Larry Craig a hero in Idaho

Sometimes news is so fantastic it leaves even seasoned journalists short of breath. It seems that's what happened when Bruce Tomaso saw this headline: "Sen. Craig to join Idaho Hall of Fame."

After double-checking to make sure I hadn't logged on to The Onion by mistake, I read the story, from USA Today.

Seems the senator was chosen for the Potato State's Hall of Fame back in March, before his infamous, toe-tapping encounter with an undercover cop in an airport men's room.

"Larry Craig has made a great contribution to Idaho over the period of 20-some years. At the time it was considered, this other matter had not come up," said Harry Magnuson, chairman of the hall of fame's board.

I honestly don't know what to say here.

Ahmadinejad's public rest stop

Does Larry Craig wear Birkenstocks? Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can say whatever he wants, but we know the truth.

Senator's bathroom stall a tourist stop

Look what the DMN religion blog has to say about Sen. Larry Craig's notoriety:

McClatchy Newspapers report that the bathroom stall where Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, met his political end has become a tourist attraction.

(Next time you're at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, it's the men's room right next to the shoeshine stand near the food court. Second stall from the right.)

Anti-Semitism and homophobia -- kissing cousins

In today's Jewish Journal, Daniel Hemel argues that Jews should oppose the forced resignation of scumbag Sen. Larry Craig because, much to Jewry's surprise, Craig has turned out to be a strong supporter of Israel.

While I don't believe that those who love Israel must love politicians who share the sentiment, no matter how vile their other public policies or private actions, Hemel draws an interesting comparison between the perceived double standard in the GOP -- Craig solicits sex in a men's bathroom and has to resign; Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana's number appears on a madam's phone list but an apology suffices -- and the atmosphere for anti-Semitism.

As the late Yale historian John Boswell showed, where there is homophobia, anti-Semitism very often lurks around the corner.

"The same laws which oppressed Jews oppressed gay people; the same groups bent on eliminating Jews tried to wipe out homosexuality," Boswell wrote.

While his study was based on medieval Europe, his words ring true in modern America. Jews may disagree about the status of homosexuals within our own religious communities, but when there is an upsurge of homophobia in society at large, all Jews should take note.

Craig, even though he insists he is not gay, appears to be a victim of homophobia.

Is Craig a victim of homophobia? And, if so, should that be enough to swing the pendulum back in the direction of getting to keep his job?

Worst political sex scandals

In honor of disgraced GOP Congressman and admitted sexual deviant Larry Craig, Maxim, the ever authoritative lad mag, offers its 10 favorite political sex scandals. Here's the list without the summaries. They should be familiar, mostly:

1. Larry Craig
2. Clarence Thomas
3. Gary Condit
4. Mark Foley
5. Catherine the Great
6. Bill Clinton
7. Jim McGreevey
8. The D.C. Madam
9. Gary Hart
10. Strom Thurmond

Craig Chronicles: Senator to resign

This just in: Republican officials say Sen. Larry Craig, the "family-values" scandal of the week, is considering resigning.

* Update: I've removed the "?" from the headline. Craig reportedly will resign Saturday.

Spin alert: Larry Craig chronicles

My wife just sent me this message regarding Sen. Larry Craig's sexuality spinning:

So, as a PR person, I notice something very specific about what Larry Craig is and is not saying. He has denied that he is gay. However, if he really wanted to convince people, he would come out and say that he has never participated in gay activity, that he had no idea that anything he did in the restroom would have demonstrated "gay" behavior, etc ...

He would be very specifically denying that he knew anything about these signs he exhibited as gay behavior. But instead, he's just saying he's not gay.

Of course, some people claim that participating in homosexual relations doesn't make them "gay."

Pleading guilty means Larry Craig's guilty

More fallout for Sen. Larry Craig, from Talking Points Memo:

Almost as soon as Sen. Larry Craig issued a statement Monday afternoon saying he should not have pleaded guilty in the Minneapolis airport restroom case (his press flack told Roll Call it was all a “he said/he said misunderstanding”), speculation began swirling that Craig may face legal consequences for disavowing his guilty plea. That was only compounded by his public appearance the next day, in which he announced that he had finally retained legal counsel to review the case. The LA Times has a good overview of the possible consequences for Craig of trying to reopen his case--none of them good.

Larry Craig's sexuality a 'holy grail' in Idaho

The Bible Belt Blogger has a personal account of being a cub reporter covering the Idaho senator at the center of today's GOP sex scandal:

Rumors had been around for years that [Larry] Craig was gay. And some Idaho journalists were eager to find out if the rumors were true -- and print them.

Because Craig had voted against "gay rights' legislation, some reporters considered his sexual orientation to be fair game. I felt like Sen. Craig's sex life should be off-limits -- as long as he obeyed the law.

As I recall, during the 1996 campaign I was instructed to ask Sen. Craig about the rumors that he was gay. I asked as discretely as possible -- during a lengthy interview when there weren't plenty of people eavesdropping. I think I apologized for having to broach the subject. He denied the allegations. I felt sleazy even raising the topic.

That was the end of the matter for me, but other reporters continued digging -- off and on for over a decade. It was like the Holy Grail of Idaho journalism -- to figure out Larry Craig's sexual proclivities.

Another GOP politician caught in sex scandal

It seems like twice a week I get an e-mail in my inbox from a certain family member that has a link to MSNBC and says something like the one I received today, "GOP hypocrisy goes on." Here's the story:

WASHINGTON - Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, who has voted against gay marriage and opposes extending special protections to gay and lesbian crime victims, finds his political future in doubt after pleading guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from complaints of lewd conduct in a men's room.

The conservative three-term senator, who has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is up for re-election next year. He hasn't said if he will run for a fourth term in 2008 and was expected to announce his plans this fall.

(skip)

The married Craig, 62, has faced rumors about his sexuality since the 1980s, but allegations that he has engaged in gay sex have never been substantiated. Craig has denied the assertions, which he calls ridiculous.

When I started on the religion beat in San Bernardino, a colleague on the local politics beat thought a should pay more attention to the stories about how socially conservative politicians -- the so-called family-values folk -- fared when their behavior was unholy. In the two-plus years since then, I can't even count the number of these stories, from city councils to Capitol Hill, and across party lines, that have arisen.