An Innocent Game of Footsie?
When I first read about the arrest of Senator Larry Craig in a restroom at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport earlier this summer, I was stunned. I wondered how a man in his position could have shown as little judgment as he had.
Ten months ago, he was the subject of rumors in the blogosphere, talk radio, cable TV and even a few mainstream newspapers that he had engaged in sexual acts with other men in restrooms at Union Station in Washington, D.C. At the time, I was skeptical of the claims, but also thought that if they were true, the senator, realizing that his restroom activities were not as anonymous as he had assumed, would have ceased seeking them out.
Last October, he escaped the public humiliation he is experiencing today. Indeed, his local paper, the Idaho Statesman had followed up on the allegations against him, but until this Monday, “had declined to run a story about Craig’s sex life, because [it] didn’t have enough corroborating evidence and because of the senator’s steadfast denial.” The paper even interviewed the senator. He was thus well aware that people knew about his actions.
Craig had been given a warning, but failed to heed it.
Matt of the Malcontent blog asks, “if you were actually straight yet were chased by a lengthy history of gay rumors, wouldn’t you go out of your way in a restroom not to evince the slightest amount of suspicion?”
Given the power of our sexual urges-especially at moments when we are overworked, stressed, lonely or otherwise vulnerable-I do feel some compassion for a man like Senator Craig. Perhaps when he was changing planes in Minneapolis, he assumed that a moment’s sexual release would ease whatever tensions he was then experiencing.
But despite whatever he was feeling at that particular moment, “in these cases, “as Macbeth put it when contemplating the murder of Duncan, “we still have judgment here.” That the senator did not exercise his judgment, knowing the allegations that had been leveled against him and aware that he held a position of public trust, is why I believe he should resign.
Others, notably Roger Simon, have commented on Senator Craig’s hypocrisy, that he would seek out clandestine homosexual liaisons while speaking against gay people serving in the military. (While he said he supports civil unions between same-sex couples, last year he “issued a statement saying he would vote for an amendment to the Idaho Constitution on the November ballot that bans both gay marriage and civil unions.”)
The real issue here is not as much hypocrisy as it is absence of judgment. I don’t think Craig sees himself as gay. When his desires for same-sex sexual contact pass after each of his liaisons, he may just assume they’ve gone away and won’t come back. All that said, only he knows what he feels, but I would daresay he has experienced a lot of shame and emptiness and likely struggles to overcome his longings for same-sex contact.
Obviously he has not fully integrated whatever feelings he has for men into his life. Maybe when he’s not seeking sexual contact with other men, he sees himself as straight.
Nevertheless, whatever any of us assumes about him is all speculation. We don’t know what he is going through nor what he was really seeking as he was tapping his foot in that airport restroom.
If indeed (as most assume) he were searching for sex, he never consummated the act. While finding the senator’s conduct “reprehensible,” Ed Morrissey comments that “No one was harmed, and no crime was committed.” The person being signaled by the foot-tapping “could just as well tell the signaller to get lost, just as they could in a bar or nightclub.”
But, this is not a bar or night club where individuals go looking to connect (or, perhaps I should say, “hook up”) with others. It is a public restroom in a busy airport where people go to relieve themselves and wash up while traveling. And apparently, many travelers had been inconvenienced by the sexual shenanigans going on in that particular men’s room.
Under normal circumstances, Senator Craig’s private feelings-and how he acts on them-should be his own business. But, these are not normal circumstances.
Some on the left will say that his political views demand that his conduct be made public. In coming days (as is already happening), much ink will be spilled (and pixels generated) on how his conservatism forced him to remain in the closet, leaving such clandestine encounters as his only means to act on his feelings and his desires for same-sex intimacy.
It’s unfortunate that a man aware of his own such longings did not, in his public life, show much understanding for gay people.
The real issue here is that a man in a position of public trust chose to act out in private feelings in a public space entirely unsuited for such expression. Not only that, when similar allegations were leveled against him last fall, he had been put on notice that such actions could be made public.
That he continued to do so shows a terrible absence of judgment. And a lack of respect for the public position with which he had been entrusted by the citizens of Idaho. Because Senator Craig abused that trust, I believe he should resign his position without delay and let the governor of the Gem State appoint someone better aware of the responsibilities of that position to replace him.
All that said, I do feel for Senator Craig. His private life has been made public. He will be the subject of ridicule and innuendo.
But, a man who had been in public life so long, who, a quarter-century ago, rushed to deny his involvement in the page scandal, should have known better. His wrongdoing is not nearly as great as that of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but like that Scottish King, the Idaho senator still had judgment.
And each man experienced his downfall because he failed to exercise it when he could.
B. Daniel Blatt, a writer based in Los Angeles, is completing his Ph.D. in Mythological Studies and blogs as GayPatriot West at GayPatriot
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Sen. Craigs actions were disgusting. Not from the standpoint of being gay, I really don’t care about who he sleeps with.
But with reckless disregard for children, he sought to have sex in a public bathroom. There’s myriad of problems with this scenario. And what keeps me angry is the thought of the countless children that may have been exposed to this sick behavior.
I feel sorry for him, because I think he’s a tormented soul. But, his tormented soul doesn’t trump decency, morality, or ethics.
He needs to retire *immediately*. He’s already admitted guilt.
Larry Craig needs to immediately resign. The citizens of Idaho and the rest of the nation deserve no less. We can also take it for granted that polling results will indicate his constituents have run out of patience. Senator Craig will not be reelected. This chapter of his life is now closed. Time to move onto other things.
Closet homo….funny how in Congress they come off as holier than now..sort of like priests….politicians are not bright people by trade. He won’t resign and we will have the useless ethics investiagations…Blah Blah Blah
It’s bad enough using public restrooms on those rare occasions it’s necessary. I don’t want to have to know some sort of code to keep freaky old senators off my gonads.
He should resign for being stupid.
dems vs repubs.
compare and contrast
barney frank vs craig.
newt vs jefferson
lott vs byrd.
resign vs promote
support who fidel supports. hill and odumbo to counter the repub culture of corruption. gag gag.
I don’t care about Craig being a homosexual.
I bet he never told his wife. Strike one. I bet he knew before, and married her as a beard. Poor lady. Strike two. He knew he wouldn’t receive votes from Idaho citizens if he was honest. Strike three. I do not think the Mormon church supports this. Strike four. He has lied to the GOP. Strike five.
So, to recap we have a serial liar and user who gets caught, goes to a hearing two months later. Pleads guilty, tells no one, then goes on TV and says he does not know how to call a lawyer out of the phone book and in a Clinton way, is not gay.
Right.
Good piece, BDP. As you know, I just blogged the creepy language the guy used about Clinton in ’99.
The whole thing’s rather sad, but I can’t help laughing uncomfortably at his “bad, nasty, naughty boy” talk back then…
I generally concur. I believe he did it, but if I were on a jury looking at the evidence presented, I would vote to acquit. A cop’s report is not proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
I do take issue with one thing you said, though: “Given the power of our sexual urges-especially at moments when we are overworked, stressed, lonely or otherwise vulnerable-I do feel some compassion for a man like Senator Craig. Perhaps when he was changing planes in Minneapolis, he assumed that a moment’s sexual release would ease whatever tensions he was then experiencing.”
What hooey. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never felt that a flight was so stressful that I had to go find some strange women to have sex with. Give me a bloody break, ok? He can keep his pants on until he gets to where he’s going, and so can everyone else. And if that’s not the case, there’s something very seriously wrong, and therapy is indicated.
“I thought tapping your foot three times meant I was just asking for the sports page” – Bill Sammons
http://www.americanlegends.blogspot.com/
What better way to keep people from thinking you’re gay than to sponsor anti-gay bills. This man has a real psychological problem, one which he has been avoiding all his life.
Senator Craig should insist that Harry Reid bring his case before the entire Senate – force the Democratic senators to go on record with regard to this “ethics violation”. After they fail to to force him out, he should resign.
Tell us again why Larry Craig must go, while David Vitter can stay?
I mean, Vitter got A STANDING OVATION from these same Senators when he returned to the Senate.
how is what he did breaking the law? Since when is it illegal to ask someone if they want to have sex with you? or is it only illegal if you’re gay?
David Vitter is still in office and he was caught being involved with a (straight) prostitution ring. no one asked him to resign.