaction was a mistake, and I apologize for my misjudgment.”
But Craig said this when he entered his guilty plea as part of his petition.
Craig paid a $500 fine when he entered his guilty plea in Hennepin County Municipal Court in Bloomington, Minnesota, according to state criminal records.
In his petition to enter a guilty plea, Craig acknowledged that he “engaged in (physical) conduct which I knew or should have known tended to arouse alarm or resentment.” (my emphasis)
It appears its the media’s fault once again. (snark) I’m calling B.S.
So, I say this. Sen. Craig, no one is saying that you are a homosexual although your actions are pretty bizarre. We are saying that you are a hypocrite and that you lied. Gay has nothing to do with it, it just happens to be the tool that got you a cushy gig with Mitt Romney and it was the button you pushed.
Gay is not a dirty word, which you are making it here.
Now stop it, own what happened, quit blaming everyone else and let’s all move forward.
I had a conversation with an ex-boyfriend years ago on the matter of homosexual sex. He’s a midwesterner (currently the executive director for his local ACLU) and a proponent of gay rights, but he solidly felt that just because one engages in homosexual sex, it does not make them gay. As in, prisoners and sorority girls: not gay. I wonder if this is the same belief of Craig. Is this a widely-held thought? Are we all working under the assumption of different definitions of “gay?” Moreover, does it really matter?
I’m with you, gay isn’t the issue. His hypocrisy is the issue. He avidly opposes the rights of people to who have an open lifestyle that he chooses to engage in as well (secretly).
Incidentally, same said ex was extremely uncomfortable with a very flamboyantly gay co-worker and was obsessed with the possibility that the guy would hit on him. Though I don’t believe he ever opposed his co-worker’s right to do so. Ha!
[...] Newscoma takes the somewhat conventional view of the Larry Craig controversy, that he is now a proven hypocrite who should be summarily dismissed [...]
Well said, Groovy Coma!
[...] Cobb wrote a post about the Larry Craig situation that made both Newscoma and I cheer. Let me show you just a bit: Here is the real deal. Republicans screwed up a long time [...]
OK, he’s not gay.
He was standing right there next to his hetero wife when he said i satt.
But he never denied being Bi, now did he.
Hmmm
One should refrain from saying ‘arouse’ when denying one’s homosexual come-ons in the airport crapper. Just, uh, throwing that out there (much like Sen. Craig did).
I have to agree with you, gay is not the issue. Saying that you’re for family values when you’re cheating on your wife in the shadiest of circumstances, may well be an issue.
gay is a dirty word when it pertains to morality
Stan, You are allowed your opinion.
We are all Americans.
But, ummm… I disagree.
Great thing about being an American.
Gay is not a dirty word.
Groovy Coma,
What leads you to assume that ’stan’ is an American? ‘We’ are not all Americans.
This is not of the cool.
Well, wondering, you do have a point there.
I do offer my apologies on that issue. As I was talking about American politics, it just sort of happened that way as I was writing.
Oops.
You’re right. Not of the cool at all….
many apologies.
I agree. His actions didn’t even make sense. But whether he’s “gay” or not certainly doesn’t matter if he participated in homosexual acts, given that he and his constituents think that’s wrong too.