Another GOP pervert arrested

[brian_igo]

This one's a Senator, too:

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 public 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.

Any bets on when he decides to spend more time with his family? I'm putting the over/under at 9pm tonight.

[realtraveller]

He will be gone and his seat will be taken by another Idaho Republican. Hopefully, one who has a stronger position on border security than Craig did.

[Prepoia[$]]

I am not going to bite to the "another Republican pervert" title even though I think "congressional pervert" is just as accurate.

Sandy
Who's not sure Republicans are the only perverts

[jgibson2[$]]

Consenting adult partner or just solo activity?

He may not even get booted out of the Senate. He pleaded to a misdemeanor. In Idaho that might lose the election for you, but not in some other parts of the country.

[brian_igo]

Prepoia said

I am not going to bite to the "another Republican pervert" title even though I think "congressional pervert" is just as accurate.

Sandy
Who's not sure Republicans are the only perverts

There has been a bit of a trend, lately.


Sincerely,
Sen. Larry Craig
Sen. David Vitter
Rep. Mark Foley
Rep. Bob Allen (The Republican State Rep from Florida (and McCain state co-chair) who offered a cop $20 to catch.)
Glenn Murphy Jr. (The Young Republican national chairman who resigned after sexually assaulting a man while he slept.)
Brian J. Doyle (The DHS press secretary who lost his job after being arrested for trying to seduce a 14 year-old online.)


Maybe they're not the only ones, but they've damned well earned the adjective.

[brian_igo]

jgibson2 said

Consenting adult partner or just solo activity?

Door #3, Judy. Cop in the next stall.

[theworm[$]]

There are plenty of Democrat and Independant perverts too.
It's just the season to attach the "party" to all evil activity.

[pippadaisy[$]]

No... it just seems more ironic when it belongs to the party who's in bed with the Christian Coalition and preaching "family values" all the time.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

pippadaisy said

No... it just seems more ironic when it belongs to the party who's in bed with the Christian Coalition and preaching "family values" all the time.

[erik_kosberg]

Not so much a pervert as a closeted gay man who can't or won't admit it?

[pippadaisy[$]]

And check out his voting record on gay rights:

* Voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
* Voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
* Voted NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
* Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
* Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)

So, yeah, ironic.

[mtomm[$]]

erik_kosberg said

Not so much a pervert as a closeted gay man who can't or won't admit it?

That's what I was thinking.

How can my senator get arrested in JUNE and plead guilty AUGUST 8th and we don't know a thing about it until the end of August?

[realtraveller]

Things I didn't know constituted lewd conduct:

1. Putting your luggage in front of the door to block it. (Uh, this is where I always put my luggage. It's the only place to put it in the stall. And to leave it outside the stall risks having it lifted).

2. Tapping your foot in some sort of code. (Note to self. Do not tap foot to Muzak in airport bathroom anymore).

3. Showing your hand to the person in the next stall. (Well, this I never do. So I guess I'll never be arrested for lewd conduct, whewh).

Random thought:

Do the airport police routinely staff the men's room with undercover cops to root out those seeking sex in bathrooms.

Where does one go to learn the 'seeking sex' codes, so one can learn to avoid doing them?

Is there someone in the women's room doing undercover work? What are the secret codes to avoid in the women's room?

When men grab their package suggestively when talking to a woman are they arrested for lewd conduct?

Is seeking sex in public (period) part the lewd conduct or is it the seeking sex part in a public bathroom that is the lewd conduct?

What if Craig had just asked the guy straight (bad choice of words) out (another bad choice) if he wanted to have sex with him? Is that lewd conduct?

The mysteries of the lewd conduct world.

[pippadaisy[$]]

The lewd conduct had actually been happening prior to that. It's not like a police officer just HAPPENED to be in the stall. And he pled because he didn't want the OTHER stuff he was doing to come out during trial.

[Prepoia[$]]

pippadaisy said

No... it just seems more ironic when it belongs to the party who's in bed with the Christian Coalition and preaching "family values" all the time.

Well, I for one, don't think they should be in bed with each other unless they're married!

[realtraveller]

pippadaisy said

The lewd conduct had actually been happening prior to that. It's not like a police officer just HAPPENED to be in the stall. And he pled because he didn't want the OTHER stuff he was doing to come out during trial.

The police report is on the Smoking Gun. Apparently, this men's room in the Minneapolis Airport is known in gay circles as a place for men meeting men.

But normally lewd conduct involves actual sex in a public place where people can see you or exposing one's genitals in public. Toe tapping and hand signals, I don't know.

[erik_kosberg]

FWIW, "What Did Sen. Craig Actually Do?"

[AuntieEmma[$]]

realtraveller said

When men grab their package suggestively when talking to a woman are they arrested for lewd conduct?

They should be, in my book, or at least given the equivalent of a traffic ticket, but that's another topic.

I don't know what to make of this bathroom sting. It's sad for the Senator, who if he wasn't so closeted probably would have had more options open to him and could have avoided the ones that would be embarrassing. As for whether the sting itself was excessive, at first glance it seems so, but on second thought, most people do want to be able to go in and out of a bathroom without being propositioned.

[jgibson2[$]]

brian_igo said

Door #3, Judy. Cop in the next stall.

I caught that on the radio this morning. Apparently they've had a problem in that airport. What they said was "foot tapping, maybe touching the bottom of the stall" apparently that's the signal and he was busted for that. According to Washington Post radio, people have been trying to out him for years. Now he's sorry he pleaded guilty. Sounded like he was trying to keep things quiet. Didn't work and now he wishes he'd consulted an attorney

Like he really didn't? Yeah, right.

[erik_kosberg]

now he wishes he'd consulted an attorney

Not sure if it's funny or pathetic, but how can a guy become a Senator and be so dumb as to not consult with an attorney before entering a plea of guilty?

[jgibson2[$]]

I can't imagine that he really didn't consult one, but maybe he panicked and paid the fine thinking it wouldn't go any further. He should have known better.

[AuntieEmma[$]]

I'm not sure that fighting the charge would have worked better for him. That could have brought even more publicity, with lots of activity that would have extended over many different news cycles.