What do you think?

[pegkerr]

What do you think about [Poll #1046656][Poll #1046656]

Comments

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure about "he's totally gay", but he was clearly interested in the man. Which is fine, who cares? Which is why he should run again, because who really cares? Well, maybe too many of his constituents care, and in that case no reason to bother if he's sure to lose.

[redbird]

Who cares? All of us who have had to live with the results of his consistently anti-gay votes. A quietly closeted man who doesn't attack other gay and bi men, or try to limit other people's rights, fine, whether that's a truck driver or shopkeeper or nurse, or a legislator who votes for gay rights while passing as het.

As long as his bigoted acts hurt me and people I love, he should not get a pass.

That said, I would not object to him resigning, coming out as gay or bisexual, and running for re-election on a platform of "Homosexuals, including myself, are evil and should not have equal protection under U.S. law, even if they are elected to the U.S. Senate." Note that he tried to use his Senate ID to get out of the arrest.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

My problem here is that I don't believe that a man looking for sex with another man -- even for money, even in a public toilet, which last bit is the biggest problem as far as I'm concerned -- ought to be such a bad, awful, horrible crime that no one who does it could ever, ever continue serving as Senator.

But he does.

So I don't know whether I think he should resign or not.

[fairmer.livejournal.com]

Yes--exactly.

[naomikritzer]

I think he should resign because he's a bloody hypocrite, not because he's gay. I have no problem with gay people; I have a huge problem with hypocrisy, particularly hypocrisy that causes people I care about to suffer discrimination.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

See, I actually don't care if he's a hypocrite. Let's say that there's a senator who doesn't really believe in gay rights but supports them in public to court the votes of people like me.* I wouldn't want to invite that senator into my home for a party or something, but I would far rather have him/her do the right thing for the public and be a hypocrite than do the wrong thing for the public and be consistent.

So it's not the hypocrisy that bothers me, it's the policy itself. It's additionally the attempts at abuse of privilege, but I would be bothered by that even if he was supporting gay marriage etc.

*Oh, what a lovely dream....

[legomymalfoy.livejournal.com]

The only people he's possibly wronged here are his family. I personally do not give a shit what these people do in their sex lives -- how can I expect them to not care what I do, when I care what *they* do? He probably needs to make inroads with his family, guilty or not.

[post-ecdysis.livejournal.com]

The only people he's possibly wronged here are his family.

I don't wholly agree. If this is persistent behavior (and judging from the fact that he was accused of similar activities last October, it would seem to be), then it wrongs every man who uses a men's room stall for purposes other than meeting other men. I've got some serious vulnerability issues with someone trying to get to know me in times like that. I suppose it's ironic, but one of the reasons that I champion GLBT rights is because I want gay men to feel comfortable making passes at me in the library or the church coffee hour or whatever, just not when my underpants are around my ankles kthxbye. Plus, we must soberly observe that there is no way to know what happens when there is a minor in the adjacent stall.

"Should he resign?" is two questions. People who commit misdemeanors and take responsibility for the consequences are free to continue in public life in my opinion; heck, Craig has nothing on Ted Kennedy. I believe that a legislator has the right to support an anti-gay agenda and be secretly gay; that's between him and his constituency and his contributors, but the "hypocrisy" wouldn't automatically lose my vote.

On the other hand, if you're a Republican and you're looking ahead to the 2008 election, you might hope for him to step aside so that the Republican governor of Idaho can appoint someone who can be a feasible incumbent. There was already talk of the Senate going more than 60-40 for the Democrats and becoming filibuster-proof, so partisans are going to continue to count every seat.

Won't someone please think of the horses?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Yes. The "don't do it in public and scare the horses" thing is important. And the airport toilet is not somewhere people can just avoid -- if you're traveling and need to use the toilet, well, holding it until you get to Maui -- or even until you're on the plane -- is not always a feasible option.

[snippy]

He pled guilty in the first place hoping to keep it quiet. Now that it's public, he wants to change his plea to avoid admitting he's attracted to men and sought sex for money in public.

He should resign because of the attempted cover-up.

[ckd]

He should resign because of the attempted cover-up.

Including the part (as described in the police report) where he said "I'm a U.S. Senator, what do you think about that?" in what sure sounds like an attempt to influence the arresting officer into dropping the case.

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

Right. The part where he tries to throw his job in their face makes me want him on the chopping block. Senators shouldn't do that, politicians shouldn't do that. I actually don't care if the person in question is a democrat or conservative.

However, I'd love to have him stick around and run again because it makes it easier on the Democrats next election.

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Not that he ever would, but ... I would love to see him stand up and say, "Okay, fine, I was interested in gay sex in rest rooms, and why not? I'm a good husband and a good father and I also like this, and I think everyone who likes it should be able to have it." He'll be forced to resign anyway; he might as well do it honorably.

[naomikritzer]

I would like and respect him a whole lot more if he did.

But he won't.

[lilisonna.livejournal.com]

While I would like and respect him a lot more if he did, I'd have to do some sort of test for being in an alternate reality.

[avengangle.livejournal.com]

Gay, straight, whatever -- I think he should 'quietly resign to spend more time with his family' in order to get his OWN head straightened out.

Although, how many times has this happened now? Virulently anti-gay politicians . . . caught being gay? Seriously, folks.

Frankly --

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

I'm very tired of these anti-gay everything foaming at the mouth types who are repressed bi somethings. What I hate is the hippocracy of it all. I think the only thing dicy is the selling sex in a bathroom part -- and should it be illegal? Wouldn't people doing this find a more comfortable place to do it, if it wasn't illegal?! If I have a good rep or senator, I don't care, to be blunt about it, whose dick he's holding or who is holding his.

This is why, if I was in his district, I could care less about the gay sex for money part (surely you can trade for less $) but I care about trying to punish and otherwise limit the rights of gays, and I REALLY think he has a problem with his wife & family, who probably iare not on the gay sex page with him.

But who knows? Maybe she is right there with him. The older I get, the less I understand evangelicals. They keep being fooled on such crazy things. (Yes, thinking about specific people....)

[bethynyc.livejournal.com]

I think he should apologize to his gay constituents for voting against their interests. And to his wife, because goodness knows what he could pick up cruising bathrooms like that.

He will probably resign, and his own hypocrisy is what should be at the fore, not his sexual preferences.

[eal.livejournal.com]

Amen!

Gay or not, I don't really care. Picking up guys in bathrooms? Well, it's not for me, but I don't know that what he was doing deserves the stink this is creating.

What does is the fact that he should at least now understand what it feels like to be stigmatized and apologize to those he's done it to. And he should publically apologize to his wife and not expect her to do the "stand by your man" thing.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

When Craig voted for the impeachment of Bill Clinton, he cited the trust of his constituents (I don't have the exact quote, but it was just on CNN). Anyone who voted for Clinton's impeachment while doing stuff that's much much worse is going to rot in their self-defined hell. Craig is clearly a sleazy bastard who "pleaded guilty to a lesser offense" then flip flopped on that too. I never trusted him, so he didn't lost my trust, but a whole lot of people thought he represented their values, and he doesn't. He should resign in disgrace like Gingrich, Livingston, Foley et al.

[sternel.livejournal.com]

I don't care who he's shagging or what he's up to or what he finds arousing. That's his business. I do care that he is treating a Senate seat as a 'get out of jail free' card. Senators make the law, but that does not put them above it. For that, I would happily see his resignation tendered as soon as possible.

[mplsvala.livejournal.com]

I went with he should stick out his term, but mostly because I think that if he found the last eight months very trying with all the interest in his sex life at home, he'll find the remainder of his term even more fun with national interest. I doubt that his party will be very willing to bet on him getting another term in the current climate, so his running for another term doesn't seem all that helpful to anyone. From the Republican point of view, his vote for Bush's agenda is sorely needed, so I'd expect that the party would be in favor of him dealing with his pain and sticking around to vote their way.

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

The problem, as others have said, is not that he was cruising in the bathroom (although that's a problem, just not a legal one). The problem is that he tried to influence his way out, got caught and pled guilty, and is now trying to change his punk story because now it's suddenly a Big Deal in the Media.

I think he's in the midst of some denial, and he does need to straighten that out for himself. Now that the "scandal" has exposed his indiscretion, I think he ought to fix his own house. And if he is guilty of a misdemeanor, then he should just pony up and deal with it rather than try to do an end run around it.

I wish we could have more politicians who simply lived their lives and didn't try to cover up behaviour that is neither illegal nor immoral, but unfortunately, as long as the public expects its leadership to be above reproach, those leaders will have to resort to illicit means to satisfy their urges. And that means they'll eventually get caught out, which makes the whole situation look worse than it probably really is. It also forces them to live "double lives" which is not only another unfortunate trap, it's a sad and pitiful circumstance for themselves, their spouses, and their children. Occasionally, very occasionally, you get someone who has the gumption to be up-front with said spouse and everyone involved knows the score, but too, too often, it's a situation where one partner is acting without the knowledge or permission of the other. That just makes me feel sorry for everyone involved.

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

Sorry - when I said getting arrested wasn't a legal problem, I meant not the problem over which he should resign. Didn't mean to imply he was arrested on a bogus charge. (Although I *do* think much of the sex trade should be legal, but that's a whole other rant.)

[heinous_bitca.livejournal.com]

He's not gay, he's just a pervert. Or maybe bisexual (gets around that whole "I AM NOT GAY AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN GAY" thing he's ranting about.

[lapin-agile.livejournal.com]

Hmm. I found it difficult to answer because I wouldn't have worded my statements this way. Given the year-old investigation into the Senator's alleged secret gay-sex liaisons with men various places on the West Coast, I'm guessing that the Senator is gay or bi-sexual. If that's the case, he is deeply in the closet and is objectionable not because he got caught seeking gay sex in an airport loo but because he has used his political power in the service of legislation that would deprive gay people of equal rights.

I don't feel triumphal over the fact that a gay man was caught in a police decency sting operation. I do, however, appreciate the irony that a Republican Senator who has opposed gay rights has found himself ensnared in just the sort of reputation-killing trap that his politics has inflicted on gay and lesbian people. I'm not sure whether I hope that the facts eventually prove him to be gay or not. It's enough that he's been given a dose of his own medicine.

As for what he ought to do? I think he should stick it out until and unless his hypocrisy is proven (at which point, I hope that he would be shamed into resigning). I do not want to seem him or anyone bow to pressure to resign because he's been caught soliciting gay sex.

[jenett]

I agree with a bunch of the other comments about public vs. private behavior. The two big "Should resign or not run" parts for me are this, though:

1) Using his Senate seat to try and get out of stuff.

2) Being stupid enough to not consult a lawyer, plead guilty, and then claim he didn't think it through. (Also, not telling his family. Dude. Not cool to let your family find out because of newspaper pressure.)

If you're a Senator, you're supposed to be bright enough to know how the legal system works, to be aware that you probably want outside consultation on the best choices (both legally and in terms of future career), and not run screaming and hide your head in the sand. It's the last one I think is particularly a problem: do we really want someone where that's his prime reaction (for 9 months!) making major decisions?

[nwl.livejournal.com]

I'm listening to the local news about Sen. Larry Craig (we live in the D.C. area) and the station was doing "man on the street" interviews as an anonymous person has come forward saying he had oral sex with the Senator in our own Union Station. People didn't seem too bothered except for one person who declared she didn't care what people did sexually, as long as she didn't have to watch.