GOP Senator from Idaho Arrested for Lewd Conduct in Men's room

[donbarzini]

Did they do this to Bob Livingstone or his (ironically) sucessor David Vitter (answer: no). So cheating on your wife AND BREAKING THE LAW is fine as long as it’s with a woman.

I read both of the links and didn't see where either of them were arrested .......

 

[donbarzini]

I do NOT disagree with you, I'm just answering your question.

Craig did TWO things different from Vitter:

1. He got locked up.

2. He plead GUILTY.

 

[SamSpade]

Apparently he is NOT giving up.

This weekend on one of the morning talk shows, Arlen Specter brought up that Craig only ever announced that he intended to resign within 30 days - and that he would prefer that Craig fight it, because the case against him wouldn't stand up in court.

Oh please. After not being so sure before, I'm pretty sure now - he's guilty. While I am not sure *why* it took two months for this thing to make it to the headlines - and why is that? - the situation does not look like a guy who got mistakenly nailed for picking up paper in a restroom. It looks like he was doing exactly what he was accused of doing - that he pled guilty so he could get on his plane and get it behind him - that he didn't consult a lawyer because he wanted it buried - that he didn't tell his wife because he was embarassed at getting caught.

Consider the opposite - that he's innocent. The very worst I can see is that he might have pled guilty because he was in a hurry. But beyond that, he should have been outraged. He should have told his wife "can you BELIEVE the crap I went through? They accused ME of soliciting for sex in a public restroom!". When it wasn't going to just be hushed up, he should have said, bring in a frickin' lawyer, and I'll hand you your azz, my friend.

This is Bart Simpson mentality - " I didn't do it and you can't prove anything". He should just give up - no way Idaho is going to re-elect the guy, and if he WINS, Idaho ought to kick him out anyway.

 

[vraiblonde]

Sam, he's more than likely guilty. But of what? A gay pickup? Because, again, it sounds like that restroom is a known hotspot. Obviously Craig is a novice at this because of the clumsy way he went about it. Plus there are no lovers coming out of the woodwork with embarrassing stories.

The news people are calling this a sex scandal, but I fail to see where there was any sex. If a bj isn't sex, then certainly rubbing someone's foot isn't.

So the question is: should this guy lose his career over what amounts to an embarrassing moment? Personally, I couldn't care less about some Idaho Senator, but if he's been a pretty good Senator and represents the people of Idaho adequately in Congress, there's no reason for him to resign.

 

[Larry Gude]

If the GOP...

Sam, he's more than likely guilty. But of what? A gay pickup? Because, again, it sounds like that restroom is a known hotspot. Obviously Craig is a novice at this because of the clumsy way he went about it. Plus there are no lovers coming out of the woodwork with embarrassing stories.

The news people are calling this a sex scandal, but I fail to see where there was any sex. If a bj isn't sex, then certainly rubbing someone's foot isn't.

So the question is: should this guy lose his career over what amounts to an embarrassing moment? Personally, I couldn't care less about some Idaho Senator, but if he's been a pretty good Senator and represents the people of Idaho adequately in Congress, there's no reason for him to resign.

...plays the "Family Values" card, which they do, then he is gone. If he was a Democrat, that is a different story. They could paint him as a victim, forced to go underground to seek a back alley abort...err...underground to seek real love and acceptance, love denied him by a cruel world and cold hearted Republicans.

Craig has been very vocal against liberalizing gay rights. He is a textbook case of hypocrisy.

There are different rules for GOP'ers and Dems. There just are.

 

[This_person]

Craig has been very vocal against liberalizing gay rights. He is a textbook case of hypocrisy.

I read the police report and listened to the "interrogation" audio posted. What is the hypocrisy? He claims to not be gay, no gay person took the Larry Flynt money and outted him as gay, and his guilty plea is to disorderly conduct. The words "men's bathroom" come out far more in talking about this supposed crime more than anything else, but there's no evidence of any gay encounter.

 

[Larry Gude]

Cut it out...

Consider the opposite - that he's innocent. The very worst I can see is that he might have pled guilty because he was in a hurry.

...Sam. We're not lawyers. It doesn't matter if Craig is innocent anymore. He is now a joke. His career is down the toilet. Pun intended.

That cop didn't just grab him the moment he stepped in the bathroom and say "Come with me, sir."

He was cruising. He likes annonymous gay sex, though no one will state what people actually do in these situations. I still can't see them jumping in a stall together. So, they're jerking off.

I mean, this isn't going to get any better by dragging out all the details.

All he has to do is resign in disgrace full of lots of sobbing and family members showing devestation. He moves to LA, comes out, writes a book.

Cha-ching.

 

[Larry Gude]

Do you honestly...

I read the police report and listened to the "interrogation" audio posted. What is the hypocrisy? He claims to not be gay, no gay person took the Larry Flynt money and outted him as gay, and his guilty plea is to disorderly conduct. The words "men's bathroom" come out far more in talking about this supposed crime more than anything else, but there's no evidence of any gay encounter.

...think there is any room, at all, to believe for one second, for Larry Craig to have NOT been trying to have sex in that bathroom?

Can you honestly envision a US Senator, with a BA in political science, who has been in DC since 1980, all through the Clinton fiasco's and every other sexual scandal in that time, for one second, would plead guilty to ANYTHING? Is he that stupid? Is his ear that tin?

Goddamn, I would think he would have brought the roof down and shut down the whole airport in flat out public outrage, held a press conference right then and there.

He's guilty. He was embarrassed as all hell and was looking for a quiet way out of this.

 

[This_person]

His career is down the toilet. Pun intended.

 

[vraiblonde]

Craig has been very vocal against liberalizing gay rights. He is a textbook case of hypocrisy.

Maybe he could give a crap about gay rights and is only representing his constituency (as Congressmen are *supposed* to do).

You know, Tammy Bruce is a lesbian but she is decidedly against "liberalizing gay rights".

 

[This_person]

...think there is any room, at all, to believe for one second, for Larry Craig to have NOT been trying to have sex in that bathroom?

Can you honestly envision a US Senator, with a BA in political science, who has been in DC since 1980, all through the Clinton fiasco's and every other sexual scandal in that time, for one second, would plead guilty to ANYTHING? Is he that stupid? Is his ear that tin?

Goddamn, I would think he would have brought the roof down and shut down the whole airport in flat out public outrage, held a press conference right then and there.

He's guilty. He was embarrassed as all hell and was looking for a quiet way out of this.

Actually, yes, I do believe it's possible. I think it's likely he could have been, but it's possible he wasn't.

I'm not trying to defend him, I'm just trying to imagine how that would work; you're between flights, need to use the washroom, and decide to hit on an anonymous person you didn't even see go into a stall while there are (in the cop's report) a "steady stream" of people coming and going about their business. It's crowded, you're waiting for your connecting flight, you're a public figure, and you're so indescrete that you'll hit on a shoe. You're this kind of person, apparently routinely enough to know the "signals", but no one has been willing to come forth and say they've been with you (for the obvious cash they'd get).

So, while it's clear something very odd was going on, and likely something he didn't want people to know about, it is feasible that it wasn't gay sex.

However, I agree with your thought that he's out of politics. Kennedy may be able to kill somebody and get away with it, but we're talking Republicans not Democrats, so it won't work for Craig.

 

[vraiblonde]

...think there is any room, at all, to believe for one second, for Larry Craig to have NOT been trying to have sex in that bathroom?

Yes.

So far I'm not impressed with the "evidence". And AGAIN, no one has come forward to say they've had encounters with Craig. Right now Craig is guilty of peering into a bathroom stall and rubbing against the shoe of the guy in the stall next to him, both of which are not crimes, that I'm aware of, and could have been accidental.

Do you really want to start rounding people up and ruining their lives for that sort of thing? Really?

 

[Larry Gude]

We're gonna...

Yes.

So far I'm not impressed with the "evidence". And AGAIN, no one has come forward to say they've had encounters with Craig. Right now Craig is guilty of peering into a bathroom stall and rubbing against the shoe of the guy in the stall next to him, both of which are not crimes, that I'm aware of, and could have been accidental.

Do you really want to start rounding people up and ruining their lives for that sort of thing? Really?

...have to agree to disagree on this one. If you think Craig was just in their taking a crap and was falsely accused, arrested, booked and then pleaded guilty to misconduct, so be it.

Imagine someone accusing you, or anyone, of waving your hand, repeatedly, under the stall and playing footsie, of arguing over the ring and what hand it was on. Listen to Craig on that tape.

There is no way in hell I could touch the mans foot next to me, unless I meant to, in any stall I ever been in in my life.

You think Craig was rounded up, just snatched from the pooper for the hell of it, life ruined and his reaction was...???

"I am not GAY"

Maybe he's just stupid?

 

[Larry Gude]

That's why...

I'm just trying to imagine how that would work; you're between flights, need to use the washroom, and decide to hit on an anonymous person you didn't even see go into a stall while there are (in the cop's report) a "steady stream" of people coming and going about their business. It's crowded, you're waiting for your connecting flight, you're a public figure, and you're so indescrete that you'll hit on a shoe. You're this kind of person, apparently routinely enough to know the "signals", but no one has been willing to come forth and say they've been with you (for the obvious cash they'd get).

...I keep asking for someone to explain, as the signals seem to be known, what exactly do the signals mean and what do people do in these situations. My suspicion is that the signal is that they both start jerking off.

I can not see two people climbing into a stall together with all that human traffic going on and it not raising a ruckus right then and there.

So, thinking it through, you get your rocks off, you get the thrill of a public place, you've been naughty and you never see the other persons face, nor they yours.

 

[This_person]

...I keep asking for someone to explain, as the signals seem to be known, what exactly do the signals mean and what do people do in these situations. My suspicion is that the signal is that they both start jerking off.

I can not see two people climbing into a stall together with all that human traffic going on and it not raising a ruckus right then and there.

So, thinking it through, you get your rocks off, you get the thrill of a public place, you've been naughty and you never see the other persons face, nor they yours.

Why would you need the other person for that kind of "thrill"?

I can't help you with the signals. I'm not sure how something like that could be "known", unless it's NOT anonymous.

Neither the gay sex explaination, nor the "in a hurry so I plead guilty to a crime I didn't commit" explaination work for me. Absolutely none of it makes sense on either side. It's all very questionable.

 

[vraiblonde]

Maybe he's just stupid?

He's obviously stupid, regardless of what happened in that bathroom stall.

This is why guys are so disgusting - women don't do that sort of thing. I've never heard of lesbians hooking up in a public restroom to get off.

(Yes, Pete, I'm man-bashing )

 

[Kerad]

He's obviously stupid, regardless of what happened in that bathroom stall.

This is why guys are so disgusting - women don't do that sort of thing. I've never heard of lesbians hooking up in a public restroom to get off.

(Yes, Pete, I'm man-bashing )

You don't remember those NFL cheerleaders (Carolina Panthers?) who got busted for having a go at each other in the ladies room stall?



I sure do.



And why are we still talking about this? This happened more than three days ago.

 

[Pete]

Who picks up tissue or anything for that matter off a public bathroom floor? I am not a germ a phobe or a clean freak by any stretch but I am not picking up ANYTHING off a public bathroom floor.

 

[Pete]

He's obviously stupid, regardless of what happened in that bathroom stall.

This is why gay guys are so disgusting - women don't do that sort of thing. I've never heard of lesbians hooking up in a public restroom to get off.

(Yes, Pete, I'm man-bashing )

Fixed

 

[camily]

I read the report and heard the audio. One of the things that didnt make ANY sense was the officer stating he could see Craig's left hand and left palm, when the officer was in the stall to Craig's right.

The officer made a point to tell Craig he knew it was his left because of the wedding ring and the position of the thumb.

Here's an excercise you can do in your office chair :

• Imagine sitting on the "Pot"
• Reach your left hand accross your body, flip your hand over (so the palm is showing) and mime reaching down below the stall wall.
• Imagine doing it as a 65-70(ish) man
• Imagine doing this in a small restroom bathstall

Not only is that difficult, is it reasonable to believe he'd use his left to do this, when it would be MUCH easier to do it with his right hand?

Craig (in the audio testimony) even questioned this, his excuse was he was picking up a tissue (or something) and also stated he used his Right hand. its not a big thing, its just an inconsistancy. Unless thats one of the Signals (left hand) that Larry was looking for.

Maybe he was standing up, as if peeing?