I should have posted something yesterday on Jim McGreevey’s op-ed in Monday’s Washington Post about Larry Craig. But I found it hard to suppress the urge to vomit every time I tried to read McGreevey’s piece, and I didn’t want to splatter vomit all over my newish laptop.

I got through it this morning and, man, what a dishonest piece of shit. It’s an absolutely nauseating piece, from its unctuous title (“A Prayer for Larry Craig”) to the italics at the end letting us know that the former New Jersey governor is studying to be an Episcopal priest. That would be the same ex-governor last seen in public making fun of his ex-wife’s dress sense.

By now most of America knows that Republican Senator Larry Craig of Idaho (seen here singing show tunes (?) with Senator Trent Lott and former Attorney General John Ashcroft) claims to have "a very wide stance" when going to the restroom. What some of you might not know, however, is that Senator Craig also served in the U.S. military, was dismissed from that service, and came to be an outspoken opponent of allowing gays to serve openly.

As reported this afternoon by blogger Mike Rogers on The Ed Schultz Program, there's a recent statement from Craig about his feelings on the matter.

In what could be called another of Craig’s "he said/he said situations," the Senator corresponded with a constituent (and SLDN supporter) earlier this month about why he’d never support repealing "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell." In the August 17 letter to his constituent, Craig wrote that, "The armed forces exist to wage war. It is unacceptable to risk the lives of American soldiers and sailors merely to accommodate the sexual lifestyles of certain individuals." He also noted that, "I don’t believe the military should be a place for social experimentation."

Oh dag nabbit! I think McGreevey's a hotty. I'd do him whatever!

There is no accounting for taste...

"I don’t believe the military should be a place for social experimentation."

ZED!

On "America’s Most Wanted," suspects often get identified after their pictures are aired. Such was the case when Larry Craig’s daughter, Shea Suzanne Howell appeared on ABC. Craig can add the arrest of his daughter to the list of unintended consequences he is racking up. This sad event proves that "no good deed goes unpunished." After her national TV appearance, a Boise resident put 2 and 2 together and sent this little unsolicited nugget from the local sheriff's warrant list: Shae Suzanne Howell, wanted for contempt of court, $500 bond. We checked with officials at the jail and the April 18 contempt of court warrant is active. The original offense was unlawful entry and malicious injury to property.

Where the Craig "spectacle" departs from earlier ones is that some in the gay and lesbian community are participating in humiliating Craig or saying nothing as he has been attacked. Most of the leading gay groups have been silent, making no comment on Craig or the suspect police tactics used in the sting.

William K. Dobbs, a gay civil libertarian, described the performance of the gay groups as "Abysmal, absolutely abysmal. It seems the only sexual behavior they care about these days is within the context of marriage."

That the groups made no comment on the police was especially disturbing to Dobbs particularly since 40 other men were busted in the sting.

"It's not just the Craig thing, but this is an ongoing targeting," he said. "There has to be a way in these situations to say, 'Look I don't like this person, but I decry what is being done.'"

Historians who have written about gay life in the '50s, '60s and '70s and some who lived through those decades tended to first object to the sex sting when asked for a reaction. They also had some sympathy for Craig.
"You have to feel sorry for him without regard to his political beliefs," said Ken Sherrill, a professor of political science at Hunter College. "That shouldn't happen to anybody."

But in the gay blogosphere, some Web masters and readers have shown a barely disguised pleasure at the downfall of yet another right winger who was discovered violating the principles that he, his political party, or his church has championed.

"It's understandable the delight that people show, but that's kind of shortsighted," Johnson said. "We shouldn't be delighting in the tactics, the kind of homophobia that's behind the system that caught him. Ironically, he helped create it and perpetuate it."

Craig has consistently opposed legislation sought by the gay and lesbian community, but he was never a right-wing leader and he was probably unknown to most gay and lesbian people before August 27 when Roll Call broke the arrest story. Still he earned the scorn of many gay men and lesbians who have been vilified by his peers and his political party.

Craig has consistently opposed legislation sought by the gay and lesbian community, but he was never a right-wing leader and he was probably unknown to most gay and lesbian people before August 27 when Roll Call broke the arrest story.

"We shouldn't be delighting in the tactics, the kind of homophobia that's behind the system that caught him. Ironically, he helped create it and perpetuate it."

Rep. Mike Simpson (R) condemned Senate GOP leaders yesterday for their treatment of fellow Idahoan Sen. Larry Craig (R), accusing them of hypocrisy. “I hope I never stub my toe and they throw me under the bus,” Simpson said of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and other Republican leaders. “It kind of makes you wonder what party you want to be a member of.”

Simpson pointed a finger at Craig’s leaders for staying mum on the legal and personal jeopardy facing other GOP senators, including Alaskan Ted Stevens, now under federal investigations, and Louisianan David Vitter, who has admitted contacting an escort service. McConnell declined to comment, but Senate Republican sources shrugged off his frustration with their conference’s handling of Craig. “Who cares what Simpson thinks? He is irrelevant,” one Senate GOP aide said.

A Fresno, Calif., man's conviction for soliciting sex from a sheriff's deputy in a park restroom nearly five years ago was overturned by a three-judge panel, it was announced this week. But the ruling, which threw out the conviction of Stephen Lake, 51, did not address whether the bathroom stings were discriminatory because they targeted only homosexual activity. Instead, the judges ruled that prosecutors did not establish that someone was likely to be present who would have been offended by Lake's conduct, an element needed to prove a crime took place.

Lake's attorney, Bruce Nickerson, had argued the arrest and prosecution are discriminatory because men and women are never prosecuted for soliciting sex if money is not involved. He also said Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho, recently arrested in a similar sting in a Minneapolis airport, can probably also reverse his guilty plea on grounds of discrimination.

Well, I'm not going to criticize Rain or Feral, any more than I criticized those who were glad to hear of the death of Ronnie Ray-gun (I was one of them).

The comparison with the Ray Gun is quite apt. A number of people I've known quite well have had Alzheimer's... it is a dreadful disease. There really aren't words to describe just how dreadful... not in a pathetic sentence or two. There are more than a few people who would not have wished such a condition upon anyone, more than a few who took no pleasure at all in the Ray Gun's illness. Then there are those who had a much more visceral reaction to that creature. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy" was something I heard quite often.

Had it been mine to give, I would have given the bastard the most wretched, painful form of cancer. One where he would linger and whither away painfully and slowly, like so many of my friends.

Moving on: I'm sure that Senator Craig takes comfort in knowing that some regard him as a victim of police entrapment, CASH. And despite the fact that I am not gay and never have been, I don't think it should be illegal for one man to hit on another man. But if a bill making it illegal for men to hit on other men in airport toilets— or anywhere else—had come up for a vote, Senator Craig, with his perfect antigay voting record, would surely have voted in favor of it. So even if Senator Craig is the victim here, as some are insisting, it's hard to feel much sympathy for him.