When a high-profile Republican runs into serious trouble, as Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) clearly has, he or she inevitably turns to a few reliable rejoinders that are supposed to help make things better. The first is “9/11 changed everything.” That probably won’t work in this case. The second is “Tempest in a teapot.” When an anti-gay senator pleads guilty to pursuing gay sex in an airport men’s room, dismissing it as trivia is a stretch.
And third is, “It’s the media’s fault.” This, apparently, is the new excuse d’jour.
[Craig] blamed the Idaho Statesman of Boise for his legal and political troubles stemming from his arrest in a sex-related matter at an airport men’s room in Minnesota in June.
He denounced the longstanding probes by the Statesman — he called it a “witch hunt” — for inspiring him to plead guilty to the offense even though he said he was actually innocent. He said he had been “viciously harassed” by the newspaper. “I am not gay,” he said twice. “I love my wife.”
Now, I can appreciate Craig’s desperation, which is probably clouding his judgment, but blaming the Idaho Statesman is transparently ridiculous. First, the paper hadn’t even published any stories about Craig’s homosexuality until after he was arrested, so it’s not as if news accounts led to undue pressure. And second, by the senator’s logic, the newspaper’s interest in his personal life caused him to plead guilty to a crime he didn’t commit.
I’m trying to understand the thought pattern here. Here’s the gist of the pitch: “I’ve been accused of soliciting gay sex in an airport men’s room. This is all a big misunderstanding, but that darned newspaper keeps asking questions about me being gay. Therefore, I better plead guilty.” I’m afraid Craig is going to need a more coherent defense.
There are, however, still more details emerging.
The Idaho Statesman — the paper that unknowingly “pressured” Craig — published an interesting follow-up this morning.
[N]ewly released police records of the bathroom incident that led to Craig’s arrest show that Craig revisited the Minneapolis airport 11 days later to complain about how he had been treated by police. He said he wanted information so his lawyer could speak to someone, according to a police report. […]
After his June 11 arrest, Craig revisited the Minneapolis airport June 22 to complain about how he had been treated by police. His spokesman said he was on his way to Idaho from Washington D.C., a trip he takes through the Minneapolis airport most Fridays when Congress is in session.
He stopped at the police operations center and told the on-duty officer, Adam Snedker, that it had been over a week since his arrest and no one had contacted him. According to the police, the senator told the officer that “he was involved in an incident where he was “drug down to this office” where he was handcuffed, fingerprinted and interviewed.”
He wanted information about who to contact so that his lawyer could speak with someone, according to the report.
The on-duty officer patched him through to the officer who had arrested him, Sgt. Dave Karsnia, who told Craig the name, phone number and prosecutor assigned to the case.
“It should be noted that contrary to what Craig stated to Officer Snedker, I did not handcuff Craig on the date of the offense even though he was under arrest,” Karsnia wrote in his report.
Snedker said in his report that “even though I did the best to answer his questions,” Craig was not friendly and “appeared agitated and demeaning.”
The odd thing, of course, is that Craig claimed that he wanted information for his lawyer, except, according to what the senator said yesterday, he hadn’t notified his lawyer of the charges or the guilty plea until this week. It’s another odd wrinkle.
Other assorted details:
* Craig didn’t even tell his wife about the arrest.
* The Idaho Values Association has called on Craig to resign: “No member of the Republican Party in the 1860s could represent his party and be a slaveholder at the same time. Nor can the Republican Party of today speak with authority and clarity to the moral issues that confront our society and at the same time send ambivalent messages about sexual behavior.” Did they just equate being gay with being a slave-holder? I think so.
* An overnight SurveyUSA poll showed that 55% of Idaho adults believe Craig should resign.
* A former senior aide to Craig told the far-right Washington Times, “It’s a feeding frenzy right now and the national press is just really happy to jump all over this because he is a Republican.”
Their capacity for delusional self-pity never ceases to amaze me.