GOP Is Ready to Roll Out the Klieg Lights for Craig

[babylonsister]

GOP Is Ready to Roll Out the Klieg Lights for Craig

By Chris Cillizza And Shailagh Murray
Sunday, September 30, 2007; Page A02

Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho is a tough guy to run out of town.

Not that his Republican colleagues aren't trying. Worried that the disgraced lawmaker intends to remain in the Senate indefinitely, they are threatening to notch up the public humiliation by seeking an open ethics hearing on the restroom scandal that enveloped Craig last month.

The Senate hearing would examine the original charges in Craig's case, including the allegation of "interference with privacy," for peeping into the bathroom stall occupied by an undercover police officer. One senior Republican aide imagined "witnesses, documents, all in front of the klieg lights." The committee also could look for "a pattern of conduct" -- which means combing court records in other locales to discover whether Craig had prior arrests that haven't come to light.

The call for a public hearing is not unprecedented. In 1995, the Senate narrowly rejected holding an open forum to examine sexual misconduct allegations against Bob Packwood (R-Ore.). The Democrat who called for the open Packwood hearing? Barbara Boxer (Calif.), the current chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee.

While his lawyer was in Minnesota last week trying to persuade a judge to throw out the senator's guilty plea, Craig was a regular presence on the Senate floor, backslapping colleagues during votes and, at one point, conducting a private conversation with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has urged Craig in no uncertain terms to leave the Senate. Craig's wife, Suzanne, also made an appearance at a Senate spouses' lunch.

"I do not think it is healthy for the U.S. Senate to be put through a public type of hearing on this type of an ethics complaint, but that is ultimately going to be his decision, because we are very limited on what we can do," said Sen. John Ensign (Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/29/AR2007092901549.html

[williesgirl]

1. I think the phrase "Bring Em On" is appropriate here. rec'd

[liberal N proud]

2. They are going to start eating their own

Only because they fear the right wing attack on their "family values" meme

[trumad]

3. I hear they're actually bringing in the bathroom stall for the hearing.

[zabet]

9. Will it be..

open or closed testimony for the stall?

[rodeodance]

4. so, now RNC does not want to go in the publics eye with smutty stuff (yet for Bill

clinton,---they served up the smut on a silver platter!!


..........."I do not think it is healthy for the U.S. Senate to be put through a public type of hearing on this type of an ethics complaint, but that is ultimately going to be his decision, because we are very limited on what we can do," said Sen. John Ensign (Nev.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

[madrchsod]

5. what`s the correct spelling for hypocrites?

Republicans

[pnorman]

6. For reference, here's the Reptilican record on "Family Values":

http://www.armchairsubversive.org/ "Tappy-Toe" Craig doesn't seem to have made the cut there so far. So WHY are those whimpering HYPOCRITES making such a fuss? (That was a rhetorical question. We all KNOW why!]

pnorman
PS: That "bringing that toilet stall in for evidence" really cracked me up! THANKS for the much needed laugh!)

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Craig is being propelled by the property rights nutcases in his state;

and how much you want to bet he's digging up every bit of dirt he knows on his pals in the Senate to squeeze out a few last favors?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

8. Can Senators keep their "campaign warchests" when they retire? Is Craig still

getting "campaign contributions"? What is the running total value of the emoluments Craig will take with him back to Idaho?

IMO, for a corrupt pol like Craig, everything has its price--including his own retirement.

[Froward69]

10. Vitter is still there too

its a nothing. Craig will never leave. as repugs want because they wont oust vitter. holding seats is what they are concerned with now.

[Imagevision]

11. GOP is stuck on stoopid, they're allowing this jerk to remain in the spotlight because

the single bullet Senator came across as though he was supporting Craig to take back his plea, while the said single bullet Senator has seemed to vaporize lately...

[Honeycombe8]

12. I heard pundit say Repubs won't hold hearings on this.....

Reason being that the Repubs don't WANT such things as misdemeanors being the subject of ethics hearings. They usually are not. They don't want that because so many of the congresspeople are guilty of misdemeanors themselves.

Think about Patrick Kennedy...all right, he's a Democrat. But remember when he got drunk and crashed his car? (Okay, he said he was ditzy on prescription drugs, not booze.) HE could become the subject of congressional hearings, if they follow a pattern of holding them for minor offenses.

This applies to many of the congress people. I'm sure the Repubs want him to disappear. But what the pundit said made sense to me...they're not gonna want to start the policy of holding hearings on minor offenses, and they SURE don't want Craig's offenses being the subject of a hearing and being videotaped or reported on daily!

[tanyev]

13. Sen. Craig, are you ready for your close up?

[struggle4progress]

14. Waitin fer Craig to leave the Senate is kinda like waitin fer progress in Iraq

[MiniMe]

15. I thought ethics hearings were always closed door sessions

And why would it be up to the republicans to decide if it was public or not? If the dems bend to the demands, and hold a public hearing, I can hear the republicans now accusing them of politicizing this and how it isn't right for the hearing to be public. If they want him run out, they need to do it on their own, without the dems help.