Why Larry Craig Need Not Resign
"I did not have sex with that woman!" Remember that? The President of the United States said that, looking right into the eyes of his inquisitors. In his view, that was not a lie, since he apparently never did engage in sexual intercourse with the young woman in question, which is what people usually think of as "having sex." It's called "spin." Washingtonians are very good at that - obscuring the truth, without actually telling a lie.
Larry Craig says, "I am not gay. I never have been gay." He did not say he is not bisexual, or ever got it on, or wanted to get it on, with a person of his own gender. So he's probably trying to "spin" the facts of the matter.
Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's Prime Minister, says "... American officials ... should come to their senses." He was talking about his critics in Congress, and he is more right than he probably actually knows. That is long overdue, and not just with respect to Iraq, and not just with respect to people in Congress.
Larry Craig probably is sexually attracted to certain guys, and has probably attempted to do something about it from time to time. So what? So does Barney Franks. But Larry Craig lies, you say. So what? So does everyone else in Washington when it suits them, and we tolerate it. That's why they do it.
Let's think about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, for example. We know, beyond any doubt that our invasion of Iraq was originally justified by lies. Those lies have resulted in the deaths of thousands of our own military people and the injury, physically and emotionally, of tens of thousands of others - not to mention the deaths and injuries suffered by hundreds of thousands on the other side, and the hatred for America engendered in millions of others in the region. Had some other government engaged in this behavior, we would be calling their leaders "war criminals."
As for "common decency" and "family values", let's think about our admitted flaunting of the standards of decency we subscribed to regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, spinning that by calling our captives "enemy combatants," rather than POW's. Let's think about the flaunting of the principles that made our country great by our withholding from our captives the rights our founding documents declare humanity owes to any person as a matter of common decency.
Aren't any of these things enough to get anyone fed up with the George W. Bush regime? What is Congress thinking? What are we thinking?
So Larry Craig hit on some under-cover police officer in a public restroom. For that he should hang?
What was the under-cover cop doing in the restroom anyway? Isn't that a job for airport security - or even just the janitor? The cop wasn't there to protect the public, he was there to "get someone." That's what law enforcement does these days. The tag lines on the black and whites say, "To protect and serve." But there's no power or excitement I that. Fishing is a lot more fun, especially when the fish are biting. Cops like to set up situations that make it easy for people to do dumb things, so they can pounce on those who are suckered in and "get" them. They're called "sting operations." I'll bet the officer chosen for that duty was not unattractive, and was behaving in a way designed to encourage solicitations. Maybe we should come to our senses about "sting operations" also. The people we pay to protect and serve should not be coaxing others to misbehave.
Sex certainly sells. Were it not for the sexual nature of Larry Craig's faux pas, this story wouldn't have gained much attention. What if Senator Craig had, in effect, sold his office by taking millions of dollars worth of illegal, or shady, "campaign contributions." Nah, that happens all the time. That's not very interesting, and doesn't sell any papers. But the media is in the infotainment business, and sex is always good seller. We love to hear the dirt about other people. Perhaps it's because we can easily imagine ourselves in the same situation (before their having gotten caught at it, of course).
al-Maliki's right. We need to come to our senses. About a lot of things.
[-=glw=-]
Larry Craig says, "I am not gay. I never have been gay." He did not say he is not bisexual, or ever got it on, or wanted to get it on, with a person of his own gender. So he's probably trying to "spin" the facts of the matter.
Nouri al-Maliki, Iraq's Prime Minister, says "... American officials ... should come to their senses." He was talking about his critics in Congress, and he is more right than he probably actually knows. That is long overdue, and not just with respect to Iraq, and not just with respect to people in Congress.
Larry Craig probably is sexually attracted to certain guys, and has probably attempted to do something about it from time to time. So what? So does Barney Franks. But Larry Craig lies, you say. So what? So does everyone else in Washington when it suits them, and we tolerate it. That's why they do it.
Let's think about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, for example. We know, beyond any doubt that our invasion of Iraq was originally justified by lies. Those lies have resulted in the deaths of thousands of our own military people and the injury, physically and emotionally, of tens of thousands of others - not to mention the deaths and injuries suffered by hundreds of thousands on the other side, and the hatred for America engendered in millions of others in the region. Had some other government engaged in this behavior, we would be calling their leaders "war criminals."
As for "common decency" and "family values", let's think about our admitted flaunting of the standards of decency we subscribed to regarding the treatment of prisoners of war, spinning that by calling our captives "enemy combatants," rather than POW's. Let's think about the flaunting of the principles that made our country great by our withholding from our captives the rights our founding documents declare humanity owes to any person as a matter of common decency.
Aren't any of these things enough to get anyone fed up with the George W. Bush regime? What is Congress thinking? What are we thinking?
So Larry Craig hit on some under-cover police officer in a public restroom. For that he should hang?
What was the under-cover cop doing in the restroom anyway? Isn't that a job for airport security - or even just the janitor? The cop wasn't there to protect the public, he was there to "get someone." That's what law enforcement does these days. The tag lines on the black and whites say, "To protect and serve." But there's no power or excitement I that. Fishing is a lot more fun, especially when the fish are biting. Cops like to set up situations that make it easy for people to do dumb things, so they can pounce on those who are suckered in and "get" them. They're called "sting operations." I'll bet the officer chosen for that duty was not unattractive, and was behaving in a way designed to encourage solicitations. Maybe we should come to our senses about "sting operations" also. The people we pay to protect and serve should not be coaxing others to misbehave.
Sex certainly sells. Were it not for the sexual nature of Larry Craig's faux pas, this story wouldn't have gained much attention. What if Senator Craig had, in effect, sold his office by taking millions of dollars worth of illegal, or shady, "campaign contributions." Nah, that happens all the time. That's not very interesting, and doesn't sell any papers. But the media is in the infotainment business, and sex is always good seller. We love to hear the dirt about other people. Perhaps it's because we can easily imagine ourselves in the same situation (before their having gotten caught at it, of course).
al-Maliki's right. We need to come to our senses. About a lot of things.
[-=glw=-]
posted by BoysMind at
7:16 AM
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