The Gist

Senator Larry Craig's "Ridiculous" Behavior


Senator Larry Craig of Idaho became the latest Republican moralist outed by his own self-loathing, arrested for engaging in "lewd conduct" in a public restroom and pleaded guilty, providing us with a hilarious last hour of the show today, going through the police report and his interview with the police.

Like several other crazed Republican politicians exposed of late, he's stepping down from his role in a Republican presidential campaign, in this case Mitt Romney's campaign.

This guy not only has voted antigay, he has made certain to reassure wingnuts that he's really, really antigay.

Since he likes to pontificate on other people's marriages -- or keep them from having the right to marry -- it is only fair to note that, according to various biographical sketches online, Craig married later in life to a female staffer who was previously married. He adopted her three children from that marriage; they did not conceive any children together.

The Republican closet is exploding all around us as these moralists get hoisted by their own petards. It's pretty amazing. Craig was first reported on as gay in the fall of last year by Mike Rogers of Blogactive. Craig said at that time that it was "ridiculous" and "laughable" to think he was having sex with men, though he didn't outright deny it. Turns out he was actually telling the truth!

Yes, it is "ridiculous," Senator, because you are hatemonger who has supported making your kind into second class citizens. But ridiculous as it is, sadly, it is very true. And your insane excuses, denials and professions of a "misunderstanding" are in fact downright "laughable." It's gonna be laughable, alright, watching you down in flames. Have a nice fall!

UPDATE: The Idaho Statesman reports that Craig told no one on his staff nor anyone in the Republican Congressional leadership about his arrest in June, which is pretty negligent if true, as he continued to try to suppress the story. Kevin Naff at the Washington Blade reports that an Idaho Statesman reporter had staked out the Union Station men's toilets in DC, looking for Craig and showing men photos of him. I can confirm that an Idaho Statesman reporter had contacted me months ago, after Mike Rogers' outing of Craig, to discuss the ethics of reporting on public figures' secret homosexuality or homosexual sexual behavior and what journalistic evidence one needed. The stories had been abounding in Boise, but like elsewhere the media were skittish about doing anything.