Must… Stop… Giggling…
Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June at a Minnesota airport by a plainclothes police officer investigating lewd conduct complaints in a men’s restroom, according to an arrest report obtained by Roll Call Monday afternoon. Craig’s arrest occurred just after noon on June 11 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. On Aug. 8, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in the Hennepin County District Court. He paid more than $500 in fines and fees, and a 10-day jail sentence was stayed. He also was given one year of probation with the court that began on Aug. 8.
A spokesman for Craig described the incident as a “he said/he said misunderstanding,” and said the office would release a fuller statement later Monday afternoon.
After he was arrested, Craig, who is married, was taken to the Airport Police Operations Center to be interviewed about the lewd conduct incident, according to the police report. At one point during the interview, Craig handed the plainclothes sergeant who arrested him a business card that identified him as a U.S. Senator and said, “What do you think about that?” the report states.
Craig was detained for approximately 45 minutes, interviewed, photographed, fingerprinted and released, and police prepared a formal complaint for interference with privacy and disorderly conduct.
According to the incident report, Sgt. Dave Karsnia was working as a plainclothes officer on June 11 investigating civilian complaints regarding sexual activity in the men’s public restroom in which Craig was arrested.
For some reason, making fun of a man who consistently voted and lobbied against gay-rights issues, while actively seeking some hot man-on-man action on his way to and from the Senate, just feels wrong to me.
I’ll leave that to the two dudes that are now Wonkette!
Update: Seriously. I must stop giggling. It’s starting to hurt.
MR. RUSSERT: Larry Craig, would you want the last word from the Senate be an acquittal of the president and no censure?
SEN. CRAIG: Well, I don’t know where the Senate’s going to be on that issue of an up or down vote on impeachment, but I will tell you that the Senate certainly can bring about a censure reslution and it’s a slap on the wrist. It’s a, “Bad boy, Bill Clinton. You’re a naughty boy.”
The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughtyboy.
I’m going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.
The question issue now is simply this: Did he lie under oath? Did he perjure himself and did he obstruct justice? And that’s where we’re trying to go now in this truth-seeking process. And I hope we can get there. And then I’m going to have the chance to decide and vote up or down on those articles. After we’re through with this impeachment trial, it’s collapsed, it’s gone, then the Senate will make a decision on if it’s a censure or not. (emphasis mine, of course)
gurusteve
DFV the Scribe
Andre the Defiant
Wes
pg - your humble messenger
hairybeast
thompaine
Drowning Creek
So are you trying to say he’s really one of your boys then? And if you all could just reserve the restrooms for what they were originally intended for instead of using them as some sort of clubhouse we heteros would really appreciate it.
Thanks.
Dave the Infidel Sage
27 Aug 07 at 9:21 pm
I did that a long time ago. Apparently many members of the GOP Caucus can’t make the same claim. David Drier… Come on down!
Andre the Defiant
27 Aug 07 at 9:25 pm
It gives perspective, though. With all these sex scandals coming from the Republicans, who could blame these guys for wanting to protect family values? They know exactly what kind of sick people they’re talking about.
Wes
28 Aug 07 at 7:31 am
Decadence, temptation and sin stalks both sides of the aisle. It doesn’t respect person nor party affiliation.
Dave the Infidel Sage
28 Aug 07 at 7:54 am
But moral hypocrisy only belongs to the ones that preach the dangers of their own lifestyles.
Wes
28 Aug 07 at 8:33 am
Ding. We have a winner.
Andre the Defiant
28 Aug 07 at 8:54 pm
BTW, Sen. “Wide Stance” is the gift that keeps on giving… he opened his statement today with the line, “Thank you all for coming out today”. I can feel the giggles coming back.
Andre the Defiant
28 Aug 07 at 9:10 pm
This is really starting to turn against the homosexual community as a whole to a certain extent. I was listening to some talk radio today and caller after caller were reacting to the whole lavatory hook up scene with disgust and with some very creepy stories from all across the nation. One caller from Grand Island, Nebraska who travels a lot on business described the whole hand underneath the stall thing which he has experienced from time to time. He said he would usually started to caress it then would grab their fingers and hyperextend them backwards. Apparently that solves the problem. Seemed a tad bit extreme to me, but of course I have never been put in that situation (thank God) but it would piss me off to no end as well if someone was trying to hit me up for sexual favors in the restroom. And apparently I have got to be careful about shuffling my feet at all for fear of leading someone one, or getting arrested for that matter. Too many rules to remember I say!
Dave the Infidel Sage
28 Aug 07 at 9:46 pm
Do you really want to go down this road, Dave? If you want me to post a response, I will.
Andre the Defiant
28 Aug 07 at 9:51 pm
I didn’t realize I was on a road. A small path, more like an observation if you will. The revelations of the underworld of the homosexual lifestyle does not go over with middle America. Trying to fire at a target like the Senator can lead to some damaging ricochets. One wonders if those who will now viciously attack him will realize that.
And actually the less I know about ‘the courtship of the urinal’ the better off I’ll be. I’ve made it this far without too much trouble not knowing the mating ritual of the public restroom (where I usually spend as little time as possible in) and me thinks I’d prefer to keep it that way.
Dave the Infidel Sage
28 Aug 07 at 10:11 pm
Going strictly from your description, there’s a 88% chance that isn’t true.
I don’t know, I’ve been in public restrooms before and never had this experience, I’ve never put my feet into another person’s stall, and I’ve absolutely never started reaching under the other stall for any reason. I think unless you had an agenda, most people would consider that an excellent way to get punched in the mouth.
Wes
28 Aug 07 at 10:20 pm
Umm, Dave (I mentioned before that I don’t care what people think of me) once upon a time I engaged in this kind of stupid behavior (a lot). Funny thing is, once we in the “homosexual community” are finally comfortable to come out, it doesn’t usually happen anymore. At that point we do wierd things like hook-up at bars, and date, and even move in together. Last time I did it was about, oh, 1996. Then I met Aubrey (my first boyfriend), and have never done it since.
And guess what, unless you are deliberately matching toe-tap for toe-tap the person, there’s not much to worry about. It’s almost like a closet-case gay morse code. (The exacting details are why I giggled so). The cop, who was there investigating “public lewdness”, knew exactly what to do (two taps, two taps… one tap, one tap… three taps, three taps, etc.) to lead Craig along. I wouldn’t be too afraid if I were you, unless you are trying to play footsie with guys in bathrooms.
As for Sen. Craig, a (gasp) probably closeted gay man, this is the closest thing he can get to real sexual satisfaction. And on that I really feel sorry him.
Andre the Defiant
28 Aug 07 at 10:26 pm
Going strictly from your description, there’s a 88% chance that isn’t true.
I think you’re off by about ten percent.
Andre the Defiant
28 Aug 07 at 10:29 pm
Serious question: Our esteemed host seems to think that Senator Craig is a hypocrite for voting against the hot-button homosexual rights issues.
But does Mr Craig represents homosexuals, because he is apparently at least bisexual, or does Mr Craig represent Idahoans, the people who elected him?
There was a same-sex marriage/civil unions referendum on the ballot in Idaho in the November 2006 elections, and Idaho voters approved a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and civil unions statutes by a wide margin, 63% to 37%. While the Pandagonistae claim that Mr Craig’s votes are hypocritical, it seems to me that they are completely consistent with what the people he represents in the United States Senate believe.
Dana
29 Aug 07 at 5:54 am
And how do those people in Idaho feel about knowing that their representative had misrepresented himself? You are obligated to respond to the views of the area you represent (though pgwarner would say otherwise), but that doesn’t include rhetoric. He didn’t have to take the very public positions he took or make the speeches that he did. He chose to do so because he was intentionally misrepresenting himself to his constituents. Beyond that, it still makes him a hypocrite as a human being, which is plenty reason to feel nothing but disdain for the man.
Wes
29 Aug 07 at 6:14 am
Barney Frank and Gerry Studds were honest with the public about who they were. That’s why they were reelected and Mark Foley was not.
Beyond that, do you really want to defend someone who’s clearly been having anonymous sex (even if he wasn’t caught in flagrante delicto) in public restrooms? That’s just gross.
Wes
29 Aug 07 at 6:23 am
I agree that he misrepresented himself to the voters, but he had said that he supported a ban on homosexual marriage — and he voted what he said.
I don’t know how Mr Craig feels about same sex marriage, personally; there’s nothing inherent about being homosexual which requires you to support same sex marriage.
Wes wrote:
You don’t know that; you are assuming that he took those positions because he was trying to hide his sexual preferences, and that he, being at least bisexual, must have believed differently; such may be the case, but is not a valid assumption.
Dana
29 Aug 07 at 7:28 am
Do most grown men actually giggle? I think Andre needs to come up with some better titles for his posts.
What’s sad is that the Senator actually represented his constituents on his homosexual marriage votes, but has failed to do so with his open borders/amnesty votes. I won’t be sad to see him go just because of that.
It used to be that “God, Guns and Gays” along with abortion were the litmus tests for conservatives. We’ve now had to add the criteria of being right on immigration and Islamic jihadism to the mix.
Dave the Infidel Sage
29 Aug 07 at 9:44 am
It used to be that “God, Guns and Gays” along with abortion were the litmus tests for conservatives.
They still are. If a politician gets caught with their hand in the collection box, shooting someone in the face while duck hunting, or trolling for same-sex dates in a public bathroom, there’s a 95% chance that they’re conservative. That’s what makes the GOP so Grand - our willingness to stick with tradition.
Phlebas
29 Aug 07 at 3:06 pm
We do giggle Dave. Lighten up and you might too, someday.
Dana- All of the ConClubbers were involved in our college’s student government and members of the CRs, and while I did a few things that I might not have done having been out– like killing coming out day in the senate, though I still agree with that one, and carrying a very specific pro-Amendment Two sign (which I no longer agree with)– I never went so far as to sell Dave’s silly “Adam and Steve” T-shirts, and often argued on behalf of gay rights while still in the closet (which I think perplexed my fellow CRs to end, until I came out).
Andre the Defiant
29 Aug 07 at 11:49 pm
Dana’s arguments are correct. The “hypocrisy” charge has been an obvious fraud for years. Behind it is the logic that says that you can engage in any kind of behavior as long as you insist that all of society should engage in it, too. You can lie, cheat, steal, cheat on your wife, pick up guys in a bathroom, or hook up with a man-whore with meth, just as long as you encourage others to so the same. If, on the other hand, you offer the counsel that such behavior is better off avoided, then and only then will you be vilified.
It means that if you are a smoker, it is better to encourage kids to take up smoking than to be thought a hypocrite. Or that if you are an alcoholic, the best course of action would be to encourage others to drink more, so as to be consistent with your personal preferences.
DFV the Scribe
30 Aug 07 at 12:16 am
It was the ‘top ten reasons to be Yes on 2′ and it was a collaborative effort. And the most successful fundraising tool the CR’s ever had. It was banned from at least two high schools in town, and would you believe it, a couple elementary schools in town as well (the fact that people were dressing their kids up in it to send them to school was somewhere between perplexing and hilarious.)
Dave the Infidel Sage
30 Aug 07 at 6:59 am
Girls giggle, men ‘laugh heartily’. I laugh heartily a lot.
Dave the Infidel Sage
30 Aug 07 at 7:00 am
Andre the Giant wrote:
A rather unusual statement, that. If I didn’t know better, I could draw two inferences:
1- If a straight man supports gay rights, he’s probably gay and still in the closet; and
2- If someone opposes measures of importance to the gay rights community, he’s probably gay and doing so to stay in the closet.
Dana
30 Aug 07 at 8:17 am
I giggle occasionally. Usually when laughing at a kitten or watching something particularly absurd like Arrested Development. Giggled a LOT during Arrested Development.
Wes
30 Aug 07 at 8:43 am
I think I probably giggle too, but during Arrested Development, I belly-laughed.
DFV the Scribe
30 Aug 07 at 7:43 pm
Ah, good man! I did plenty of that too.
Wes
30 Aug 07 at 9:31 pm
1- If a straight man supports gay rights, he’s probably gay and still in the closet; and
Uh, no. There are plenty of sane straight guys. I was simply pointing out that unlike some, I was never like Craig, Drier, or Kolbe (before he was outed).
2- If someone opposes measures of importance to the gay rights community, he’s probably gay and doing so to stay in the closet.
I don’t by into the whole “the biggest homophobes are really closeted queers” thing, but the ones who are tend to do incredibly stupid things (see Haggard, Ted).
Andre the Defiant
31 Aug 07 at 12:05 am