It's NOT about the "gay"..

[SoCalDem]

It's about the furtive, illicit, indecent promiscuity of the whole "bathroom scene"..

Gay people have clubs, they have homes, apartments..DECENT people gay or straight, do NOT cruise public restrooms, looking for anonymous encounters.

Some promiscuity can be excused occasionally, I suppose , when there's drinking going on and people are young and freewheeling, BUT..

and it's a BIG but..

MY gay friends in committed relationships do NOT go toilet trolling (as one indelicately put it).. he said "Look, I have a nice big comfy bed..why would I want to do it in a grubby bathroom, with a stranger?"

Craig willingly portrayed himself as a loving, Godly man.. a family man..a Christian. he loved to demonize anyone who was not "like him", as somehow dirty, and undeserving of fairness or equality.

He delighted in the tormenting of people who were more "normal" than he was.. he was the clever chameleon who took on the role as Daddy to someone else's kid, husband to someone else's former wife..for love? No .. To blend in with the scenery, so he would somehow be above reproach.

It's about the decency.. His little indecency in July, was not the first time.. It may be the first time he was caught, with undeniable proof, but it was not the first time. A guy his age does not just suddenly decide to do what he did.

I don't even feel all that sorry for the "missus". She traded in her family for a stint as "senator's wife", with all the attendant glory.

Frankly, if I were her, and if some of those children were male, I would be wondering if ole step-daddy hadn't made moves on them.

Larry's just a deviant, plain & simple. he masqueraded for longer than he should have, and now he's been unmasked as the fraud he's always been. It's not about whether he's gay now or before. It's about the hypocritical deviancy and the complete hubris of it all..

[ginnyinWI]

1. it's about the lying

I was thinking, while listening to the taped statement today, that maybe, just maybe he was being honest and had been fingered wrongly...
Then he did it--the sure sign of a liar. He made a grandiose statement about himself: "I don't DO those things!!" Experts on lying say that this a tip-off. It is what liars do in an attempt at making themselves look innocent and incapable of telling a falsehood. Set and match--he's a liar for sure!

[BoneDaddy]

2. Actually

it is about the hypocrisy. If he was a candidate who promoted a free love, promiscuous, live and let live philosophy this would not be an issue. If he had an open relationship with his wife where they cruised for other partners of the same or opposite sex, this would be a non-issue. The reason it is an issue is because his behavior is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what he would claim people should behave. That is why.

[pnwmom]

4. There seem to be a lot of DUers who are tremendously supportive

of gay people, as long as they act just like old married couples.

[BoneDaddy]

5. LOL

exactly. They often play the morality card just as strong as the right wing as long as gays fit the ozzie and harriet model.

[mondo joe]

7. True. Though I suspect those posters are as ignorant of the range of hetero

activity as they are of the range of gay activity.

[Skittles]

9. it's not just old married couples who don't troll for sex in public bathrooms

no indeed

[WildEyedLiberal]

19. Why are you such a prude?

:sarcasm:

[countmyvote4real]

10. Thank you. "It is about the hypocrisy."

I want to see that in a headline.

It's not just Senator Craig. It's the GOP at large. I can't believe it, but I'm feeling sorry for him. I'm sorry that he is not man enough to be the man he wants to be. I understand that he is living in a time warp that he has supported over and over again by his votes against gay equality. That's sad. Come to the light, Larry.

It's also about the GOP's bigotry. Where are Diaper Vitter's fellow GOP senators and party members on his admitted infidelity with prostitutes? They are on their feet and applauding his return to Congress. And he is not being asked to step down from his committee assignments or resign. Oh wait, he paid to have adulterous affairs with the opposite sex. And yet, he is on record for the condemnation of President Clinton for his affair with a WH adult age intern from the opposite sex. I don't get it.

Is it a commerce thing with the GOP? People must pay for the sex they want. It must not be given away freely or it will wreck the GOP pimp's economy? There is lots of subtext there, but on the surface this is pure bigotry.

That's GOP family values at work.

[pnwmom]

12. It's also about politics. Vitter's replacement would be appointed by a Dem.

Craig's, by a Rethug. Hence, they'll keep Vitter but get rid of Craig.

[countmyvote4real]

13. Good point supporting the hypocrisy of it all. n/t

[pnwmom]

3. A Salon writer today has a different point of view

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/08/31/bathroom_sex/

"It seems logical that closeted men -- that included Michael before his arrest -- would seek out anonymous, fleeting encounters, typically in the most transitory sorts of restrooms, at truck stops, airports and other areas of high pedestrian traffic. But this cultural phenomenon is not limited to closeted men or even Catholic priests. So why would openly gay and bisexual men who have access to more comfortable venues like their homes, and the option of attending events such as the Black Party, an annual public sex extravaganza disguised as a dance, indulge in restroom tricks?


Men are sluts. Gay men who have embraced their slut (not technically an "inner" one) may feel they have less at stake when participating in a bit of lavatory horseplay, but the transgression and fear of being caught add an extra thrill to the experience, as Michael has admitted. Some gay men are also turned on by servicing straight guys, perhaps especially while in service stations. And no one cares about your "orientation" in a lavatory -- in there, it's all business.

SNIP

But at first it's not easy for queer goslings in the U.S. to find the gay world. . . . One of the first ways you learn to find other gay Americans is to listen closely when straight people denounce homosexuals. If a relative grumbles about "faggots doing it in the park," you might think to ask, as innocently as possible, "Faggots? Really? I've never heard that. Which park? What are the cross streets?" After which you'll go there in the dead of night and find some sense of community, however narrowly focused. If a senator in your state is involved in a scandal, you might search the Internet to find his hunting grounds, even if he's not your type.

SNIP

[Bluebear]

24. Can you IMAGINE an article that said "WOMEN ARE SLUTS!"

[spag68]

6. Somebody explain to me

how cruising for a pickup in a public restroom,or truckstop or casual sex of this sort is anything but goofy. Male, female or anything in between this is really strange.

[mondo joe]

8. Like everything, what's strange or wonderful is an individual matter.

Different people like different things.

[pnwmom]

11. Somebody provides at least one explanation in post 3, above.

I think the Salon writer has a point of view that is shared by a significant group of others.

[HardRocker05]

14. why would he be more likely to molest the boys? he's as 'straight' as he is 'gay,' and besides being

gay hardly makes one a child molester any more than being straight does. now if he's just a perv, then he would be as likely to molest the girls as the boys.

[SoCalDem]

17. dDeviant stepfathers have been doing this as long as there have been stepfathers

Deviant hypocrites often seek out "needy mothers" who think they are doing their children a favor by getting them a :daddy".. :puke:

[Skittles]

21. ?

that's petophilia, which is different from homosexuality

[SoCalDem]

22. It would not surprise me if he's a pedophile .. n/t

[Fleshdancer]

15. For me, it's about his record.

I don't care about his relationship with his spouse. Do we truly know if it was a monogamous deal? Is it our business regardless?

I guess I should care about attempting sex in a public restroom but I don't. I confess I don't know a damn thing about trolling for sex in restrooms but I assume part of the lure is going at it without being caught by others. Besides, all he did was tap his feet and swiped his hand. For all we know he would have taken the other guy to a hotel nearby had it not been a cop. Speaking of, I'm creeped out knowing that the restroom had an undercover cop in it. Why not just post a security guard in the restroom if the airport was concerned about illegal activity?

My issue is his record. My problem with Craig was his voting record long before he got caught with a "wide toilet stance". Anyone who thinks homosexuals should have less rights than me or anyone else in this country loses my respect.

[Major Hogwash]

16. Yes it is, and since I am from Idaho I think I would know better about this situation.

The right-wing radio stations have all been talking about it for 4 straight days now.
The people who are pissed off at Larry Craig are Republicans, members of the anti-gay party.
They are the ones calling for him to resign.

Nobody really gives a good gawd damn about the lieing part.
Nobody is really that upset about him trolling for sex in a restroom at an airport.
If the lie he told would have been believeable enough, this would have been swept under the rug.

But, the lie is not believeable.
Not even a little bit.
And that is why the Republicans here in Idaho want Craig to resign.

Not because he lied.

Because he is gay!

[SoCalDem]

18. Maybe for republicans, but for the rest of the public, i think it's the

hypocrisy..

[Major Hogwash]

23. Except for 1 small detail - no Republican Senators called for Vitter to resign.

Not one.

They are calling for Craig to resign because he is gay.

Get it?
Yet?

McCain, Ensign, Snow, and a few Republican Representatives have called for Craig to resign.
Not 1 of them called for Vitter to resign.

Because Craig is gay.

That's the difference.

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. It is also about the culture that he grew up in

where what he did WAS standard, and what he did might still be standard for the people of his age

Reality is... ilicit behavior is pushed there by social standards

Whether it is this kind of an encounter or the speak easies

What is amazing is that he has helped to enable the circunstances that led to him getting caught, then again, not really...

But remember what world he grew up in... and that he is still fighitng for those screwed up rules