So Barney Frank is OK but a gay Republican is crap? Too bad. I see your point Mark. But it is a dark world we live in. Soon the enlightened and liberal posters will join together in a hypocritical hatefest.

I guess I agree with you. Too bad he nicked his leg going into the water. Sharks.

Well I am impressed that you are actually saying something negative about a Republican. I have no idea what happened. I read that restroom is used in lewd acts. If that is the case than maybe he should resign. However, if it is not that case, he should not. Not because the act would have been homosexual, but because it was in public. If I was in that situation and it was a misunderstanding, I would not have plead guilty to anything.

Doesn't look to good for Romney to be associated with him.

Peace, Gaijin

Kahn,

Heck, if it were just a gay Democrat like Frank it would be ok - of course, Frank replaced the gay Democrat who was re-elected for many terms AFTER being censured by the House for having sex with a male House page...

For Craig, its a matter of the rather unsavory character of lewd behaviour in a bathroom - and I don't know how wide a stance you need for your foot to brush against someone else's, but its gotta be pretty wide...or the stalls are remarkably thin.

Regardless of the facts of the case, Craig is political toast - there's no way the GOP can sustain him in 2008 (when he's up for re-election) against the hate-filled attacks Democrats will launch against him - and the whole GOP - over this incident. Its better for all concerned for Craig to resign - and, if he's innocent, clear himself in court.

It's funny how this is turning into another GOP BASHING that the MSM is more than pleased to report on. If this guy is guilty, then so be it.
But isn't it just curious to all of you, that the
"Gay, Barney Frank, still holds his office, when he had his gay prostitute living in his apt. running a business from there"? But, NOTHING HAPPEND TO FRANK, DID IT?

Likewise, when Kennedy left a girl to suffocate and drown in his car, and got to his motel to save his own fat ass, calling his attornies to make a statement "the next morning", HE TOO, STILL
HOLDS HIS OFFICE.

Funny how, that just happens, isn't it????

Gaijin,

Romney has already dropped him - as I've said, he's radioactive now; at this point, his guilt or innocence is immaterial in a political sense. I hope he's innocent and that he's able to clear himself - but he should resign because clearing himself will take far more time than there is between now and election day, 2008, and all he can do in office is make things worse for everyone.

I dont know why you are calling for him to resign.

Maybe he thought there were muscular black men waiting for him outside the bathroom and he just wanted to get away quickly?

It does appear to be an epidemic.

The late night comedians must be having a field day over this.

If it were a gay republican like Dick Cheney's daughter it would be ok.
But Like Mark said, it was in a restroom.

Jo,

Too true, I am afrad - Matt and I came across this double standard again and again as we wrote "Caucus"...The thing with liberals is that, most of them, don't hold that anything (or, at least, hardly anything) is immoral; in their psuedo-rationalistic and entirely materialistic world, there is no such thing as definitive right and wrong...so, a Frank or a Kennedy gets a pass.

Meanwhile, however, Democrats are cynical enough to use immorality against anyone who seems likely to be harmed by it - and so GOPer from a conservative State who runs afoul - even if it ends up only being the appearance of impropriety - of morality will pay a much higher price than any Democrat ever will for the most egregious of immoral behaviour (such as, as you note, Barney Frank's live-in hooker...additional to that, Frank hired the guy as an aide AFTER Frank had paid him for sex and, additionally, Frank wrote letters on his behalf to the parole board as his hooker friend was on parole for having sex with a minor).

You are demanding Senator Craig resign his position? I am not even sure what law he broke. Is it illegal to touch someone's foot from under a bathroom stall? I hope that if it is a horrible mix up he stays and defends himself.

You are demanding Senator Craig resign his position? I am not even sure what law he broke. Is it illegal to touch someone's foot from under a bathroom stall? I hope that if it is a horrible mix up he stays and defends himself.

I think you are on to something here Noonan. Democrats get a pass on many issues that deal with sex because they have always been known quantities in this arena. Kennedy's proclivities are legendary as were Barney frank's well before the censure. What the right stumbles on is that their candidates with flaws have to run on rigid 'family values' and morals stances that are generally well outside of the grasp of anyone egotistical enough to run for public office. While Democrats may spend quite a bit of time trying to tear down what you would call moral standards (porn, abortion, gay marriage) the right wing has to spend twice as much time and energy to mop up behind their members to keep their human frailties from seeping out.

The word on the Hill from my sources is that Craig will resign by the end of September.

Its better for all concerned for Craig to resign - and, if he's innocent, clear himself in court.

Um, he had his day in court. He pled guilty.

Comparisons to Barney Frank don't wash, because Frank is not only openly gay, he doesn't make a big show of being a "family values" Congressman. It's the hypocrisy that's killing Craig, not the fact that he's apparently gay.

Craig did plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge. I do not believe that is enough for anyone to lose their job. If he had a history of misdemeanor charges I would feel differently.

The only negative I can see is that Craig has been espousing family values, which he has been tough on gay people. Pleading guilty does not go well with what he has been saying over the years.

If we Republicans are going to hold as a principle that Morality is an important charactar trait for a politician then when a Republican violates that principle he or she will pay the price. How many times has Al Gore been skewered here because of his hypocritical actions regarding Global Warming? We shouldn't decry our political adversaries pointing out when a Republican doesn't abide by our principles if we point out how our advarsaries don't abide by their principles.

Very good posting Parker and Patrick.

What the two of you said is exactly why this made the news. It is not about Franks or Kennedy, but the fact that he was trying to get it on in the bathroom with a cop. Had he not taken the high road of family values, it would have only made page 7.

It's funny how this is turning into another GOP BASHING that the MSM is more than pleased to report on. If this guy is guilty, then so be it. But isn't it just curious to all of you, that the "Gay, Barney Frank, still holds his office, when he had his gay prostitute living in his apt. running a business from there"? But, NOTHING HAPPEND TO FRANK, DID IT?

Likewise, when Kennedy left a girl to suffocate and drown in his car, and got to his motel to save his own fat ass, calling his attornies to make a statement "the next morning", HE TOO, STILL
HOLDS HIS OFFICE.

Funny how, that just happens, isn't it????
Posted by: Jo at August 28, 2007 02:03 AM

god that kennedy tale never gets old for you guys.

in any event, maybe the reason why craig, and foley, and haggard, and numerous other right-wing individuals get so much attention by the press is because they perfectly symbolize the rampant hypocrisy that is so pervasive among the social right-wing of the party. the party of christian morals, protectors of family values? what a load of crock! i'd wager there are plenty more closeted republicans out there. and i would say, those that are waving the reddest flag over gays in the military, civil unions, et al ought to be suspected first.

The elements of this case are simple. Massachusetts is willing to elect homosexuals and Idaho is not. Craig is gone and soon, partly because of rules he helped create.

But it does underscore a larger problem for the GOP. It has branded itself as the party of morality, while exposing us to a steady drip of scandal. I no longer buy Mark's argument that these individual pecadillos are aberrations and not symptomatic of something larger.

I suspect that we now have the wrong people seeking elective office for the wrong reasons. Why would anyone want to enter politics today knowing they are going to be exposed to personal smears and outright lies? Is it epic levels of denial or lust for power?

I think what really disgusts so many of us is that these people who attempt to dictate moral standards to Americans are less moral than we are. I personally have not found it difficult to stay married and faithful to one woman for thirty years, and I have always been completely honest in my financial affiars. I want no less from my leaders and excuses don't cut it.

..and patrickb63 makes the point, albeit in a less derisive manner.

Thrower,

The thing is that we Christians understand that we will all sin - no doubt about it; it is 100% certain that we will screw up. But to think that because we know we'll screw up that we should be ok with immorality is, well, rather foolish. To be a hypocrit in addition to being a sinner, one has to say that something is wrong when you don't think it is wrong at all - sorta like the hopelessly corrupt Nancy Pelosi running a campaign in 2006 against Republican corruption; her record of corruption shows that she thinks it a good thing, ergo her complaints about GOP corruption were (and are) hypocritical.

It is a double standard when one side feels it should be excused for doing what the other side should be condemned for doing - so, a bunch of Abramoff-connected Democrats demanding that Abramoff-connected Republicans resign is a double standard. So, too, is it a double standard for the party which outed Foley to have Barney Frank remain in office - if inappropriate behaviour of a sexual nature is completely wrong (as Democrats were de-facto claiming in 2006), then Frank's consorting with a prostitute should have forced him out of office.

There's no better Republican than me, and the Senator needs to go immediately...what he has done is deplorable and these values are not the Republican values.

RESIGN NOW!

semby: There's no better Republican than me...

Obviously, you need to elaborate. Would you please -- in as much detail as possible?

I stated in my first post, that if Craig is indeed
'guilty' and charged as such-HE SHOULD LEAVE.

When I write about 'past Dems' and their total lack of morality, yet they use the double standard
of saying: We never talked of family values, and therefore, WE SHOULD 'NOT LOSE OUR JOBS'. WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT. AND YOU LEFTY TROLLS WRITING HERE,
KNOW IT.

BECAUSE ONE DOES SIN, THAT IS WHAT LIFE IS, BUT WHEN THE HYPOCRISY OF THE DEMS, "FORGIVES THEIR OWN SINS, BUT NOT THOSE OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY-ISN'T THIS "JUST ANOTHER WAY OF ELIMINATING YOUR COMPETITION, BY SMEARING AND ENJOYING THEIR DEMISE
WHEN IN FACT, DEMS HAVE DONE ALOT OF FAR WORSE SINS...?

YOU LEFTY TROLLS ARE MAKING THIS THE "FAMILY VALUE
ISSUE THAT THE GOP HAVE"?, AND, THAT IN YOUR POSTS
CLEARLY SHOWS.....YOUR OWN PARTY DOES NOT HAVE THIS IN THEIR BEING, SO WHY BE OUT ON THE STUMP PROMOTING "FAMILY VALUES, IF YOU CLAIM THAT WE AT THE GOP EXPOUSE THIS, BUT YOU DON'T, SO THEREFORE,
"YOUR SINS OF PROSTITUTION, LYING, MORAL DECADENCE
AND KILLING THOSE IN YOUR PATH(CAN YOU SAY VINCE FOSTER?) IS THE "CLINTON'S MANTRA, AND YOU ALL FOLLOW IT QUITE WELL".

OBAMA'S WIFE HAD IT RIGHT WHEN SHE SAID WHAT SHE DID,(AND WE DO BELIEVE SHE WAS REFERRING TO THE HILLARY FACTOR) "IF YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR FAMILY VALUES IN PLACE TO RUN YOUR OWN HOUSE, HOW CAN YOU THINK YOU'D RUN THE WHITEHOUSE"(paraphrasing)

But again trolls: If he is guilty, he is OUT, something your Morally Decadent Party Does Not Believe They Should Ever Have To Do-LEAVE.

Conscrip: So you think the Kennedy Tale never gets too old for us,....Do YOU think it EVER GETS OLD FOR THE KOPECHNEY FAMILY, WHO LOST THEIR DAUGHTER, MARY JO?

Typical of the Demoncrats, that want to hide their
ills under the carpet, and hope it goes away for all time. Those who forget the past, are doomed to repeat it!

Do the people who now call for Craig's resigniation also think Vitter should resign? They both cheated on their wives, they both broke the law, and they both broke the public trust. What say you?

Hugh Hewitt thinks Craig should resign but Vitter shouldn't. It makes no sense to me. Either they both should or they both shouldn't. But if Vitter resigned a democrat would likely take his place and if Craig resigns a republican would take his. That explains Hewitt. How about you Mark?

No better means...that I really support them through everything that everyone has been complaining, the budget, the medicare bill, the war in Iraq. I mean I am too nice on them sometimes.

But Craig is a disgrace to this party and I don't care if he is or not, but for God sake he pleaded GUILTY. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that he is guilty. I don't care we don't need the Republican dragged through the mud again. We need decent people who have morals!

Again, Senator Craig, RESIGN!

Noone amongst us is flawless, and, if Senator Craig is lying about his being gay, then he should resign. Or he could switch parties and become a Donkaroach, where it's okay to lie and cheat on your wife. After all, it's your own private business with the donks...

No Keefer, cheating on your wfe is a survivable sin in both parties (for reference see the current GOP presidential frontrunner). You continue to see 20-20 with your left eye while being blind in the right one.

Thank you for having the decency to recognize that partisan politics should not come in the way of the law, or in a case where there is no respect to be had for a person anymore.

Thanks to all of you.

ThELefTYFoOL

Of course, you may simply want him to resign so as to spare your party further embarassment.

the calls for Vitter's resignation?

crickets...........

I guess banging whores is okay?

"sorta like the obviously gay Larry Craig running a campaign against gay rights; his record of homosexual acts shows that he thinks it a good thing, ergo his complaints about gay rights eroding so-called family values' were (and are) hypocritical."

Fixed your quote for you, Mark. Don't worry, I won't bill you for this one, but you really should work to fix such flagrant oversights.

Liberals. I have been searching and searching and just can't find hypocrisy listed as a crime. Nope, can’t find it.

Otherwise it would have been a crime for President Clinton to publicly give lip service to feminists while privately using his positions of power to get lip service from government employees. Point?

There are more examples. Want me to list some out? See, even HERE there is a double standard.

The big difference is - do NOT go in the water if you are a Republican with even the slightest of wounds. Even if you have a family member who is wounded. Stay in the boat.

The message is that you had better be moral if you are going to sell morality. But I agree with Kahn that there is way more interest in outing Republicans. That may not be fair, but it's not a problem if Republicans choose ethical leaders.

Guess you can't vote straight Republican when there are no straight Repubiclans to vote for.

Kahn: I have been searching and searching and just can't find hypocrisy listed as a crime. Nope, can’t find it.

That's true. Hypocrisy isn't against the law. Immorality isn't against the law. Profound incompetence isn't against the law. According to that reasoning, no immoral, incompetent hypocrite in the service of the public should be questioned. Good thinking. And God help us.

Although the inequity of justice in how Republicans are treated compared to Democrats makes me crazy mad, this guy needs to fall on his sword.

This is disqusting behavior.

I agree Mark, Craig needs to gather up his toys and go home.

I've no idea if he did what he's accused of doing. However he should be gone based on the way he has mishandled the affair. Kind of reminds me of Gary Hart's comments before he wa caught. Both of these guys knew there was an investigation into their personal lives yet they chose to live on the edge.

No, Matt, the Republican Party is not the party of
Bill Clinton and Gerry Studds . It is the party of
Larry Craig, Thomas Ravenel, Robert W. Allen, Mark
Foley, Robert Ney, Robert Livingstone, Duke Cunningham, Alberto Gonzales, and David Vitter.
It is the party of perjury, bribe taking, whorehouse
visiting, picking up dates in men's rooms, serial
adultery, and cocaine distribution. It is, above
all else, the party of pay to play political representation .

That is in no way to defend the behavior of Studds, Clinton, Jefferson, or Fortland. But for
you to put on prissy airs in the midst of the
current wave of scandals is laughable.

No Keefer, cheating on your wfe is a survivable sin in both parties

Nice spin, Throwup--I see you're a Clinton apologist...

Gov. Edwin Edwards of Louisiana once said that he couldn't lose an election unless he got caught in bed "with a dead girl or a live boy." Is that why Craig should resign? Because we think he's a ho-mo-sek-shool? That's very righteous of you, but what about Sen. David Vitter (R-La)? (I'm sure that it's just a coincidence that he's from Louisiana too.)

Vitter also broke the law, also was unfaithful to his wife, and also seems to fall far short of the "ethics" and "family values" of which Republicans are so proud. Shouldn't he resign too? If not, why not? Why throw Craig under the bus and not Vitter.

Inquiring minds want to know!

Dear Mark,
If you are calling for the resignation of Senator Craig then please be consistent and also call for the resignation of Bob Allen, the
arrested Florida state representative and head of
John McCain's Florida campaign. He got
arrested for seeking sex from an undercover police
officer in the men's room of a public park.

Allen's explanation for his behavior was that he
offered to perform a sex act on the undercover
officer because, as the only white man in the
restroom, he was in danger of being robbed.

I have NOTHING against gays, but there is something tacky about looking for sex in the
public can . Should elected Republican officials
have to resign in disgrace for doing it? Tough
question. Maybe they should just have to do some
public service, as opposed to what they have been
doing in office.

This has absolutely nothing to do with being a Republican or Democrat. Why do we choose to get bogged down by these political labels when at the end of the day, it really comes down to pure and simple, human behavior. Here is a self-appointed guardian of human morality who by his votes, promotes hatred and insensitivity towards gays and yet, his behavior is contrary to what he preaches. His behavior is not a consequence of him being a Republican instead, it is a result of his bigotry, hypocricy and total unability to be true to himself. This is a human condition, certainly not a political gauge.

Hey folks,

I'm LDS, and live in Florida. This Senator needs to get lost! I remember folks in Idaho making light of my "living in a protected bubble" when growing up in Utah. Well this goes to show, how lucky I was after all. Like how many of us were a ware that there's some subculture of guys hanging out in the crapper!

The sad thing is looking over at his sweet wife of 30 years and having to drag her through such public humiliation. Anyone who defends him in word or deed should see a psycotherapist.

This thing makes me so sick to my stomach. Yeah, for all those who would defend him, you should also take note of his past record both civil and political.

You should note that his LDS community is not going to embrace him with open arms either. This is not a WWJD situation. This has a lot more to do with guilty by association.

Again, get lost Craig, you idiot!

To Khan who tried (wrongly) to compare the married anti-gay hyprocrite, Senator Craig to Barney Frank who is an out (never married to a woman) gay man elected by his constituents as a gay candidate, I say your just being desperate in trying to find a defense for Craig's bad behaviour.

So I guess playing footsie in the bathroom is an justifiable resigning offense and Clinnochio's commiting perjury while under oath isn't???

How about.....

Cynthia Ann McKinney- Democrat- US Senator-On the morning of March 29, 2006, McKinney entered the Longworth House Office Building's southeast entrance and proceeded past the security checkpoint, walking around the metal detector. Members of Congress have identifying lapel pins and are not required to pass through metal detectors. The officers present failed to recognize McKinney as a member of Congress because she was not wearing the appropriate lapel pin. She proceeded westward down the ground floor hallway and about halfway down the hallway was grabbed by United States Capitol Police officer Paul McKenna, who states that he had been calling after her: "Ma'am, Ma'am!" Two days later, Officer McKenna filed a police report claiming that McKinney had struck "his chest with a closed fist. At first she refused to apologize. She was defiant and she later did apologize when she found out she could get in trouble for not doing so. Did she resign for hitting a police officer???? Under the same set of circumstances, had a white senator hit a black police officer, would that same situation have been dismissed or broadcasted more by the media if the white senator apologized?

Harry Mason Reid- Democrat icNevada Senator Reid earmarked a spending bill to provide for building a bridge between Nevada and Arizona that would make land he owned more valuable. Reid called funding for construction of a bridge over the Colorado River, among other projects, 'incredibly good news for Nevada' in a news release after passage of the 2005 transportation bill. He owned 160 acres of land several miles from the proposed bridge site in Arizona. The bridge could add value to his real estate investment. Has he resigned?

Edward (Ted) Moore Kennedy - Democrat - U. S. Senator from Massachusetts. Pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, after his car plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne. Did he have to resign?

Barney Frank - Democrat - A closet GAY until his scandal was publisized. U.S. Representative from Massachusetts from 1981 to present. Admitted to having paid Stephen L. Gobie, a male prostitute, for sex and subsequently hiring Gobie as his personal assistant. Gobie used the congressman's Washington apartment for prostitution. A move to expel Frank from the House of Representatives failed and a motion to censure him failed. Did he resign?

Gary Condit - Democrat - US Democratic Congressman from California. Condit had an affair with an intern. Condit, covered up the affair and lied to police after she went missing. No charges were ever filed against Condit. Her remains were discovered in a Washington DC park. Did he resign?

William Jennings Jefferson- Democrat (LA) Jefferson is an 8 term member of the House of Representatives. An investigation of Jefferson by various agencies began in mid-2005, after an investor came to authorities. Jefferson is alleged to have received over $400,000 in bribes through a company maintained in the name of his spouse and children. The money came from a tech company named iGate, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky and in return, it is alleged, Jefferson would help iGate's business. Jefferson was to persuade the U.S. Army to test iGate's broadband two-way technology and other iGate products; use his efforts to influence, possibly through bribery, high-ranking officials in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon; and meet with personnel of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, in order to facilitate potential financing for iGate business deals in those countries. He is currently the subject of a corruption probe, and in May 2006 his Congressional offices were raided, as well as his home in Northeast Washington, where, the FBI "found $90,000 of the cash in the freezer, in $10,000 increments wrapped in aluminum foil and stuffed inside frozen-food containers." Has he resigned?

I could go on and on about the several different and current criminal democrats in office, but do you believe Craig deserves to be sacrificed and axed when he's compared to all of them?

By Craig's resigning standard, Shouldn't they all? At least Republicans are held accountable for their admitted mistakes, Where's the democrats accountability?

Nuff said,

Nelson