Abe_Oltulever's Blog

From the opening line of his statement yesterday, Sen. Larry Craig was in trouble. Thank you all very much for coming out today," he began.



"Coming out" was perhaps not the best phrase for a guy who had pleaded guilty to some rather un-senatorial conduct in an airport men's room -- and now stands accused in his home-state paper of a homosexual encounter in Union Station.



Alas for the Idaho Republican, it was not his first mistake.



No, his first mistake was on June 11, when he went into a restroom stall in the Minneapolis airport and, according to the arrest report, tapped his foot in a "signal often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct."



This was followed closely by his second mistake: handing the arresting officer his business card and asking, "What do you think about that?"



Mistake No. 3? Explaining to the police that his foot touched the undercover officer's foot in the next stall because he has "a wide stance when going to the bathroom."



Mistake No. 4: Pleading guilty on Aug. 8 to disorderly conduct, and telling nobody -- not even a lawyer or his wife -- before the news broke Monday and Craig's spokesman chalked it up to a "he said/he said misunderstanding."


Sex, hypocrisy and scandal make this a big story. But where’s the crime? He tapped his foot, presented his business card and was arrested for “disorderly conduct”? I’d be right there with them if, say, the cop was the victim of unwanted touching or if he walked in on the Idaho Senator going Lewinsky on someone flying coach. Got it.

-continued-

the mantra, “You can smoke as long I don’t have to smell it”, the second-hand ass law lobby would demand protection.



In light of all this, a bigger question still looms for the gay rights community. What’s the deal with gay men and bathrooms, be it in airports or rest areas in parks or on the highway? And with the trend towards unisex restrooms, will we see more men and women having sex in public?


credit Scott Sloan
sloanie@700wlw.com